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XAU/USD position size calculator

Decide the loss you accept and where the stop goes; the size follows. Risk $100 with a stop $20 an ounce away on gold and the size is 0.05 lot — because each dollar an ounce on one lot is worth $100.00. The tool does this with your balance, risk percentage and stop.

2.00 lots

risking $100.00 of $10,000.00

Show the working +
  1. 1.00% of $10,000.00 = $100.00 you are willing to lose.
  2. A pip is worth $1.00 per lot, so a 50 pip stop costs $50.00 per lot.
  3. $100.00 ÷ $50.00 = 2.000 lots.
  4. Rounded DOWN to 2.00 — rounding up would break the limit you just set.
  5. That position controls $885,811.06 of XAU.

Reference prices in the text are round teaching numbers; the calculator prefills our last stored reading, indicative only. Contract sizes follow the standard conventions printed above the calculator; your account’s own specification is what applies. Nothing here is a recommendation.

The sum for XAU/USD

Lots = risk ÷ (stop distance × value per dollar-per-ounce per lot). For gold: $100 ÷ ($20 × $100) = 0.05 lot. 1 lot = 100 troy ounces. A 0.01 move is worth $1 per lot.

The tool rounds down to the platform's lot step (0.01) and refuses to round up: if your risk budget implies less than 0.01 lot, no permitted size meets it, and it says so rather than quietly risking more.

The rule the sum enforces

The stop comes before the size. Traders who pick the size first and then look for a stop that "fits" end up with the stop where the size allows, not where the chart says. A $100 risk on gold is 0.05 lot at a $20 an ounce stop and half that at twice the distance — the risk stays the same, which is the point. The planned loss assumes the stop fills at its level; a gap through it costs more.

Common questions

How many lots of gold for $100 risk?
Depends on the stop. At $20 an ounce: 0.05 lot. Halve the stop distance and the size doubles; the dollar risk does not.
What percentage of my account should one trade risk?
Most guides say 1–2%; the tool defaults to 1%. The right number is the one that lets a run of ten losers happen without changing how you trade.

Same tool, other instruments

The numbers behind every symbol are on the contract specifications page; the gold margin guide walks through the sums by hand; and the market hours page says when it trades.