Calculators · futures risk

Futures position size calculator

Size a trade from your stop and risk budget. Include the costs and remaining loss limits you choose.

Stop · costs · limits

Your inputs stay on this device.

JavaScript is needed to calculate with your own values. The synthetic example, method and source units below remain readable. No personal result has been calculated and no values can be transferred.

Use a dot for decimals; do not include thousands separators. Enter plain numbers without currency symbols or exponents. Blank amounts are unknown, not zero.

Your trade

Contract Choose an outright linear futures contract or supply verified units manually.

Account currency Three uppercase letters, such as USD. Every budget and result uses this currency.

Risk budget Choose one budget basis. Equity and percentage are only used in Equity × risk % mode.

Trade risk budget The most you choose to allocate to this trade, in account currency.

Stop distance in Points must match the contract tick grid. Ticks must be whole numbers; the tool does not round your stop.

Stop distance Positive distance from entry to stop, in the selected unit. This excludes trading costs.

Needs unit verification. Preset units are not currently verified for calculation. Choose Manual to enter units you have checked.

Add costs and account limits below. Any information you leave unknown stays unknown.

Modeled maximum contracts

—

Enter your values to calculate.

For quantity checked · USD

Modeled amounts for the quantity checked, in account currency
Quantity checked	—
Total modeled loss	—
Stop component	—
Known trading costs	—
Unused budget	—
Binding limits	Not calculated
Ceiling using known inputs only	—

Exact modeled loss

Not calculated

Trading costs: unknown. Overall, daily and portfolio limits: not included. No quantity has been evaluated.

Modeled stop loss is not a limit on real market loss. Gaps, fills, margin and liquidation are not modeled.

Trading costs & a quantity to check

Enter each cost for this round trip. Entry and exit fees are per contract in your account currency. A blank field stays unknown.

Trading costs Not entered leaves cost coverage unknown. Choose modeled costs only when you can enter every component.

Check a contract quantity Optional whole number, including zero. Leave blank to evaluate the calculated maximum when all inputs are known.

Use zero only if that is your explicit assumption. It does not mean your broker charges nothing.

Check my remaining account limits

Optional. Turn on only the limits you want checked. Use current remaining room and additional risk from the current mark to your stops. Missing information in an enabled limit keeps the result incomplete.

Overall account limit

Include overall account limit Off means this limit is not included. When on, all four amounts are required for a complete result.

Daily loss limit

Include daily loss limit Off means this limit is not included. When on, missing information prevents a complete result.

Portfolio risk limit

Include portfolio risk limit Off means this limit is not included. When on, missing information prevents a complete result.

Put the result in context

A contract quantity is one part of a risk plan. Review the assumptions and limits behind the number before using it.

Only supported inputs are carried over. You confirm the rest.

Worked example · synthetic

Why the tightest limit changes the answer

The same trade can fit its trade budget and exceed a tighter account limit. This synthetic K01 uses a 200 USD trade budget and 150 USD of remaining daily room.

Synthetic example — not your account. Calculated with the same risk model as the form.
Limits considered	Contracts	Modeled loss	Binding limit
Trade budget only	4	198 USD	trade
All selected limits	3	149 USD	daily

Example assumptions: 45 USD stop loss per contract; 4 USD modeled costs per contract; 2 USD fixed round-trip cost. All selected limits and costs are known. These are illustrative inputs, not current contract terms or a recommendation.

Seven reproducible synthetic cases

Synthetic examples — not your account
Case	Trade budget	Limits	Costs	Maximum contracts	Quantity checked	Modeled loss for quantity checked	Result for quantity checked
K01	USD 200	overall: 700; daily: 150; portfolio: 300	known	3	3	149	fits
K01_OVER	USD 200	overall: 700; daily: 150; portfolio: 300	known	3	4	198	Does not fit the modeled limits
S01	USD 500		known	2	2	500	fits
S02	USD 500		known	1	1	256	fits
K02	USD 200	overall: 700; daily: Unknown; portfolio: 300	known	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	unknown — daily remaining room is not known.
K07_UNKNOWN	USD 200	overall: 700; daily: 150; portfolio: 300	unknown	Unknown	3	Unknown	unknown — Trading costs are not fully entered.
S03	USD 10		known	0	0	0	No trade candidate

Download the synthetic model cases: JSON · CSV. These are generated examples, not your account or trader outcomes.

“Use example” fills illustrative values and labels the result. “Use my own values” clears financial inputs so the example cannot become your account by accident.

How the quantity is calculated

For a complete model, the smallest selected risk budget sets the ceiling. The calculation uses whole contracts and includes the costs you entered.

Modeled loss = fixed round-trip cost + contracts × (stop loss per contract + modeled costs per contract)

Convert the stop distance using the contract’s point or tick value. A points-based stop must match the tick grid.
Include entry fees, exit fees, round-trip slippage and a fixed cost, once each. Unknown costs remain unknown.
Check the trade budget and each enabled remaining limit. Open-position risk and reserves are deducted only when the entered room does not already exclude them.
With complete inputs, choose the largest whole-contract quantity within every modeled limit. Zero contracts means no modeled execution cost. A quantity you enter is checked separately.

The “Ceiling using known inputs only” is an incomplete bound when costs or limits are unknown. It is not a quantity approved for trading. Money is displayed to two decimals; exact modeled amounts remain available with the result. The quantity calculation uses unrounded values.

Contract units & source dates

Only outright linear futures are supported. A preset needs current publication verification before use; missing or stale verification requires a new source check or your explicit manual units. Manual confirmation does not update a source date. Margin, live prices, contract expiry and trading hours are outside this model.

Reference units. A retrieval date is not an effective date or publication verification.
Contract	Per point	Tick size	Per tick	Source and dates
MES	5 USD	0.25 points	1.25 USD	Contract source Retrieved: 2026-10-05T15:23:47Z Publication verification: 2026-10-05T16:59:30Z Effective date: Not stated Version: 2026-10-05.2
MNQ	2 USD	0.25 points	0.5 USD	Contract source Retrieved: 2026-10-05T15:23:47Z Publication verification: 2026-10-05T16:59:30Z Effective date: Not stated Version: 2026-10-05.2
MYM	0.5 USD	1 points	0.5 USD	Contract source Retrieved: 2026-10-05T15:23:47Z Publication verification: 2026-10-05T16:59:30Z Effective date: Not stated Version: 2026-10-05.2
M2K	5 USD	0.1 points	0.5 USD	Contract source Retrieved: 2026-10-05T15:23:47Z Publication verification: 2026-10-05T16:59:30Z Effective date: Not stated Version: 2026-10-05.2

This calculator uses the assumptions you enter. It does not read a brokerage account, place trades or recommend a trade. Contract specifications and real execution conditions must be checked for your contract.