Position Size Calculator
Position sizing is the one risk decision that is fully in your control. Instead of buying a round number of shares and hoping, you fix how much of your capital one losing trade may cost — commonly 1–2% — and derive the quantity from the distance to your stop-loss.
Enter your capital, the risk percentage, your entry and your stop. The calculator returns the exact share count, the position value, and how much of your capital that deploys.
How it works
- Risk budget = capital × risk % — the most one stop-out may cost.
- Per-share risk = |entry − stop-loss|.
- Quantity = risk budget ÷ per-share risk (rounded down); position value = quantity × entry.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of capital should I risk per trade?
Most professional frameworks use 0.5–2%. At 1%, a run of 10 straight losers — which happens to good traders — costs about 10% of capital, which is recoverable. At 5% per trade, the same streak costs ~40% and needs a 67% gain to repair.
What if the calculated position is bigger than my capital?
A tight stop can make the risk-based quantity exceed what your cash can buy. That means either take the smaller cash-limited position (risking less than budgeted — fine), or the trade needs leverage — which adds its own risks. The calculator flags this case.
Where should the stop-loss actually go?
At the price where your trade idea is proven wrong — below support, beyond the pattern, past the day's low — not at a round rupee number chosen to make the quantity bigger. Size follows the stop; never move the stop to fit a size.
Does this work for short trades?
Yes — the formula uses the absolute distance between entry and stop, so it is symmetric. For a short, the stop sits above the entry and the maths is identical.
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This tool is an educational estimate, not investment or tax advice. Rates and rules change — verify current figures and consult a professional before acting.