Portfolio tools
Portfolio Risk Calculator
List every open trade and see the one number that matters: how much of your account is at risk if all the stops are hit, and whether five trades are really one bet.
- Total risk in dollars and percent
- Flags trades with no stop
- Shows hidden dollar exposure
- Up to 12 positions
Not a recommendation: the calculator adds up the risk you entered. It does not say which trades to take, and stops can fill worse than planned in a gap or a fast market.
Five trades, one bet: the dollar falls
Green segments are buys, red are sells, numbered like the rows. Hover a segment for its share.
Every pair here has the dollar on one side, so each trade is either short or long USD. Gold and silver are counted as dollar-quoted. It is a simplification, not a correlation measure.
Risk is the money you would lose from the price now (or from the entry if you leave Price now empty) to the stop, converted to dollars at the stop price. A stop that sits in profit still counts the profit you could give back from now. Spread, slippage, swap and commission are not included. Pip values assume a USD account.
Five trades or one bet?
Five open trades feel diversified. But when the same currency sits on one side of every pair, they tend to win or lose together. In the example above, gold, EURUSD and GBPUSD are buys and USDJPY is a sell. All five are the same idea: the dollar goes down.
The stop-loss total is the same either way, since it is just addition. What changes is how likely the stops are to hit at the same moment. Use the dollar view to see how your risk splits between long USD and short USD.
A buy on a pair such as EURUSD means buying euros and selling dollars, so it is short USD. A buy on USDJPY is the opposite.
| Symbol | If you buy | If you sell |
|---|---|---|
| XAUUSD | Short USD | Long USD |
| XAGUSD | Short USD | Long USD |
| EURUSD | Short USD | Long USD |
| GBPUSD | Short USD | Long USD |
| AUDUSD | Short USD | Long USD |
| NZDUSD | Short USD | Long USD |
| USDJPY | Long USD | Short USD |
| USDCAD | Long USD | Short USD |
| USDCHF | Long USD | Short USD |
Short USD in green, long USD in orange, only to tell them apart. Neither side is better.
Four portfolios, checked
Each button above loads one of these. Numbers use a $20,000 account, 1:100 leverage and a 3 percent cap.
| Portfolio | Open risk | % of equity | Margin | Result | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stacked dollar, 5 positions | $700 | 3.50% | $1,939 | Fail | Five buys and sells that all lean short USD. Risk is spread over five stops, but the total is above the cap and the positions share one theme. |
| Mixed themes, 4 positions | $407 | 2.03% | $1,025 | Pass | The long USD and short USD risk roughly balance. A stop in profit locks in $20, and the total is comfortably inside the cap. |
| Hedged pair, 2 positions | $800 | 4.00% | $1,736 | Fail | The net is only 0.40 lot, which looks small. But the buy risks $500 and the sell risks $300, so $800 is at risk if both stops are hit. |
| One stop missing, 3 positions | $200+ | 1.00%+ | $847 | Fail | The gold sell has no stop, so its risk is not limited and is left out of the total. The checker fails it, however small the rest looks. |
A plus sign means the total leaves out a position that has no valid stop. The result column shows the strictest check: a missing stop or a total above the cap fails, a total above 80 percent of the cap is flagged to check.
See the total on the chart, all day
Tachi Portfolio Sentinel is our MT5 utility for the question this page answers by hand. You set a risk budget for each group, and it flags exposure conflicts such as the same symbol and direction held by several groups. 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.
How many trades fit under a cap?
If every trade risks the same percent, the number of trades that fit under a total cap is the cap divided by the risk per trade, rounded down. Here it is for a few common choices. There is no single right cap: it depends on your strategy, your drawdown limits and your nerves.
| Risk per trade | 2% cap | 3% cap | 5% cap | 10% cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.25% each | 8 trades | 12 trades | 20 trades | 40 trades |
| 0.50% each | 4 trades | 6 trades | 10 trades | 20 trades |
| 1.00% each | 2 trades | 3 trades | 5 trades | 10 trades |
| 2.00% each | 1 trades | 1 trades | 2 trades | 5 trades |
Prop firms set their own daily loss and total loss limits, and those can be tighter than any cap you choose. See our prop firm drawdown calculator to check yours.
Portfolio risk calculator: how the numbers are worked out
- Risk to stop.
lots × contract size × direction × (price now − stop), converted to dollars. Price now is the entry if you leave it empty. - Open risk. The sum of the risk to stop for all positions that have a valid stop. It is the loss from now if every stop is hit.
- Equity if every stop is hit. Your equity minus the open risk. Enter equity including any floating profit or loss.
- Unbounded positions. A position with no stop, or a stop on the wrong side of price, is not counted as zero. It is listed, and a 1 percent move on its notional value is shown as a size guide.
- Margin.
lots × contract size × price ÷ leveragefor pairs quoted in dollars, andlots × contract size ÷ leveragefor USD-base pairs. - Dollar view. Buys on dollar-quoted symbols and sells on USD-base symbols are short USD. The other combinations are long USD.
Questions about portfolio risk
What is portfolio risk in trading?
It is the total amount you could lose across all open positions, usually measured as a percent of your account. If every stop is hit, it is the sum of each trade’s distance to its stop, converted to money.
Does the total include trades with no stop loss?
No. A trade with no stop has no limit on its loss, so any number would be a guess. It is flagged as unbounded and shown separately with the cost of a 1 percent move.
Why count a hedged pair as double the risk?
A buy and a sell on the same symbol cancel each other in price terms, but each has its own stop. If the price whipsaws, both stops can be hit, and you lose on both.
What does the dollar view tell me?
Most pairs have the dollar on one side. Positions that lean the same way on the dollar can lose together when the dollar moves. The view shows how your risk splits between long USD and short USD.
What risk cap should I use?
There is no standard answer. Many traders keep the total small compared with their loss limits, and prop firm rules can be stricter still. Use the cap as a line you set for yourself.
Why is my risk different from my broker platform?
Contract sizes and tick values vary, and the platform may use live conversion rates. Entry prices, swaps and commissions also change the real figure. This page assumes a USD account.
Is my data stored or sent anywhere?
No. Everything runs in your browser, and nothing you type is stored or sent.
Can I use it before I place a trade?
Yes. Add the planned trade as a new row and see how the total, the margin and the dollar view change before you place 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.