Futures Position Size Calculator

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Futures position size calculator

Contracts, dollars at risk, and the number most calculators leave out — what a single decision costs you when the same trade is copied across several prop firm accounts.

Risk per contract Stop distance x dollars per point
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Risk budget per trade Your percentage of one account
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Contracts your percentage allows Budget divided by risk per contract, rounded down
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Contracts to trade The lower of that and your own cap
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At risk on one account If the stop is hit
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At risk per decision Every copied account, same moment
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Worst-case day Every trade a loser, across every account
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Worst-case day, as a share of one account
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    The multiplier nobody puts in the calculator

    Risk half a percent, and you've risked half a percent. Copy that trade to three accounts and you have made one decision that costs three times as much. The accounts are not diversification — they are the same trade, entered at the same second, stopped out by the same tick.

    So the honest unit of risk is per decision, not per account. Multiply it by your daily trade limit and you have the number that actually decides whether a bad Tuesday is an inconvenience or the end of three evaluations. That figure is above, and for most people running copied accounts it is the first time they've seen it.

    How it's calculated

    risk per contract = stop distance x dollars per point risk budget = account size x risk percent contracts by risk = floor(risk budget / risk per contract) contracts to trade = min(contracts by risk, your cap) risk per decision = contracts x risk per contract x accounts taking the trade worst-case day = risk per decision x max trades per day

    Rounding is always down. A calculator that rounds up to make the number look workable is doing you harm. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.

    What this can't tell you

    • Whether your stop is in a sensible place. That's a method question. This only prices the stop you already chose.
    • What slippage will do. On a fast move you can be filled worse than your stop, and the loss is larger than the arithmetic here.
    • Your firm's limits. Contract caps, daily loss limits and drawdown rules vary by firm and change without much warning. Read yours and use the tighter number.
    • Contract specifications. The presets are the common values, not gospel. Confirm dollars per point with your own broker before you size anything.

    Also useful

    What do your trades actually prove?Your win rate over a small sample is mostly noise. Find out how much. Drawdown runway calculatorHow many maximum-loss days your account can survive.

    This is one number out of a system

    A calculator tells you where you stand. It can't stand next to you at 9:47 when a level you never mapped looks like the trade of the week.

    Fade & Ride is the written structure behind these numbers: two setups with gated checklists, a risk framework that survives copied accounts, printable worksheets and a journal that computes all of this for you, trade by trade.

    See what's inside — $59

    No subscription. Instant download. It's a structure for your own rules, not a set of signals — there are no trade calls in it.

    Educational tool only. This is arithmetic on numbers you type in — it is not investment advice, it does not predict anything, and it has no opinion on what you should trade. Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss and most people who try it lose money. Past results, including your own, do not predict future results. Verify contract specifications with your broker and your account rules with your firm; both change.