Stop-loss and take-profit calculator

What stop-loss and take-profit orders do

A stop-loss order closes a position automatically once price moves a set distance against you. A take-profit order closes it once price moves a set distance in your favour. Together they define the trade before it starts: what you are prepared to lose, what you are aiming to make, and therefore the reward-to-risk ratio.

Working out the exact prices by hand is easy to get wrong under pressure. A pip is 0.0001 on most pairs, 0.01 on yen pairs and 0.1 on gold, and a sell's stop sits above the entry rather than below it. This calculator does the arithmetic for both directions and every instrument in the list, and gives you prices you can type straight into the order ticket.

It also handles the question that comes next: once the stop is set, how big should the position be? Add a balance and a risk percentage and it returns the lot size, using the same pip values as the position size calculator.

The formulas

First turn the stop distance into a price distance d. In pips, d = pips × pip size. As a percentage, d = entry × % ÷ 100. Then:

Buy: stop = entry − d. Take-profit at kR = entry + k × d.

Sell: stop = entry + d. Take-profit at kR = entry − k × d.

An R multiple is the target distance divided by the stop distance. A 2R take-profit is twice as far from the entry as the stop, so if it is hit it pays twice what the stop would have cost. For the lot size:

Lots = (balance × risk %) ÷ (stop in pips × value of one pip per lot)

Pip value per lot is $10 for pairs quoted in US dollars on a dollar account, and is converted for yen pairs, crosses and other account currencies. If neither side of the pair matches your account currency, the calculator asks for the conversion rate rather than guessing it.

A worked example

A hypothetical GBP/USD buy with the calculator's default values: entry 1.2700, a 40-pip stop, targets at 1R, 2R and 3R, a $10,000 account risking 1%.

1. Price distance: 40 × 0.0001 = 0.0040.
2. Stop-loss: 1.2700 − 0.0040 = 1.2660.
3. Take-profits: 1.2700 + 0.0040 = 1.2740 (1R), + 0.0080 = 1.2780 (2R), + 0.0120 = 1.2820 (3R).
4. Money at risk: 1% of $10,000 = $100.
5. Lot size: $100 ÷ (40 pips × $10) = 0.25 lots, so TP1 pays $100, TP2 $200 and TP3 $300 if the whole position is still open.

The same tool works in percentages, which is often more natural on gold. A gold buy at 2,350.00 with a stop 1% away puts the stop 23.50 below the entry, at 2,326.50, which is 235 pips, and a 2R target at 2,397.00.

Where to put the stop and the targets

Put the stop where the idea fails, not where the money runs out. Beyond the swing low for a buy, beyond the swing high for a sell, or past the level the setup depends on. Then size the position to fit the stop. Shrinking the stop to afford a bigger position is the most common way a sound idea gets stopped out by normal movement.

Give the stop room for volatility. A stop inside the instrument's normal hourly range will be hit by noise. Gold, GBP/JPY and news hours need wider stops than EUR/USD in a quiet Asian session; our trading sessions guide explains when each market tends to move.

Use more than one target if it suits your plan. Closing part of the position at 1R and letting the rest run to 2R or 3R is common. It lowers the average reward per trade but raises how often a trade pays something. Decide this before entry, not while the trade is open. The lesson on take-profit placement compares the main approaches.

Allow for the spread on sells. Charts normally show the bid price, but a sell is closed at the ask. A sell's stop therefore triggers when the ask reaches it, which is one spread before the chart line touches it, and its target is reached one spread later. On tight stops this matters.

Common stop-loss and take-profit mistakes

Moving the stop further away once the trade is losing. It turns a planned 1R loss into a 2R or 3R loss and breaks every calculation on this page. If the reason for the trade still holds, the original stop was in the right place; if it does not, the trade should close.

Using the same pip distance on every instrument. Twenty pips is a wide stop on EUR/GBP during the Asian session and almost nothing on gold during the New York open. Base the distance on the chart and the instrument's normal range, or use the percentage option so the stop scales with price.

Setting targets the market rarely reaches. A 3R target looks good in the calculator, but if price usually stalls at a nearby level, most trades will reverse before getting there. Check whether there is room between entry and target on the chart before choosing the multiple.

Forgetting the lot size after setting the stop. A correct stop on an oversized position still loses too much. Enter your balance and risk percentage so the lot size is worked out from the stop, and round it down to your broker's lot step.

Mixing up pips and points. MetaTrader measures in points, a tenth of a pip on most pairs. Typing a 30-pip stop as 30 points places it 3 pips away.

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