Trade planner: position size and net risk-reward on a chart
Drag entry, stop and target on a live chart. See the size to trade, what you keep after fees and slippage, the win rate you need to break even, and, for leveraged crypto, where liquidation sits.
How to use the trade planner
- Pick a market. Press the symbol button and choose a crypto pair or forex rate, or open your own CSV file.
- Place the position. The planner starts with a long position at the last price. Press ▼ Short for a short, or click ▲ Long and then the chart to start again somewhere else.
- Drag the handles. The three round handles on the right edge move the target, entry and stop. You can also type exact prices in the Plan tab.
- Set your account and costs. Enter your account size and risk per trade. Open “Costs, leverage & limits” to set fees, slippage, spread, leverage and your own risk limits.
- Read the result. Size, net reward-to-risk, break-even win rate, expectancy, and what you keep or lose after costs. The checks underneath warn you about wrong-side stops, too much risk, not enough margin and a liquidation price that comes before the stop.
The formulas
Size = Risk amount ÷ |Entry − Stop| (rounded down)
RR = |Target − Entry| ÷ |Entry − Stop|
c = Round-trip costs ÷ Amount at risk
Net win = RR − c · Net loss = 1 + c
Net R:R = Net win ÷ Net loss
Break-even win rate = (1 + c) ÷ (RR + 1)
Expectancy = W × Net win − (1 − W) × Net loss
For forex, size is in lots: pips = distance ÷ pip size (0.0001, or 0.01 for yen pairs), and lots = risk ÷ (pips × pip value per lot). For a pair quoted in US dollars, one pip on one standard lot of 100,000 units is worth $10.
Worked example 1: a stock trade
Account $10,000, risk 1%, so $100 at risk. Entry $100, stop $95, target $112, commission $1 per order.
- Distance to stop $5, so size = 100 ÷ 5 = 20 shares.
- Gross RR = 12 ÷ 5 = 2.4. Costs $2 = 0.02R.
- Net win 2.38R, net loss 1.02R, net R:R 2.33 : 1.
- Break-even win rate 1.02 ÷ 3.4 = 30.0% (29.4% before costs).
- Target hit: +$238 after costs. Stop hit: −$102.
Worked example 2: a leveraged crypto trade
Account $10,000, risk 1%. Long BTC/USDT perpetual at 60,000, stop 58,800, target 63,600, 10× leverage, 0.05% fee and 0.02% slippage per side, 0.5% maintenance margin.
- Size = 100 ÷ 1,200 = 0.083333 BTC, about $5,000 notional, $500 margin.
- Fees $5.00 and slippage $2.00, so costs are $7.00 = 0.07R.
- Gross RR 3.0, net R:R 2.74 : 1, break-even win rate 26.75%.
- At a 30% win rate the expectancy is +0.13R, about +$13 per trade.
- Estimated liquidation 60,000 × (1 − 0.1 + 0.005) = 54,300, below the stop, so the stop is hit first.
Leverage changed the margin, not the size. The size comes from the stop distance and the amount you are willing to lose.
Why costs matter more than they look
A cost of 0.07R sounds small, but it raises the break-even win rate from 25% to 26.75% on a 3 : 1 trade. On tight stops the effect grows fast. With a stop a quarter as far away, the position is four times larger, so the same percentage costs come to $28, or 0.28R, and break-even on a 3 : 1 trade rises to 32%. The planner shows this on every trade so you can see when a setup is too tight to pay for itself.
Frequently asked questions
How is the position size worked out?
Risk amount = account × risk %. Size = risk amount ÷ distance from entry to stop, then rounded down to whole shares, 0.01 forex lots or the coin step. Because it rounds down, the real risk is equal to or slightly below your limit, and the planner shows the real figure.
What does net reward-to-risk mean?
It is the reward-to-risk after costs. Costs are turned into R (costs ÷ amount at risk). A win becomes RR − costs and a loss becomes 1 + costs. Net R:R is the first divided by the second, so it is always a little lower than the ratio of the price distances.
How is the break-even win rate calculated?
Break-even win rate = (1 + c) ÷ (RR + 1), where c is costs in R and RR is the gross reward-to-risk. With RR 3 and costs of 0.07R you need to win 26.75% of trades just to stand still.
Is the liquidation price exact?
No. It is the common approximation for an isolated-margin linear perpetual: entry × (1 − 1/leverage + maintenance margin) for a long. Exchanges use tiered maintenance margins, fees and mark price, so the real level can differ. Treat it as a warning line and keep the stop well before it.
Can I plan a trade on an Indian stock?
Yes, with your own data: export daily OHLC for the stock as a CSV and open it with the CSV button. Use the Stocks preset and enter your broker’s commission. For the full list of Indian charges, including STT, exchange fees, stamp duty and GST, use the brokerage calculator.
Is this a recommendation to trade?
No. The planner does arithmetic on numbers you choose. It does not suggest entries, exits or instruments.
Written and maintained by Mantu Kumar
Mantu builds the TradeProfy calculators and checks every formula with worked examples. Each page lists its data sources and assumptions. TradeProfy explains costs and maths but never tells you what to buy or sell.