Enter your balance, your risk and your stop-loss to see the lot size for your trade.
Stop-out levels checked on 29 September 2026
0.02 lot = 2 oz
With $10.00 of risk per trade and a stop-loss of $5, the lot size for your risk is 0.02 lot.
If you open 0.02 lot and ignore your stop-loss, this balance can take a price move of $499.60 against you before the stop-out.
With this balance, you can open up to 4.96 lot. At 4.96 lot, the stop-out comes after a price move of $1.61 against you.
Details of this result
- Stop-loss price (buy / sell)
- 4,019.64 / 4,029.64
- Price
- 4,024.64
- Value of a 1 USD move on 1 lot
- $100.00
- 1 lot
- 100 oz
- Margin for 0.02 lot
- $4.02
- Trading cost for 0.02 lot
- To include the spread, choose your broker.
- Leverage
- 1:2,000
- Stop-out level
- 20%
With Any broker, the calculator uses standard lot sizes. Choose your broker to apply its leverage rules, stop-out level and spread. This market is closed now. The price is from the last trading session.
- BrokerKeep the Any broker option, or choose your broker and trading account.
- Stop-loss distanceHow far your stop-loss is from the price you open at.
- Risk per tradeThe share of your balance that you accept to lose on this trade.
- Blue boxThe lot size for your risk. The small text below it shows the stop-out.
Contents
How Many Lots Should You Trade?
The lot size comes from two numbers, how much you accept to lose and how far away your stop-loss is. Many traders keep that loss to 1% to 2% of their balance.
Normal trades
A stop-loss further away needs a smaller lot size for the same risk. So decide where your stop-loss goes on the chart first, and then let the calculator give the lot size.
The table below shows the lot size on gold for a 1,000 USD balance and a 1% risk, which is 10 USD.
| Stop-loss distance | Lot size |
|---|---|
| $2 | 0.05 lot |
| $5 | 0.02 lot |
| $10 | 0.01 lot |
High leverage
Leverage does not change the lot size for your risk. Higher leverage only raises the largest lot size that your margin allows.
The table below uses the same gold trade: a 1,000 USD balance, a 1% risk and a $5 stop-loss.
| 1:100 leverage | 1:2000 leverage | |
|---|---|---|
| Lot size for 1% risk | 0.02 lot | 0.02 lot |
| Max lot size | 0.24 lot | 4.83 lot |
So the risk of a trade comes from the lot size that you choose. Higher leverage adds risk only when you use it to trade a bigger lot.
Max lot size
The largest lot size reaches the stop-out after a small price move. The margin then uses almost the whole balance.
The table below uses the calculator’s default settings: gold, a 1,000 USD balance, 1:2000 leverage and a 20% stop-out level.
| Lot size for 1% risk | Max lot size | |
|---|---|---|
| Lot size | 0.02 lot | 4.83 lot |
| Gold price move before the stop-out | about $500 | about $1.66 |
The stop-out section further down explains what happens if you trade without a stop-loss.
Currency pairs
On currency pairs, enter the stop-loss distance in pips. On EURUSD, 1 pip on 1 lot is 10 USD.
The table below shows the lot size on EURUSD for a 1,000 USD balance and a 1% risk.
| Stop-loss distance | Lot size |
|---|---|
| 10 pips | 0.10 lot |
| 20 pips | 0.05 lot |
| 50 pips | 0.02 lot |
Small balance
With a small balance, the lot size for your risk can be smaller than the smallest trade. In this case, choose an account where 1 lot is 1,000 units of currency, such as the XM Micro account.
The table below shows EURUSD with a 100 USD balance, a 1% risk and a 20-pip stop-loss.
| Standard account | Micro account | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 lot of EURUSD | 100,000 EUR | 1,000 EUR |
| Lot size for your risk | Under 0.01 lot, the smallest trade | 0.50 lot |
To see this answer, choose XM and the Micro account in the calculator. The XM cent account guide compares Micro with the cent accounts at other brokers.
How Do You Calculate Lot Size?
Divide your risk in dollars by the loss that 1 lot makes at your stop-loss. Position size is another name for lot size, so a position size calculator gives the same answer. On gold, the calculation takes four steps.
- Your risk is 10 USD, which is 1% of a 1,000 USD balance.
- Your stop-loss is $5 away from the price you open at.
- On 1 lot of gold (100 oz), a $5 move loses 500 USD.
- The lot size is 10 USD ÷ 500 USD = 0.02 lot, which is 2 oz of gold.
On currency pairs, the value of 1 pip changes with the instrument and the price. For example, 1 pip on USDJPY is worth less than 10 USD on 1 lot when the price is above 100, so the calculator works out the value from the current price.
If you already have a lot size and only want to see what 1 pip is worth in US dollars, use the pip calculator instead.
What Risk per Trade Should You Use?
A smaller risk per trade keeps more of your balance after several losing trades in a row. The table below shows what is left of a 1,000 USD balance after 10 losing trades in a row, when each trade risks the same percentage of the balance.
| Risk per trade | Balance left |
|---|---|
| 1% | $904 |
| 2% | $817 |
| 5% | $599 |
| 10% | $349 |
The Risk per trade field has buttons for 0.5%, 1%, 2% and 3%, and you can type any other value.
We recommend a risk of 1% to 2% per trade.
At these levels, ten losing trades in a row still leave most of your balance, so your next trades stay close to your normal size.
Some traders choose a higher risk, such as 5%, to grow a small balance faster. However, each losing streak then costs more.
If faster growth matters more to you, choose a higher risk. If protecting your trading account balance matters more, stay at 1% to 2%.
What Happens If You Trade Without a Stop-Loss?
Without a stop-loss, your broker closes the trade at the stop-out. The stop-out comes when the money left in your trading account falls to a set percentage of the margin, and each broker sets its own stop-out level.
Stop-out level by broker
| Broker | Stop-out level |
|---|---|
| XM | 20% |
| HFM | 20%, or 0% on the Unlimited account |
| XS.com | 20%, or 10% on the Cent and Micro accounts |
| Exness | 0% |
At 20%, the broker closes the trade while 20% of the margin is still in the account. At 0%, the broker closes the trade only when the money left reaches zero, so the whole balance can be lost on one trade.
Before the stop-out, every broker here warns you with a margin call. Our comparison of margin calls and stop out levels across brokers shows both levels for each trading account.
Some traders deposit only the money that they accept to lose, and let the stop-out close a losing trade. In this case, the lot size decides how far the price can move before the stop-out.
The calculator shows this price move in the small text under the blue box: first for the lot size for your risk, and then for the largest lot size.
We recommend a stop-loss on every trade. A stop-loss closes the trade at the loss that you chose.
If you trade without a stop-loss, choose a lot size whose price move before the stop-out is wider than the moves you expect in normal trading.
What Is a Lot Size in Forex?
A lot is the unit of trade size. On gold, 1 lot is 100 oz. On a currency pair, 1 lot is 100,000 of the first currency.
- 1 lot of goldThe size is 100 oz. A $1 move in the gold price gains or loses 100 USD.
- 0.01 lot of goldThe size is 1 oz. A $1 move in the gold price gains or loses 1 USD.
- 1 lot of EURUSDThe size is 100,000 EUR. A 1-pip move gains or loses 10 USD.
- 0.01 lot of EURUSDThe size is 1,000 EUR. A 1-pip move gains or loses 0.10 USD.
- Micro accountOn the XM Micro account, 1 lot of EURUSD is 1,000 EUR, which is 1/100 of the standard lot.
- Silver, oil and indicesThe size differs by broker. In the calculator, open Details of this result. The 1 lot row shows the size at your broker.
Questions People Ask About Forex Lot Size
- How much is 0.01 lot in forex?
-
0.01 lot is 1,000 of the first currency, such as 1,000 EUR on EURUSD. On EURUSD, a 1-pip move gains or loses 0.10 USD.
- How much is 1 lot of gold (XAUUSD)?
-
1 lot of gold is 100 oz. A $1 move in the gold price gains or loses 100 USD on 1 lot, and 0.01 lot is 1 oz.
- What lot size should I use with a 100 USD balance?
-
With a 1% risk and a 10-pip stop-loss on EURUSD, the lot size is 0.01 lot.
With a wider stop-loss, the answer is under 0.01 lot. In this case, use an account where 1 lot is 1,000 EUR, such as the XM Micro account. The XM cent account guide explains Micro.
- Is position size the same as lot size?
-
Yes. Position size is the size of your trade, and MT4 and MT5 show it in lots. So a position size calculator and a lot size calculator give the same answer.
- Does the calculator work with any broker?
-
Yes. Keep Any broker, and enter your leverage and your broker’s stop-out level. Any broker uses the standard lot sizes.
For XM, HFM, XS.com and Exness, choose the broker and the trading account. The calculator then uses the lot size, leverage rules, stop-out level and spread of that trading account.
- Does the calculator work for Bitcoin?
-
Yes. Choose BTCUSD, and enter the stop-loss distance in points. On BTCUSD, 1 point is a $1 move in the price, and 1 lot is 1 bitcoin at the four brokers in the calculator.
- Why is the answer smaller than the largest lot my margin allows?
-
The answer comes from your stop-loss and your risk, not from your margin. To see the margin for a lot size, use the forex margin calculator.
Which Tool Do You Need Next?
The margin calculators show the margin for a lot size, the pip calculator shows what 1 pip is worth, and the spread comparison shows the cost of the trade.
Sources and how the lot size calculator works
How the lot size calculator works
- Lot size for your risk
- Your risk in USD ÷ (the stop-loss distance × the value of that price move on 1 lot). The result is rounded down to the lot step of the trading account.
- Max lot size
- The largest lot size whose margin and trading cost fit in your balance. The margin follows the broker’s leverage rules, as in our margin calculators.
- Price move before the stop-out
- (Balance − trading cost − stop-out level × margin) ÷ (lot size × the value of a 1-unit price move on 1 lot).
- Prices, lot sizes and margin
- From our own MT5 accounts at each broker. Updated, at the top of the calculator, shows the time of the data in UTC.
- Trading cost
- The 24-hour average spread and commission of the trading account, from our spread tools.
- The Any broker option
- Standard lot sizes and XM prices, with the leverage and the stop-out level that you enter. The trading cost is not included.
Stop-out levels
- XM client agreement (opens in a new tab)
- Definitions 48 and 82: margin call at 50% and stop-out at 20% on every trading account.
- HFM trading accounts (opens in a new tab)
- Stop-out at 20% on the Premium, Pro and Zero accounts.
- HFM Unlimited account (opens in a new tab)
- Stop-out at 0%.
- XS.com account pages (opens in a new tab)
- Stop-out at 20% on the Standard, Extra, Pro and Elite accounts.
- Exness Standard account (opens in a new tab)
- Stop-out at 0%.
- Exness professional accounts (opens in a new tab)
- Stop-out at 0% on the Pro, Raw Spread and Zero accounts.
Stop-out levels checked on each broker’s pages on 29 September 2026 (UTC). This date is separate from the calculator’s data update time.
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Person responsible: Hiroki Sakaida, founder of Forex FanClub
Hiroki Sakaida decides what our content and services cover and which features they offer. He also checks content and functionality and decides on revisions and publication. Our Content and Service Policy explains how we produce and check our content and services, including our use of AI.
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- How Many Lots Should You Trade?
- Normal trades
- High leverage
- Max lot size
- Currency pairs
- Small balance
- How Do You Calculate Lot Size?
- What Risk per Trade Should You Use?
- What Happens If You Trade Without a Stop-Loss?
- What Is a Lot Size in Forex?
- Questions People Ask About Forex Lot Size
- Which Tool Do You Need Next?