Lot size is the one number you control on every signal, and it is the number that decides whether a normal losing month is a scratch or the end of the account.
The formula
Lots = (account balance × risk per trade) ÷ (stop distance in pips × pip value per lot)
Three inputs you choose or read off the signal, one you look up once per pair.
- Account balance: what is in the account now, not what you hope will be.
- Risk per trade: the fraction you are willing to lose if the stop is hit. 1% is the common answer and a good default. 0.5% for a funded account with a daily loss limit. 2% only if you have been through a nine-stop month at 2% and slept.
- Stop distance: from the signal's entry to its SL, in pips.
- Pip value per standard lot: depends on the pair and your account currency.
Pip values you need
For a USD account, one standard lot (100,000 units):
| Instrument | One pip is | Value of one pip, one lot |
|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD, GBP/USD | 0.0001 | $10 |
| USD/JPY | 0.01 | 100,000 × 0.01 ÷ the USD/JPY rate; at a rate of 150 that is $6.67 |
| GBP/JPY, EUR/JPY | 0.01 | the same yen conversion, $6.67 at a USD/JPY rate of 150 |
| Gold (XAU/USD) | 0.1 (ten cents) | $10 |
On gold we count pips in tenths of a dollar: a move from 2,410.0 to 2,411.0 is 10 pips, and one lot is 100 ounces, so a ten-cent move on one lot is $10. Some brokers display an extra decimal on gold; that is a pipette, ignore it for sizing. If your account is in GBP or EUR, convert the dollar figures at today's rate once; the error from ignoring the conversion is small next to the error from getting the stop distance wrong.
Worked example 1: EUR/USD
Account $5,000, risk 1%, so $50 per trade. Signal: entry 1.0850, SL 1.0825, a 25-pip stop.
Lots = 50 ÷ (25 × 10) = 0.20 lots. A full stop costs $50. TP1 at 25 pips returns $50, TP3 at 75 pips returns $150.
Worked example 2: GBP/JPY
Same account and risk. Entry 190.50, SL 190.05, a 45-pip stop. Pip value $6.67 with USD/JPY at 150.
Lots = 50 ÷ (45 × 6.67) = 0.167, round down to 0.16 lots. Rounding down keeps risk under $50; rounding up takes it over. Always down.
Worked example 3: gold
Same account and risk. Entry 2,410.50, SL 2,418.50, an 80-pip stop ($8.00 of price).
Lots = 50 ÷ (80 × 10) = 0.0625, round down to 0.06 lots. A full stop costs $48.
Now the member with about $900 and 0.9 lots. At 0.9 lots gold, one pip is $9. A 50-pip stop is $450, about half the account. Two normal stops and the account is gone. At 1% risk he should have been at 0.01 lots (the smallest most brokers allow), risking $5 on a 50-pip stop, and if the maths said 0.002 lots he should have skipped gold until the account was larger. That is not a comment on him; it is what the formula returns.
When the answer is smaller than 0.01
Micro lots stop at 0.01. If the formula gives you less, you have two honest options: skip that signal, or accept that the trade risks more than your rule (0.01 lots on an 80-pip gold stop is $8; on a $500 account that is 1.6%). Do not take the third option, which is raising your risk rule to make the number fit.
Why a fixed lot size is the wrong shortcut
"I always trade 0.10" means your risk changes with every signal's stop. A 20-pip stop risks $20, a 60-pip stop risks $60, on the same rule. Gold stops are often several times wider in pips than forex stops. The fixed-lot trader is taking their largest risks on their widest stops, which is exactly backwards. Recalculating takes ten seconds and the app has a calculator that does it.
A month at 1%
In the 30 days to 21 September 2026 the VIP channel posted 85 signals; 79 resolved in the replay and 3 hit the stop before any target. At 1% per trade, three stops is 3% of the account, and that was a good month: plan your sizing on a worse one, because a month with nine stops at 1% is 9% before the winners, and at 3% it is 27%. What the winners returned at the same sizing is a per-trade sum, and the results page guide shows how to do it. Note what none of that says: it does not say the month felt good. Three stops in a week at 1% feels bad; at 3% it feels like the end. Size so that the bad week is a number and not a feeling.
Copier settings
The copier sizes trades for you in one of two modes: a fixed lot for every signal, or Risk %, which applies this formula on every signal using the signal's own stop. The Risk % default is 2.0; set it to the number you chose above before the first signal. The parameters guide explains both settings. Whichever you use, the arithmetic above is what the setting is doing on your behalf; check it once by hand so you know what a full stop will cost before the first one arrives.
See the signals before you pay for anything
Every closed VIP signal is on the results page with its entry, stop, targets and outcome, losses included. The free channel posts a selection each week.