Risk tools
Grid & Averaging Calculator
Every level you add pulls your average price closer to the market and pushes your account closer to stop-out. See both numbers, level by level, before you place the first order.
- Buy and sell grids
- Fixed, added or multiplied lots
- Break-even and stop-out price
Risk warning: grids and averaging down can lose a whole account when the market keeps moving one way. This is an educational calculator, not a strategy, and every example price is illustrative.
6 gold buys, 0.10 lot each, $5 apart, first entry 2,400.00
| Level | Entry | Lot | Total lots | Average | P/L at entry | Margin level |
|---|
Pending orders are assumed to fill exactly at each level. Margin is counted at each fill price. Swap and slippage are not included. Contract sizes are typical, so check Specification in your Market Watch.
How the average moves as you add levels
We ran one gold grid three ways: 10 buys, $5 apart, first entry at 2,400.00 with a 0.10 first lot, on a $10,000 account at 1:100. Only the lot growth changes.
A bigger lot on each new level drags the average toward the market, so a smaller bounce gets you back to it. But the margin and the loss grow too, because every dollar of further fall now costs more. Averaging down lowers the bounce you need, and raises the damage if the bounce never comes.
| Lot growth | Total lots | Average | Gap to average | Loss at last | 1 level more | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed 0.10 lot | 1.00 | 2,377.50 | $22.50 | −$2,250 | −$2,750 | $2,378 |
| Add 0.05 lot per level | 3.25 | 2,371.15 | $16.15 | −$5,250 | −$6,875 | $7,706 |
| Multiply by 1.5 per level | 11.34 | 2,364.14 | $9.14 | −$10,370 | −$16,040 | $26,809 |
Gold, buy grid, contract 100 oz. “Gap to average” is how far price must climb back from the last level just to reach the average. “1 level more” is the loss if price falls one more spacing.
How far can price fall before stop-out?
Same grid, fixed 0.10 lot for 10 levels, stop-out level 50%. The table shows how many dollars below the first entry stop-out arrives, for different account sizes and leverage.
A small account at high leverage can be stopped out inside the grid, while a large account is stopped out far below it. The stop-out line on the ladder is this same calculation with your own numbers.
Want to compare these figures with a live account? We may earn a commission if you open an account through our Exness link. It costs you nothing extra. Always read the leverage and stop-out level in your own account specification, not on this page. See our affiliate disclosure.
| Equity | 1:30 | 1:100 | 1:500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000 | $18 (4 filled) | $32 (7 filled) | $40 (9 filled) |
| $5,000 | $40 (9 filled) | $61 (10 filled) | $70 (10 filled) |
| $10,000 | $83 (10 filled) | $111 (10 filled) | $120 (10 filled) |
| $25,000 | $233 (10 filled) | $261 (10 filled) | $270 (10 filled) |
Distance below the first entry, with the number of levels filled when stop-out hits. Leverage changes the margin used, not the loss per dollar of price move, so more leverage means stop-out arrives sooner.
Three worked examples
| Grid | Setup | Total lots | Average | P/L at last level | Stop-out price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XAUUSD sell grid | sell from 2,400.00, $5 apart, 6 levels | 0.60 | 2,412.50 | −$750 | 2,567.10 |
| EURUSD buy grid | buy from 1.10000, 20 pips apart, 6 levels | 1.35 | 1.09370 | −$500 | 1.02510 |
| USDJPY buy grid | buy from 150.000, 30 pips apart, 5 levels | 1.00 | 149.400 | −$403 | 142.967 |
XAUUSD: 0.10 lot each level, $10,000 equity, 1:100. EURUSD: 0.10 first lot, add 0.05 per level, $10,000, 1:100. USDJPY: 0.20 lot each level, $5,000, 1:100. Stop-out level 50%, no costs. Enter the same numbers above to check them.
Keep the total in view
A grid stacks positions, and the total is easy to lose track of. Tachi Portfolio Sentinel is our MT5 utility that adds up open risk across the strategy groups on an account. Positions without a stop loss are listed as unbounded risk instead of being counted as zero, and it flags exposure conflicts such as the same symbol and direction held by several groups.
You set a risk budget for each group, then choose alerts only, or actions that cancel that group’s pending orders or close its positions. Every alert and action is written to a CSV log with the rule behind it.
Honest limits: it reacts after a position or order exists, because MT5 has no way to block another EA’s order before it is sent. It cannot guarantee a fill during a gap or a disconnect. On netting accounts it runs in monitor-only mode. It does not give trade signals or promise to keep you inside any limit.
See Tachi Portfolio Sentinel on MQL5This is our own product, and we earn money if you buy it.
The formulas
- Level price. Level
isits atfirst price − direction × i × spacing, where direction is +1 for a buy grid and −1 for a sell grid. - Average price.
sum(lot × price) / sum(lot)over the levels that have filled. - Floating P/L.
lot × contract × direction × (price now − entry), added up across levels. For USDJPY the result is in yen, so we divide by the price now to get dollars. - Break-even price. The average price moved by
(commission + spread cost) / (total lots × contract)in the direction that covers your costs. - Margin.
lot × contract × price / leveragefor each filled level (no price term for USDJPY, where USD is the base currency). - Margin level and stop-out. Margin level is
equity / margin × 100. Equity is account equity plus floating P/L. We search price step by step for the first point where margin level falls to your stop-out level.
Questions we get about grids
What is the average price of a grid?
It is the lot-weighted mean of every entry price. A level with a bigger lot counts for more. The calculator shows it for the levels that have actually filled at the price you have chosen on the ladder.
Is the average price the same as break-even?
Not quite. Break-even is the average price adjusted for what the trades cost you: commission, and the spread you pay to close. Swap is not included here. If you enter zero costs the two are equal.
Does a bigger lot on each level make a grid safer?
It makes recovery easier to reach and losses larger once price keeps going. The first table above shows both effects with real numbers. Whether that trade is acceptable depends on your account and your rules, and we do not recommend one.
What is a stop-out level?
It is the margin level at which your broker starts closing positions. It differs between brokers and account types, so enter the value from your own account specification. The default of 50% is only a placeholder.
Why is the stop-out price below the last level?
The last level only stops adding positions. The open positions keep losing as price falls, and stop-out arrives when the loss has eaten enough equity. With a smaller account it can arrive before the last level fills.
Why does USDJPY profit use the current price?
JPY is the quote currency, so profit is first counted in yen. Converting it to dollars needs a USD/JPY rate, and the calculator uses the price at the point you are looking at.
Can I use this for a sell grid?
Yes. Switch to Sell grid and the levels are placed above your first entry. Price moving up is then the adverse move and the slider follows it.
Related calculators
This calculator is for education and is not financial advice. Trading leveraged products carries a high risk of loss. Read our risk disclaimer and methodology. More of our MetaTrader tools are on our MQL5 seller page, and we earn money if you buy them.