Position sizing by account size
Size from the drawdown you can survive — not from the profit you hope for.
The rule
Contracts = (account size × the drawdown % you can accept) ÷ the strategy's worst backtest drawdown per contract, rounded down. Example: $50,000 account, 10% budget = $5,000. A strategy with an $11,717.50 worst drawdown per full-size NQ would give 0 NQ — but one-tenth of that per MNQ ($1,171.75) gives 4 MNQ. Micros exist for exactly this reason.
- The calculator rounds down. If the result is 0, the strategy is too big for that account/risk level — don't round up.
- Max drawdown per strategy is TradingView's headline figure (includes intrabar). Per-micro drawdown is that figure ÷ 10 (the micro is 1/10 the size); real micro costs are proportionally higher.
- Margin is separate: confirm your broker's margin can carry the size through a losing streak.
- If you follow a stack, you hold one position at a time, but several strategies still add up over time — size from the stack's drawdown, not one strategy's.
- Prop-firm accounts: use the firm's maximum-loss limit as your budget, not the account's nominal size.
Calculator
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Guide table — 10% drawdown budget
Contracts shown as "micros · minis", rounded down, from the real backtest max drawdown per 1 full-size contract. The stack columns are in "units": 1 unit = 1 contract per strategy in the set (All-Instrument set: 1 each of ES B12_01, NQ Supertrend 1h, ES B8_03, GC Coral, NQ DPO and GC Elder Force; only one position is open at a time) and the drawdown is closed-trade (see performance); with micros you can trade tenths of a unit.
| Account | DD budget (10%) | NQ Connors DD $11,717.50/NQ | ES B12_01 DD $6,505/ES | NQ Supertrend DD $8,237.50/NQ | GC KAMA DD $14,832.50/GC | GC RSI2 Reclaim DD $4,387/GC | NQ Stack core DD $10,095/unit | ES Stack pack DD $10,378/unit | GC Stack DD $10,120/unit | All-Instrument set DD $7,138/unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $500 | 0 MNQ · 0 NQ | 0 MES · 0 ES | 0 MNQ · 0 NQ | 0 MGC · 0 GC | 1 MGC · 0 GC | 0 units | 0 units | 0 units | 0 units |
| $10,000 | $1,000 | 0 MNQ · 0 NQ | 1 MES · 0 ES | 1 MNQ · 0 NQ | 0 MGC · 0 GC | 2 MGC · 0 GC | 0 units | 0 units | 0 units | 0.1 units |
| $25,000 | $2,500 | 2 MNQ · 0 NQ | 3 MES · 0 ES | 3 MNQ · 0 NQ | 1 MGC · 0 GC | 5 MGC · 0 GC | 0.2 units | 0.2 units | 0.2 units | 0.3 units |
| $50,000 | $5,000 | 4 MNQ · 0 NQ | 7 MES · 0 ES | 6 MNQ · 0 NQ | 3 MGC · 0 GC | 11 MGC · 1 GC | 0.4 units | 0.4 units | 0.4 units | 0.7 units |
| $100,000 | $10,000 | 8 MNQ · 0 NQ | 15 MES · 1 ES | 12 MNQ · 1 NQ | 6 MGC · 0 GC | 22 MGC · 2 GC | 0.9 units | 0.9 units | 0.9 units | 1.4 units |
| $250,000 | $25,000 | 21 MNQ · 2 NQ | 38 MES · 3 ES | 30 MNQ · 3 NQ | 16 MGC · 1 GC | 56 MGC · 5 GC | 2.4 units | 2.4 units | 2.4 units | 3.5 units |
5% drawdown budget (more conservative)
| Account | DD budget (5%) | NQ Connors DD $11,717.50/NQ | ES B12_01 DD $6,505/ES | NQ Supertrend DD $8,237.50/NQ | GC KAMA DD $14,832.50/GC | GC RSI2 Reclaim DD $4,387/GC | NQ Stack core DD $10,095/unit | ES Stack pack DD $10,378/unit | GC Stack DD $10,120/unit | All-Instrument set DD $7,138/unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $250 | 0 MNQ · 0 NQ | 0 MES · 0 ES | 0 MNQ · 0 NQ | 0 MGC · 0 GC | 0 MGC · 0 GC | 0 units | 0 units | 0 units | 0 units |
| $10,000 | $500 | 0 MNQ · 0 NQ | 0 MES · 0 ES | 0 MNQ · 0 NQ | 0 MGC · 0 GC | 1 MGC · 0 GC | 0 units | 0 units | 0 units | 0 units |
| $25,000 | $1,250 | 1 MNQ · 0 NQ | 1 MES · 0 ES | 1 MNQ · 0 NQ | 0 MGC · 0 GC | 2 MGC · 0 GC | 0.1 units | 0.1 units | 0.1 units | 0.1 units |
| $50,000 | $2,500 | 2 MNQ · 0 NQ | 3 MES · 0 ES | 3 MNQ · 0 NQ | 1 MGC · 0 GC | 5 MGC · 0 GC | 0.2 units | 0.2 units | 0.2 units | 0.3 units |
| $100,000 | $5,000 | 4 MNQ · 0 NQ | 7 MES · 0 ES | 6 MNQ · 0 NQ | 3 MGC · 0 GC | 11 MGC · 1 GC | 0.4 units | 0.4 units | 0.4 units | 0.7 units |
| $250,000 | $12,500 | 10 MNQ · 1 NQ | 19 MES · 1 ES | 15 MNQ · 1 NQ | 8 MGC · 0 GC | 28 MGC · 2 GC | 1.2 units | 1.2 units | 1.2 units | 1.7 units |
Figures are mechanical arithmetic on hypothetical backtest drawdowns — they are not recommendations. Most beginners should choose a smaller budget than they think they can handle, and start on simulation.