Position size, sized for you.
How many shares (or contracts) to buy, given your account, entry, stop, and risk %.
INPUTS
$
Total capital you'd consider blowable on this strategy.
%
Most active traders use 0.5–2%.
$
$
Where you'd cut the loss. Below entry = long, above = short.
TRY ONE
RESULT
Shares to buy20
DirectionLONG
Per-share risk$5.00
Position value$2,000.00
Stop move5.00%
Max $ risk (target)$100.00
Actual $ risk$100.00
HOW IT WORKS
The math is one line: shares = (account × risk%) ÷ |entry − stop|. Position sizing is the difference between consistent compounding and getting one bad sequence away from a margin call. Cap your loss per trade as a percentage of equity, not a fixed dollar — that way the size shrinks automatically when your account does. Below about 0.5% per trade your wins stop mattering; above 2% a normal 6-trade losing streak loses ~12% in a single week.
FAQ
How is position size calculated?
shares = (account × risk%) ÷ |entry − stop|. The dollar risk is the smaller of your max acceptable loss and what the stop actually enforces.
What risk % should I use?
Most active traders use 0.5–2% per trade. Below 0.5% your wins stop mattering; above 2% a normal losing streak is account-ending.
Does this work for options or futures?
Yes — substitute the stop in your asset's units. For options, replace |entry − stop| with the per-contract premium you're willing to lose. For futures, multiply by the tick value.
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