Position Size Calculator
See how many shares to buy from your risk per trade and stop-loss — and exactly what's on the line.
Position size inputs
Risk per trade
Risk amount = ₹5,000 (₹5.00 L × 1.0%).
the gap from entry is your risk per share.
sets the risk-reward on the trade.
Risk per trade (streak)
Max drawdown you accept
Results update live — calculations run in your browser, no signup.
250 sh
You risk ₹5,000 (1.0% of capital) to target ₹15,000 — a 3.00:1 reward-to-risk.
How this trade splits your ₹5.00 L capital
At risk
the planned loss
Remaining
capital protected
Favourable risk-reward — you can be wrong more often than right and still profit.
Assumes you exit at the stop and it fills at or near it. A gap or slippage can exceed the planned loss. Not guaranteed.
Risk amount divided by risk per share — that's the whole calculation.
Risk Amount
₹5,000
₹5.00 L × 1.0%
Risk Per Share
₹20.00
entry − stop = ₹200.00 − ₹180.00
Position Size
250 sh
rounded down to whole shares
Position size = (capital × risk%) ÷ (entry − stop-loss). A wider stop buys fewer shares.
Account capital breakdown
At risk
the planned loss
Remaining
capital protected
Position value
₹50.0K
10% of capital
Cash spare
₹4.50L
left for other trades
Maximum loss (if stop-loss hits)
−₹5,000
That's 1.0% of your ₹5.00 L capital — 250 shares × ₹20.00 risk per share. Only if the stop is honoured; a gap can exceed it.
Risk to reward analysis
What you stand to make against what you stand to lose.
- Entry
- ₹200.00
- Stop
- ₹180.00
- Target
- ₹260.00
- Risk / share
- −₹20.00
- Reward / share
- +₹60.00
Risk Reward Ratio
3.00 : 1
favourable — you can be wrong more often than right and still profit
Stop loss impact on position size
Same ₹5,000 risk budget — a wider stop means fewer shares.
| Stop price | Risk/share | Position size |
|---|---|---|
| ₹190.00 | ₹10.00 | 500 sh |
| ₹185.00 | ₹15.00 | 333 sh |
| ₹180.00yours | ₹20.00 | 250 sh |
| ₹170.00 | ₹30.00 | 166 sh |
| ₹160.00 | ₹40.00 | 125 sh |
Long setup (stop below entry). Tighter stops buy more shares but leave less room.
Risk scenarios
Vary risk per trade on ₹5.00 L — how much you commit.
| Risk/trade | Risk amount | Position size |
|---|---|---|
| 0.3% | ₹1,250 | 62 sh |
| 0.5% | ₹2,500 | 125 sh |
| 1.0%yours | ₹5,000 | 250 sh |
| 1.5% | ₹7,500 | 375 sh |
| 2.0% | ₹10,000 | 500 sh |
Most disciplined traders cap a single trade near 1–2% of capital.
Futures / leverage impact
Leverage multiplies position and loss by the same factor.
| Leverage | Position size | Effective risk |
|---|---|---|
| No leverage | 250 sh | −₹5,000 1.0% |
| 2× | 500 sh | −₹10,000 2.0% |
| 5× | 1,250 sh | −₹25,000 5.0% |
| 10× | 2,500 sh | −₹50,000 10.0% |
Leverage scales the whole trade, not your risk per share. Set risk % on real capital.
Win/loss simulation
Capital left after N straight losses on ₹5.00 L.
| Losses in a row | At 1% risk | At 2% risk |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₹4.95 L (99%) | ₹4.90 L (98%) |
| 3 | ₹4.85 L (97%) | ₹4.71 L (94%) |
| 5 | ₹4.75 L (95%) | ₹4.52 L (90%) |
| 10 | ₹4.52 L (90%) | ₹4.09 L (82%) |
| 15 | ₹4.30 L (86%) | ₹3.69 L (74%) |
Each loss compounds on the reduced balance: capital × (1 − risk%)^losses.
Losing trades you can afford
Consecutive losses before your drawdown limit.
Risk per trade
1.0%
Max drawdown
20%
Adjust both with the losing-streak planner in the inputs.
22
losses in a row before a 20% drawdown at 1.0% risk
floor(ln(1 − 20%) ÷ ln(1 − 1.0%)). Halve the risk and you roughly double the streak you can absorb.
Position health score
A transparent /100 from five checks.
Risk per trade within 1–2% · 25 pts
You risk 1.0% of capital per trade
Stop-loss is defined · 20 pts
Stop 10.0% from entry
Risk-reward ratio ≥ 2:1 · 25 pts
Ratio is 3.00 : 1
Position size controlled (≤ capital) · 15 pts
10% of capital deployed
Survives a losing streak · 15 pts
22 losses before a 20% drawdown
Capital preservation matters
Same 10 losses on ₹5.00 L — 1% vs 5% risk.
Risk 1% / trade
₹4.52 L
90% left
Risk 5% / trade
₹2.99 L
60% left
5% risk leaves a 40% drawdown needing a 67% gain just to break even. Small, fixed risk keeps you in the game.
What if price moves?
P&L on 250 shares at key levels.
| Price | Level | Total P&L |
|---|---|---|
| ₹180.00 | Stop hit (−1R) | −₹5,000 -10.0% |
| ₹190.00 | Halfway to stop | −₹2,500 -5.0% |
| ₹200.00 | Entry (breakeven) | +₹0 0.0% |
| ₹230.00 | Halfway to target | +₹7,500 15.0% |
| ₹260.00 | Target hit | +₹15,000 30.0% |
P&L = shares × (price − entry). Real fills can differ on a gap.
Trade checklist
A discipline check against your own inputs.
- Stop-loss is defined
- Risk per trade within 1–2%
- Position size is calculated
- Risk-reward is 2:1 or better
- Position fits your cash (no forced margin)
Green is a plan you can act on; red is something to fix first. Education, not advice.
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Your setup: 250 shares of a ₹200.00 stock, risking ₹5,000 if the stop hits.
Size the whole trade
Pair position sizing with charges, averaging, and the returns your capital can compound to.
Position size = (capital × risk%) ÷ (entry − stop-loss), rounded down to whole shares. The figures assume you actually exit when the stop is hit and price fills at or near it. An overnight gap, a fast or illiquid market, or slippage can take you out below the stop — so the real loss can exceed the planned amount, and on a concentrated position that gap is felt on the whole holding. Risk-reward and R-multiple targets are illustrative framing of your own risk, not forecasts of where price will travel. This is for education, not personalised financial advice.
How the position size is calculated
Shares = (Capital × Risk%) ÷ (Entry − Stop-loss)
- Capital
- your total account capital
- Risk%
- fraction of capital you risk per trade
- Entry
- your planned entry price
- Stop-loss
- price at which you exit for a loss
Worked example
With your inputs — risking 1.0% of ₹5.00 L is a budget of ₹5,000. The gap from entry (₹200.00) to stop (₹180.00) is your risk per share: ₹20.00. Dividing the budget by the per-share risk and rounding down to whole shares gives 250 shares, a position worth ₹50,000 that loses about ₹5,000 if the stop is honoured. A tighter stop lets the same budget buy more shares; a wider stop forces a smaller position.
Most asked position-sizing questions
Position sizing decides how many shares to buy for a single trade. Instead of guessing, you work backwards from the loss you can afford if your stop-loss is hit — so each trade risks a known, fixed amount of capital.
You pick a small percentage of your total capital to risk per trade (say 1%). That rupee amount, divided by your per-share risk (entry minus stop-loss), gives the number of shares. The wider your stop, the fewer shares you buy.
The whole calculation depends on a real stop-loss. The distance from entry to stop is your risk per share, and the sizing only protects you if you actually exit when the stop is hit. Without an honoured stop, the position size means nothing.
Risking a small, fixed slice per trade means no single loss can seriously dent your capital, and a losing streak stays survivable. It's the discipline that keeps traders in the game long enough for their edge to play out.
Your initial risk on a trade — the rupee amount between entry and stop — is one 'R'. If a winner makes three times that amount, it's a 3R trade; a loss at the stop is −1R. Thinking in R lets you compare trades of very different sizes on one scale, and a positive expectancy in R is what makes a strategy profitable over time.
Risk-reward compares your potential reward per share (target minus entry) against your risk per share (entry minus stop). A 3:1 ratio means you stand to make ₹3 for every ₹1 you risk. With a ratio of 2:1 or better, you can be wrong more often than right and still come out ahead — which is why many traders won't take a trade that offers less.
Leverage (futures, margin) lets you control a larger position with the same cash, but it does not change the risk-per-share maths — it multiplies BOTH your position size and your rupee loss if the stop is hit. Sizing 250 shares unleveraged and risking ₹5,000 becomes a 2,500-share position risking ₹50,000 at 10x. The percentage you risk per trade should be set on your real account capital, not the leveraged position.
If you risk a fixed percentage each trade and accept a maximum drawdown, the number of consecutive losses you can take before hitting it is roughly ln(1 − maxDrawdown) ÷ ln(1 − riskPerTrade). At 1% risk you can lose about 20 trades in a row before a 20% drawdown; at 5% risk, only about 4. Lower risk per trade buys far more room to be wrong.
No. It caps the loss only if the stop-loss is actually honoured and the price fills at or near your stop. An overnight gap, a fast-moving market or slippage can take you out below the stop, so the real loss can exceed the planned figure. Treat the number as a disciplined plan, not a guarantee.
The complete guide to position sizing
Why position sizing matters more than entries
Position sizing turns risk into a deliberate choice rather than an afterthought. You decide upfront how much of your capital you're willing to lose on a trade, then let the gap between your entry and your stop-loss dictate how many shares you can hold. The point isn't to win every trade — it's to make sure no single loss can hurt you. Keeping risk per trade small and fixed means a string of losers stays survivable and your capital lives to compound. This calculator sizes by risk, not by conviction, so pair it with a stop-loss you'll actually honour.
How fixed-risk sizing is calculated
You pick a small percentage of your total capital to risk per trade — here 1.0% of ₹5.00 L, which is ₹5,000. The distance from your entry (₹200.00) to your stop (₹180.00) is your risk per share: ₹20.00. Dividing the budget by the per-share risk, and rounding down to whole shares, gives 250 shares. A tighter stop lets the same budget buy more shares; a wider stop forces a smaller position.
Thinking in R-multiples
Your initial risk — the ₹5,000between entry and stop on the sized position — is one "R". A loss at the stop is −1R; a winner that makes three times that is a 3R trade. Measuring outcomes in R lets you compare trades of very different rupee sizes on a single scale, and it's a positive expectancy in R — your average R across many trades — that makes a strategy profitable, not any one winner. R-multiple targets are illustrative framing of your risk, not a prediction of where price will go.
Why the stop-loss is the whole game
Every number here depends on a real stop-loss. The entry-to-stop distance is your risk per share, and the sizing only protects you if you genuinely exit when the stop is hit. The calculation caps your loss only when the stop is honoured and price fills at or near it. An overnight gap, a fast-moving or illiquid market, or slippage can take you out well below the stop, so the actual loss can exceed the planned figure — and on a concentrated position, that excess is felt across the whole holding. Sizing without an honoured stop is just guessing.