Lot size calculator: forex, gold and indices
You can read the chart, but when you place the order you don't know how much to put in, and one bad streak with a lot that's too big can wipe out the account. Here you get the lot size for MetaTrader from your risk and your stop, in gold and indices too.
By JH Grandgerard · Exchange rates of October 14, 2026
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Losing streaks: how many are normal and the drawdown they leave
You pick the lot with the streak that's coming in mind, because even a good method loses several in a row. Know beforehand how many losses in a row are normal and how much they weigh on your account.
The table says the streak will come, and that isn't meant to scare us: it happens to everyone who speculates. The hard part isn't changing your method or raising the lot after the third loss, and you can't learn that by reading. It takes emotional muscle, and you build it by speculating, with a little more load each week, until a normal streak scares you less.
Reference tables: streaks by win rate and drawdown by risk
| Win rate | Longest normal streak | 5 or more in a row | 8 or more | 10 or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35% | 7.4 | 92% | 41% | 18% |
| 40% | 6.5 | 82% | 26% | 10% |
| 50% | 4.9 | 54% | 8% | 2% |
| 60% | 3.8 | 25% | 2% | less than 1% |
| Risk per trade | 5 losses in a row | 8 in a row | 10 in a row |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5% | 2.48% (gain 2.54%) | 3.93% (gain 4.09%) | 4.89% (gain 5.14%) |
| 1% | 4.90% (gain 5.15%) | 7.73% (gain 8.37%) | 9.56% (gain 10.6%) |
| 2% | 9.61% (gain 10.6%) | 14.9% (gain 17.5%) | 18.3% (gain 22.4%) |
| 3% | 14.1% (gain 16.5%) | 21.6% (gain 27.6%) | 26.3% (gain 35.6%) |
Exact probabilities, no simulation. The longest normal streak is the average of the longest streak over that many trades.
How do you calculate lot size?
The lot is what you want to risk divided by what you lose with 1 lot if the stop is hit, rounded down so you never go over. In the worked example below, 1% of $10,000 with a 150-pip stop on EURUSD gives 0.06 lots, which risk $90.
A worked example
The 1% is an example, and the 150-pip stop is the kind you put on a daily chart.
| Account | 10,000 USD |
|---|---|
| Risk per trade | 1% (an example, not a recommendation) |
| Instrument | EURUSD, contract of 100,000 euros per lot, minimum 0.01 and step 0.01 |
| Buy | entry at 1.1200 and stop at 1.1050 |
- What you want to risk: 1% of 10,000 USD = 100.00 USD.
- Distance to the stop: 1.1200 − 1.1050 = 0.0150, which is 150 pips.
- What you lose with 1 lot if the stop is hit: 0.0150 × 100,000 = 1,500.00 USD.
- Exact lot: 100.00 USD ÷ 1,500.00 USD = 0.0667 lots.
- Rounded down to the 0.01 step: 0.06 lots, which is how it's typed in MetaTrader, with a decimal point. Real risk: 0.06 × 1,500.00 USD = 90.00 USD, 0.90% of the account.
It rounds down so you never risk more than you ask. With the same stop and a 500 USD account, the minimum lot (0.01) would already risk 15.00 USD, 3.00% of the account: with that stop, to risk 1% you would need about 1,500 USD.
What to do with this
I've seen a lot of accounts burn with a good analysis and a lot that was too big. In the LDP (Lenguaje del Precio) method I use, the order matters: the chart sets the stop, and the lot adjusts to the stop. If with your stop there's no lot that respects your risk, don't move the stop closer to make it fit. Wait until you have a bigger account, or look for an instrument with a smaller contract.
I'd say look at the streak table above before you pick your risk, and ask yourself if you could sit through that drop without touching anything. And whatever happens, don't raise the lot to win back what you lost. That's how a normal streak turns into a burned account.
How we calculate it and how to check it
Everything is calculated on your device, with the same rules as the Order Manager in TFX-Trader, one of our MetaTrader tools. The distance to the stop, in price, times the contract size gives what you lose with 1 lot. If the instrument moves in another currency, it's converted to your account's. When your account currency is the first currency of the pair (USDJPY with a dollar account), it uses the stop price, which is when the loss happens. In the other crosses it uses the reference rate of the day, which you can change.
The exact lot is what you want to risk divided by what you lose with 1 lot, and it's rounded down to the lot step, so you never risk more than you ask. If it doesn't reach the minimum lot, the minimum is used only if it risks at most 20% more than you asked. Past that, there's no lot. If you split the entry into several orders, they all carry the same lot, rounded down, and their number never changes.
Streaks are calculated exactly, with no simulation: the probability of getting at least one streak of k losses in a row over your trades, with your win rate. With a streak of k losses and a risk r per trade, the account drops 1 − (1 − r)^k, and to get back you need to gain drop ÷ (1 − drop).
These are some of the sums we tested the calculator with:
| What is checked | The sum | Result |
|---|---|---|
| EURUSD, 10,000 USD account, 1%, entry 1.0850 and stop 1.0700 | 100 ÷ (0.0150 × 100,000) = 0.0667 | 0.06 lots, 90 USD |
| USDJPY with a dollar account: sell at 150.00, stop at 153.00 | 3.00 × 100,000 ÷ 153 = 1,960.78 USD per lot | 0.05 lots, 98.04 USD |
| Gold, 100-ounce contract, 5,000 USD account, 1%, stop 15 dollars away | 50 ÷ (15 × 100) = 0.0333 | 0.03 lots, 45 USD |
| The same gold with a 1-ounce contract | 50 ÷ (15 × 1) = 3.33 | 3.33 lots |
| GER40 in euros, dollar account, 1% of 10,000, 200 points, 1 EUR = 1.1195 USD | 100 ÷ (200 × 1.1195) = 0.4466 | 0.44 lots, 98.52 USD |
| 500 USD account, 1%, EURUSD with a 300-pip stop | 0.01 × 3,000 = 30 USD, 6% | no lot; you would need 3,000 USD |
| 9,000 USD account, 0.30%, 300-pip stop | 27 ÷ 3,000 = 0.009; the minimum risks 30 USD, 11% more | 0.01 lots, 0.33% |
| The first case, in 3 orders | 0.0667 ÷ 3 = 0.0222 per order | 3 × 0.02 lots, 90 USD |
| A streak of 5 losses in a row with a 50% win rate over 100 trades | exact chain, no simulation | 81% |
| 10 losses in a row risking 2% on each | 1 − 0.98^10 | drops 18.3%; gain needed 22.4% |
How much is a pip or a point worth with 1 lot
With the most usual contracts. If it doesn't match in your MetaTrader, your broker uses another contract: change it in the calculator, in "Contract".
| Instrument | Move | With 1 lot | In dollars |
|---|---|---|---|
| EURUSD Euro / US dollar | pip (0.0001) | 10 USD | 10.00 USD |
| GBPUSD British pound / US dollar | pip (0.0001) | 10 USD | 10.00 USD |
| USDJPY US dollar / Japanese yen | pip (0.01) | 1,000 JPY | about 6.31 USD |
| EURJPY Euro / Japanese yen | pip (0.01) | 1,000 JPY | about 6.31 USD |
| USDCAD US dollar / Canadian dollar | pip (0.0001) | 10 CAD | about 7.03 USD |
| AUDUSD Australian dollar / US dollar | pip (0.0001) | 10 USD | 10.00 USD |
| XAUUSD Gold, 100 ounces per lot | 1 dollar of movement | 100 USD | 100.00 USD |
| XAGUSD Silver, 5,000 ounces per lot | 1 cent (0.01) | 50 USD | 50.00 USD |
| NAS100 Nasdaq 100, contract 1 | 1 point | 1 USD | 1.00 USD |
| US30 Dow Jones 30, contract 1 | 1 point | 1 USD | 1.00 USD |
| GER40 DAX 40, contract 1 | 1 point | 1 EUR | about 1.12 USD |
| UK100 FTSE 100, contract 1 | 1 point | 1 GBP | about 1.33 USD |
Frequently asked questions
How to calculate lot size in forex?
Turn your risk into money: 1% of $10,000 is $100. Measure the distance to your stop, say 150 pips, and work out what you lose with 1 lot if the stop is hit: on EURUSD that's $10 a pip, so $1,500. Divide 100 by 1,500 and you get 0.067. Round down to your broker's step: 0.06 lots.
What is lot size in forex?
It's the size of your position. In forex, 1 lot is 100,000 units of the first currency in the pair, and 0.01 is a micro lot, 1,000 units. It works like clothing sizes: the same jacket fits you or chokes you depending on the size, and the same trade is bearable or takes the account depending on the lot.
How much lot size should I use in forex?
It comes from your account, your risk and your stop, all three together. The same lot risks little with a short stop and a lot with a wide one, which is why the calculator asks for all three. The risk per trade is your decision, and the losing streak table above shows what each level of risk costs you.
How to calculate lot size for gold?
The same as in forex, but with its own contract. The usual one is 100 ounces per lot, and some brokers use 1 ounce, which changes the lot a hundredfold. Check it in the Specification window of your MetaTrader before you calculate.
How to calculate lot size for the Nasdaq or the S&P 500?
Indices are counted in points, and with the most usual contract 1 point is worth $1 per lot. Some brokers use $0.1, $10 or $100 per lot, and in the DAX the point is in euros. If yours is different, change it in "Contract".
What lot size can I trade with $100?
It depends on your stop, and with $100 it's a tight fit. At 1% risk you can lose $1 per trade. On EURUSD the smallest lot, 0.01, moves about $0.10 per pip, so $1 covers a 10-pip stop. On daily and weekly charts the stop is usually much wider, and then the calculator will tell you there's no lot that respects your risk. Don't move the stop closer to make it fit.
How much is 0.01 lot size in forex?
0.01 is a micro lot: 1,000 units of the first currency in the pair. On EURUSD each pip is worth about $0.10, so a 50-pip move is about $5. On gold with a 100-ounce contract, 0.01 lots is 1 ounce, so every dollar the price moves is a dollar for you.
How to calculate pip value in forex?
Multiply the pip size (0.0001, or 0.01 in yen pairs) by the contract size (100,000 for 1 lot). On EURUSD that's 0.0001 × 100,000 = $10 per pip for each lot. If the profit currency isn't your account currency, convert it. The table "How much is a pip or a point worth with 1 lot" has the usual instruments with the rates of the day.
How much drawdown is acceptable in trading?
There's no number that works for every account. The right one is the drop you can sit through without changing your plan, and you only find that out with money at risk. What the numbers do say is that recovering costs more than falling: after a 20% drop you need 25% to get back, and after 50% you need 100%. The table above shows how many losses in a row it takes to get there with your risk.
How do I find the contract size in MT4 and MT5?
In Market Watch, right-click the symbol and choose Specification: the contract size, the minimal volume and the volume step are there. Look at the suffix (.pro, .m), because the same symbol can have different conditions.
What if the calculator gives me less than 0.01 lots?
It means that with that stop your account is too small to respect your risk. The calculator tells you how much the minimum lot would risk and how big an account you'd need. What you shouldn't do is move the stop closer to make it fit, because the stop goes where the chart puts it.
Does leverage change lot size?
No. Leverage changes the margin your broker holds, but what you lose if the stop is hit is decided by the lot and the stop.
Pips or points? Why is my lot ten times off?
MetaTrader counts in points, and in a five-decimal pair 1 pip is 10 points. If you type points where pips go, the lot comes out ten times wrong. If in doubt, type the stop as a price and there's no confusion.
Why do two lot size calculators give different results?
Usually it's the rounding (some round down and some to the nearest), the exchange rate, the contract size, or mixing up pips and points. This one rounds down, so you never go over your risk, and it shows you the sum.
How many losses in a row are normal?
More than you'd think: with a 50% win rate, over 100 trades the normal longest streak is about 6 losses, and having 5 in a row happens more than 8 times out of 10. The table above works it out with your numbers.
How big an account do I need to trade daily or weekly charts with a wide stop?
It depends on the stop and the risk. With a 300-pip stop and 1% risk, the minimum lot of 0.01 asks for about $3,000 in the account on a dollar pair, and with less you can't respect that risk.
MetaTrader tools
Working out every order by hand is tiring, and in a rush you get it wrong
In MetaTrader, the Order Manager in TFX-Trader, one of our tools, does all of this with your broker's data: the contract, the minimum lot and the step, several orders at once, the stops on the right side, and the margin. You decide the risk and it sends nothing different from what you ask. If the minimum lot would make you risk more than 20% over what you asked, it sends nothing and tells you why.
Where the data comes from
- Exchange rates: the European Central Bank's reference rates, published every business day around 16:00 Frankfurt time, for information only. The cross rates between currencies are calculated by TendenciasFX from them.
- Currencies the ECB doesn't publish, like several Latin American ones: Frankfurter, which blends public central-bank data, shared for information only, with no warranty. For Argentina it's the official rate, and many people look at others: if that's you, type yours.
- The offshore yuan (CNH) is approximated with the ECB's yuan (CNY); the difference is usually very small.
- Contract sizes: the most usual in MetaTrader (100,000 in currency pairs, 100 ounces in gold, 5,000 in silver and 1 per point in indices). Every broker defines its own: check them in the Specification window of your MetaTrader.
Exchange rates of October 14, 2026. They update on their own every business day, and in the calculator you can type your own.
The result is informational and depends on the numbers you type. It's not investment advice or a signal, and the real loss can be a little larger because of the spread, the commission and slippage. The calculator doesn't use cookies and doesn't send your data to anyone. Your browser remembers the account currency, the risk and the contracts you change, for next time. The balance is never saved.
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