Stop Loss Calculator — Free Stop Loss & Take Profit Tool
Calculate your stop loss price and distance in pips based on your account size and risk percentage. Instantly see take profit targets for multiple risk:reward ratios to plan complete trade setups.
Risk per Trade
Sets the pip size: 0.01 for yen pairs, 0.0001 for the others
Prefilled at the reference price — use your broker's figure
Current ATR of the pair in pips
1.5x = tight, 2x = standard, 3x = wide
Dollar Risk
$100.00
Stop Loss Distance
10.0 pips
Stop Loss Price
1.08596
| R:R Ratio | TP Distance (pips) | Take Profit Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1:1 | 10.0 pips | 1.08796 |
| 1:1.5 | 15.0 pips | 1.08846 |
| 1:2 | 20.0 pips | 1.08896 |
| 1:3 | 30.0 pips | 1.08996 |
Last reviewed · How we check our calculators
How to Use the Stop Loss Calculator
Start by entering your account size in USD and setting your risk percentage — type it in the box (e.g. 1.25%) or drag the slider. Most professional traders risk between 0.5% and 2% per trade — the default is 1%.
Enter your entry price and select the trade direction (Long for buy trades, Short for sell trades). Input the pip value per lot for your currency pair ($10 for USD-quote majors such as EUR/USD and GBP/USD — the pip calculator gives the exact figure for other pairs) and your lot size. Pick the currency pair too: it sets the pip size used for the stop and target prices — 0.01 for yen pairs such as USD/JPY, 0.0001 for the others.
Optionally, enter the pair's ATR in pips and a multiplier (1.5× is the default) to compare your risk-based stop with a volatility-based one.
As you type, the result shows your exact stop loss placement in pips and price levels, plus a table of take profit prices for 1:1, 1:1.5, 1:2, and 1:3 risk:reward ratios so you can plan your entire trade before entering.
The Formula
The stop loss calculator uses the following formulas:
- Dollar Risk = Account Size × (Risk % ÷ 100)
- Stop Loss (pips) = Dollar Risk ÷ (Pip Value per Lot × Lot Size)
- Stop Loss Price (Long) = Entry Price − (Stop Loss Pips × Pip Size)
- Stop Loss Price (Short) = Entry Price + (Stop Loss Pips × Pip Size)
- Take Profit Price (Long) = Entry Price + (Stop Loss Pips × R:R × Pip Size)
- Pip Size = 0.01 for JPY-quoted pairs (USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY), 0.0001 for all other pairs
For example: $10,000 account, 1% risk = $100. Pip value $10, 0.5 lots. Stop Loss pips = $100 ÷ ($10 × 0.5) = 20 pips. For a long entry at 1.0850: SL = 1.0830, TP at 1:2 = 1.0890.
Practical Examples
Example 1 — EUR/USD Long at 1.0850
- Account: $10,000 | Risk: 1% = $100
- Pip Value: $10 (EUR/USD standard) | Lot Size: 0.5
- Stop Loss = $100 ÷ ($10 × 0.5) = 20 pips
- SL Price = 1.0850 − 0.0020 = 1.0830
- TP at 1:2 = 1.0850 + 0.0040 = 1.0890 ($200 potential profit)
Example 2 — GBP/USD Short at 1.2650
- Account: $5,000 | Risk: 2% = $100
- Pip Value: $10 | Lot Size: 0.5
- Stop Loss = $100 ÷ ($10 × 0.5) = 20 pips
- SL Price = 1.2650 + 0.0020 = 1.2670
- TP at 1:3 = 1.2650 − 0.0060 = 1.2590 ($300 potential profit)
Example 3 — USD/JPY Long at 160.00
- Account: $10,000 | Risk: 1% = $100
- Pip Value: $6.25 (¥1,000 per lot ÷ 160.00) | Lot Size: 0.8
- Stop Loss = $100 ÷ ($6.25 × 0.8) = 20 pips
- SL Price = 160.00 − (20 × 0.01) = 159.80
- TP at 1:2 = 160.00 + 0.40 = 160.40 ($200 potential profit)
Example 4 — Checking the Stop Against Volatility (ATR)
Same EUR/USD long as Example 1, but the pair's daily range is wider than a 20-pip stop can tolerate. With an ATR of 12 pips and a 2× multiplier:
- ATR stop = 12 × 2 = 24 pips, at 1.0826
- Risk at 0.5 lots = 24 pips × $10 × 0.5 = $120 — 1.2% of the account, above your 1% limit
- To keep the volatility-based stop and the $100 risk, cut the size to $100 ÷ (24 × $10) ≈ 0.42 lots
This is the usual way to combine the two methods: let market structure or volatility choose the stop distance, then let your risk percentage choose the position size.
Common Stop Loss Mistakes
- Stops inside normal noise. A stop tighter than the pair's typical hourly or daily range gets hit by random movement, not by the trade being wrong.
- Stops on obvious round numbers. Many orders cluster at levels like 1.0800; placing yours a few pips beyond the level is common practice.
- Ignoring the spread and news gaps. A stop is filled at the next available price, which can be worse than the stop level around major releases or the weekly open.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most professional traders risk between 0.5% and 2% of their account per trade. At 1% risk of the current balance, a 10-trade losing streak costs about 9.6% of the account, and even 50 straight losses would leave roughly 60% of it. Beginners should start with 0.5–1%. Risking more than 2% per trade is generally considered aggressive and can lead to rapid account depletion during losing streaks. The exact percentage depends on your win rate, R:R ratio, and psychological tolerance.
Stop losses should be placed at technically significant levels, not arbitrary pip distances. Common placements include: below the nearest support level for long trades, above resistance for short trades, beyond the recent swing high or low, or just outside a key moving average. The risk percentage approach works backward from these technical levels — you place the SL where it makes technical sense, then adjust your position size so the dollar risk stays within your limit.
For a fixed dollar risk, lot size and stop loss distance are inversely related. A larger lot size requires a tighter stop loss, while a smaller lot size allows a wider stop loss — all for the same dollar risk. This is critical: if your technical stop loss requires 50 pips, reduce your lot size accordingly rather than tightening your stop to fit a larger position. Artificially tight stops lead to premature stop-outs and poor trade results.
A minimum R:R of 1:1.5 is recommended, with 1:2 being the most commonly cited target among professional traders. At 1:2, you only need a 33% win rate to break even, giving your strategy significant room for losing trades. Higher R:R ratios (1:3, 1:4) are excellent but harder to achieve as take profit targets are further away and less likely to be hit. The optimal R:R depends on your strategy's win rate — use our Risk Reward Calculator to find your break-even win rate for any ratio.
Moving your stop loss to break even is a popular risk management technique that eliminates downside risk once a trade has moved in your favor. Many traders do this once the trade has moved a distance equal to their initial risk (i.e., 1R in profit). While this protects capital, it can also cause premature exits on normally volatile pairs. A compromise is to move the stop to break-even only after the trade has reached at least 1:1 R:R, or to use a trailing stop that follows the price at a fixed distance.
Sources
- Van K. Tharp, Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom (2nd ed.) (McGraw-Hill, 2006)
- Percentage in point (pip) (Wikipedia)
- Kathy Lien, Day Trading and Swing Trading the Currency Market (3rd ed.) (Wiley, 2015)
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