Position size calculator
The lot size at which a stop-out costs the amount you chose.
Free risk tools
Gap risk check
A stop-loss is an order, not a promise. When the market jumps past it on news or over a weekend, the trade closes at the first price after the jump. See what that costs at your size before you hold through it.
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The trade
If the market jumps
An example with typical numbers. Change any box to use your own.
The gap breaks your limit. A gap of 25 past your stop would cost $240.00 (2.40% of the account), 2.7 times the $90.00 you planned and over your 2%.
- At the stop
- $90.00 (0.90%) for this buy of 0.06 lots, 15 from the entry.
- With normal slippage
- $93.00 (0.93%) if the stop fills 0.5 worse.
- After the gap
- $240.00 (2.40%) if the market opens at 3960, 25 past the stop.
- Size that fits the gap
- 0.05 lots: even this gap stays inside 2%. At the stop it risks 0.75% of the account.
- Gap your size can take
- About 18.3 past your stop before the loss reaches 2%.
- At the stop$90.00
- With normal slippage$93.00
- After the gap$240.00
- Your limit, 2%$200.00
The gap is your number: look at past Monday opens and news candles on your own chart. Contract sizes are the common MetaTrader ones; check your broker's symbol specification. Commission and swap are not included.
Education only, not investment advice. The answer comes from the numbers you typed in, not from your account or the market. Simulated results are hypothetical and have limits: real trading has slippage, gaps, changing results and emotions. Trading leveraged products can lose money quickly, including all of it. Risk warning
Educational only, not financial advice; trading involves risk.
When a stop does not hold
A stop-loss becomes a market order when the price touches it. In a calm market it fills at or near the stop. When the price jumps instead of moving, after a central bank decision, a jobs report, or between Friday's close and Monday's open, there is no price at your stop to fill at, and the trade closes at the first price after the jump.
That is why a 1% risk per trade can become a 3% loss on one bad open. The fix is not to give up stops but to size for the gap you could meet: smaller before big news and over weekends, or flat.
How to use it
- Before you hold a trade over a weekend or a high-impact release, put the gap you fear here and take the size that fits.
- Size the normal case with the position size calculator, and run the trade through the pre-trade check, which blocks trades with news due.
- A guaranteed stop, where your broker offers one, closes at your price for a fee. Compare that fee with the gap cost here.
Not advice and not a forecast. The answer is arithmetic on the numbers you type, not a view on any market.
Next tools
Stop noise check
How often normal wiggle alone reaches your stop.
Margin and stop-out calculator
How far the price can move before the broker closes you.
Pricing
Three ways in. Pick yours.
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Baroq never holds your money and never trades for you. Educational only, not financial advice; trading involves risk.