Trading calculators
Work out what a position will cost in margin and what each pip is worth before you place it. Sizing decided in advance is the difference between a plan and a reaction.
Size from risk, not from margin
The most common sizing mistake is working out how much margin the account allows and trading that. That is backwards available margin tells you the maximum you can lose, not what you should risk.
Work the other way round. Decide the percentage of equity you are willing to lose on the trade, measure the distance to your stop in pips, and divide.
Worked example. A $10,000 account risking 1% is risking $100. If your stop is 25 pips away and each pip on a standard lot is worth $10, then $100 ÷ (25 × $10) = 0.4 lots. Margin required at 1:500 would be about $87 a fraction of what the account could support, which is exactly the point.
- Set the stop from market structure, then size to it
- Keep risk per trade constant as a percentage of equity
- Account for correlation three EUR longs is one big EUR position
- Recalculate as equity changes rather than using a fixed lot size
Pip values at a glance
Approximate value of one pip on a USD denominated account, per lot size.
| Instrument | Pip / tick | Micro (0.01) | Mini (0.10) | Standard (1.00) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EURUSD | 0.0001 | $0.10 | $1.00 | $10.00 |
| GBPUSD | 0.0001 | $0.10 | $1.00 | $10.00 |
| USDJPY | 0.01 | ~$0.07 | ~$0.67 | ~$6.70 |
| XAUUSD | 0.01 | $0.01 | $0.10 | $1.00 |
| XAGUSD | 0.001 | $0.05 | $0.50 | $5.00 |
| USOIL | 0.01 | $0.10 | $1.00 | $10.00 |
| US500 | 0.10 | $0.01 | $0.10 | $1.00 |
| NAS100 | 0.10 | $0.01 | $0.10 | $1.00 |