Tutorial 3 of 6
Size a trade from your risk budget
Intermediate 6 min
Use the Risk planner to size a long or short paper trade from account, risk %, entry, stop, target and fees, read the move map and send the plan to the order ticket.
The Risk planner answers one question before you write a ticket: how many units can I hold if the loss at my stop must not exceed a fixed share of the account? All numbers are your assumptions; RavingDesk fetches no prices and places no order.
1. A long plan
Open Risk planner on a new desk (File → New desk). Set Direction Long, Account size 100000, Risk per trade (%) 1, Entry price 100, Stop price 95, Target price 110 and Estimated round-trip fee 2. The figures update as you type:
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Units | 199.6 |
| Risk budget | $1,000.00 |
| Loss at stop | −$1,000.00 |
| Profit at target | +$1,994.00 |
| Reward / risk | 1.99 |
| Position value | $19,960.00 (20.0 % of the account) |
How it works: the risk budget is 1 % of 100,000 = 1,000. The fee comes out first, leaving 998, and each unit loses 5 between entry and stop, so 998 ÷ 5 = 199.6 units. At the target each unit gains 10: 1,996 minus the fee = 1,994. Units are fractional; round down to whole units or lot sizes yourself.
2. The price move map
Price move map lists the gross profit or loss of the planned quantity at −10 %, −5 %, 0, +5 % and +10 % from the entry, without fees. At −10 % (price 90) the long loses $1,996.00 — twice the risk budget, because the stop at 95 is assumed to work. Stops are not guaranteed fills: gaps and slippage can make the real loss larger.
3. A short plan
Switch Direction to Short. Now the stop must be above the entry and the target below it; with the values above the planner shows Place the stop and target on the correct sides of entry. until you fix them. Try Stop price 104, Target price 90, Risk per trade (%) 0.5 — the values of the Short position example: 124.5 units, loss at stop −$500.00, profit at target +$1,243.00, reward/risk 2.49.
When the position value is larger than the account, a warning says that holding it would need leverage or margin, which the planner does not model.
4. Send the plan to the ticket
Press Use in order ticket. The Orders desk opens with Side, Order type Limit, Quantity and Limit or stop price filled in from the plan. Add the Symbol, check the values and press Add paper order.
The planner inputs are saved with the desk, so the plan is still there next time. The same calculation is available as the tool RavingDesk Position Size & Risk Planner for scripts and AI agents.
Next steps
Track the trade's mark and its sources in the watchlist and price chart.
Ready to try it?