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Index position size calculator

Position size is not a preference. Once you have chosen what you are willing to lose and where the stop goes, the number of contracts is arithmetic.

Whole contracts2
Exact size the risk buys2.50 contracts
Risk budget100.00 GBP
Risk at the whole size80.00 GBP
One point, one contract2.00 GBP

Why it rounds down

You cannot hold 2.7 contracts, so the answer has to be a whole number - and rounding up would put more at risk than the amount you just specified. Rounding down means the position risks the same or less than your budget, which is why the risk at the whole size is shown separately: it is usually below the budget, and knowing by how much is the difference between sizing and guessing.

The contract size does the work

An index has no natural contract size. A cash position at £2 a point, a spread bet at £5 a point and a futures contract with a fixed multiplier all track the same index and convert a point into entirely different amounts of money. That number, not the index, decides how many contracts a given risk buys - which is why it is an input here rather than something looked up.

What this tool will not tell you

What to risk, where to put the stop, or whether to take the trade. Those are decisions about your plan and your circumstances, and nothing here is a recommendation about any of them. This page does the arithmetic once the decisions are made.

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<iframe src="https://ticksprout.com/tools/index-position-size?balance=10000&currency=GBP&risk=1&stop=20&size=2&index=GBP&rate=1&embed=1" width="100%" height="660" style="border:0" title="Index position size calculator" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<a href="https://ticksprout.com/tools/index-position-size">Index position size calculator by Tick Sprout</a>

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Index position size calculator