Calculate the exact number of shares, lots, or contracts to trade — based on your account size, risk tolerance, and stop loss distance. Free. No login required.
Used by 14,800+ traders to size their trades correctly every session
Position Size
108 shares
Dollar Risk
$250.00
Stop Distance
2.30
The 1% rule: Never risk more than 1–2% of your account on a single trade. This ensures a 10-loss streak costs you ≤20% of your account.
Five steps from account size to correct position size in under 30 seconds.
Enter your account balance
Type your total trading account balance. This is the baseline for calculating your maximum dollar risk per trade.
Set your risk percentage
Choose how much of your account you'll risk. Most traders use 0.5–2%. The 1% rule means a 10-loss streak costs you 10% — not your whole account.
Enter entry and stop prices
Input your planned entry price and stop loss price. The difference defines how far price can move against you before the trade is closed.
Read your position size
The calculator instantly shows exactly how many shares, lots, or contracts to buy or sell — so your loss never exceeds your risk limit.
Track whether you followed the plan
Log the trade in SuperTrader. See if your actual position size matched the calculated size — and how that affects your long-term results.
Position sizing is based on a single principle: your dollar risk is fixed; the position size is a variable that makes that true.
Stocks
Shares = (Account × Risk%) ÷ (Entry − Stop)
Example
$25,000 × 1% = $250 risk $250 ÷ ($185.50 − $183.20) = $250 ÷ $2.30 = 108 shares
Forex
Lots = (Account × Risk%) ÷ (Pip Distance × Pip Value × 100,000)
Example
$25,000 × 1% = $250 risk 30 pip stop, $10/pip standard lot = $250 ÷ (30 × $10) = 0.83 lots
Futures
Contracts = (Account × Risk%) ÷ (Stop Distance × Point Value)
Example
$25,000 × 1% = $250 risk 15 point stop on ES ($50/pt) = $250 ÷ (15 × $50) = 0.33 contracts
Crypto
Units = (Account × Risk%) ÷ (Entry − Stop)
Example
$25,000 × 1% = $250 risk $250 ÷ ($43,200 − $42,000) = $250 ÷ $1,200 = 0.208 BTC
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Everything traders ask about position sizing.
Calculating the right position size is step one. Knowing whether you followed it — and how that affected your P&L — is where the real edge comes from. SuperTrader tracks your actual vs. planned size automatically.