Tools
XAUUSD lot size: size from the stop, not from habit
Put in what you are willing to lose and where your stop is. It gives you the size.
XAUUSD lot size is the one number that decides whether a losing streak is survivable.
Entry can be average and the trade still works out. Size cannot be average. The way to
get it right is to work backwards: decide what you are willing to lose on this trade,
measure how far your stop is, and let those two give you the lot.
Work out your lot size
Lot size from your risk and your stop
Nothing is sent anywhere. The maths runs in your browser.
Why the stop has to come first
Most people pick a lot size, then place a stop wherever there is room. That is
backwards, and it is why a wide stop and a normal lot empties an account faster than
anyone expects. On gold a 0.10 lot is a dollar a pip, so a 100 pip stop on a 0.10 lot is
a hundred dollars whether the account is a thousand or ten thousand.
The order that works is: find the level, put the stop on the far side of it, measure
the distance, then let the size fall out of that. Some days the setup gives you a 20 pip
stop and a bigger lot. Some days it is 80 pips and a small one. The risk stays the same
either way, and that is the whole point.
What one percent actually looks like
| Balance | 1% risk | 40 pip stop | 80 pip stop |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | $5 | 0.01 lot | 0.01 lot |
| $1,000 | $10 | 0.03 lot | 0.01 lot |
| $5,000 | $50 | 0.13 lot | 0.06 lot |
| $10,000 | $100 | 0.25 lot | 0.13 lot |
| $25,000 | $250 | 0.63 lot | 0.31 lot |
Notice how the lot halves when the stop doubles. That is the calculator doing the only
job it has.
Leverage is not the same thing
Leverage decides whether the broker will let you open the position. Risk decides
whether the position can hurt you. A 1:500 account will happily let you open a 2.00 lot
on a small balance, and that lot is twenty dollars a pip. The broker is not going to stop
you. The stop distance and the size are the only things that will.
Free download
Gold Levels Cheat Sheet (PDF)
Order blocks, fair value gaps, PDH and PDL, and the session times in nine countries. Two pages, no email needed.
See xauusd lot size on the live chart
We run a live chart through every session with the levels marked on it, the zones shaded, and every order block and fair value gap labelled as it forms. Watch the live chart.
Every trade we close is published in pips on the results page, wins and losses both, with the date it closed and how far it ran. What your spread and commission take out of that is on the cost calculator.
Related: gold pip value · lot size calculator · break even stop · smart money concepts · trading hours · order block · fair value gap · PDH and PDL
Education only, not financial advice. Trading gold carries a high level of risk and past results do not predict future results.