Gold lot size calculator
How many lots of gold (XAU/USD) or gold futures fit your risk. Gold is quoted in dollars an ounce, so the calculator turns your stop in dollars into lots or contracts.
Market type
Risk is
Adds the risk to reward and what the trade makes if the target is reached.
Position size
0.06 lots
Loses $90.00 if the stop is hit (0.9% of the account). Exactly 0.0667 would fit, but orders go in steps of 0.01, so it rounds down.
= $15.00
Drag the stop or target line, or focus one and use the arrow keys. Each block is what one 0.01 lot loses at the stop.
- Money at risk
- $100.00
- Stop distance
- $15.00 (150 pips)
- Position value
- $24,000
- Risk to reward
- 1:2
- Makes at target
- $180.00
- Wins needed to break even
- 33%
Gold at a glance
- Spot gold lot
- 100 troy ounces at most brokers
- $1 move, 1 lot
- $100
- $1 move, 0.01 lot
- $1
- Gold futures (GC)
- 100 ounces, $0.10 tick = $10
- Micro Gold (MGC)
- 10 ounces, $0.10 tick = $1
What a move is worth
| Move | 1 lot | 0.1 lot | 0.01 lot |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.10 | $10.00 | $1.00 | $0.10 |
| $1.00 | $100.00 | $10.00 | $1.00 |
| $5.00 | $500.00 | $50.00 | $5.00 |
| $10.00 | $1,000.00 | $100.00 | $10.00 |
| $20.00 | $2,000.00 | $200.00 | $20.00 |
| $50.00 | $5,000.00 | $500.00 | $50.00 |
For an account in US dollars, with a lot of 100 ounces.
What a gold lot is worth
At most brokers one lot of XAU/USD is 100 troy ounces, so every $1 the gold price moves is $100 on a lot, $10 on 0.1 lot and $1 on 0.01 lot. Some brokers use other sizes; if yours differs, the dollar figures change in proportion.
Brokers also disagree on what a pip is in gold: most count $0.10, some $0.01. That is why this page measures the stop in dollars of gold price, which means the same thing everywhere.
A worked example
Account $10,000, 1% risk = $100. You buy gold at 4,000 with the stop at 3,985, a $15 stop. One lot loses $15 × 100 = $1,500 there, so $100 buys 0.06 lots (0.0667 rounded down), risking $90.
Gold often moves $20 to $50 in a day, so stops are wider than many traders expect and sizes smaller. A 0.5 lot position with a $15 stop risks $750.
Gold futures: GC and MGC
On CME, the gold future (GC) is 100 ounces like a spot lot: $0.10 ticks worth $10, $100 per $1. Micro Gold (MGC) is 10 ounces: $1 a tick and $10 per $1. Switch the calculator to Futures to size them in whole contracts.
The same $15 stop costs $150 on one MGC, so $100 of risk fits none; $150 of risk fits one.