Lot size

The same sizing rule in forex terms: stop in pips and pip value in, lot size out. Use it when your broker asks for lots, not units.

Forex platforms do not ask how many units you want. They ask for lots. A standard lot is one hundred thousand units of the base currency, a mini lot is ten thousand, and a micro lot is a thousand. This calculator does the same division as position sizing but expresses the answer in those units, so you can type the number straight into the order ticket without converting anything in your head.

The middle step is risk per lot. Multiply your stop in pips by what one pip is worth on a standard lot and you get the cash a single standard lot would lose if the stop is hit. Divide your risk budget by that and you have your lot size. Pip value per lot is usually about ten units of the quote currency on a pair quoted to four decimals, but it is not fixed. It changes with the pair and with the exchange rate back into your account currency, so check it rather than assuming ten.

Standard lots and mini lots are the same position stated at two scales. If the calculator returns 0.37 standard lots, that is 3.7 mini lots or 37 micro lots. Most retail brokers accept two decimals of a standard lot, so 0.37 goes in directly. If yours only accepts whole mini lots, round down rather than up. Rounding down risks slightly less than you planned, which is the safe direction to be wrong in.

A common mistake is to keep a favourite lot size and vary the stop instead. That inverts the logic. The stop belongs where the trade idea is proven wrong, and the lot size is whatever falls out of that distance. If the resulting size feels too small to be worth taking, the honest answer is usually that the stop is too wide for the account, not that the risk rule should be bent.