Tools and platforms

Calculator

Sizing Futures, Stock and Options Trades to a Risk Budget

Open Calculator in the app
By HedgePulse EducationReviewed by HedgePulse Product5 min read

Changed October 21, 2026 New guide, including the Options strategies, payoff chart and thinkorswim orders.

Quick read: the guide in 4 cards
01 / Risk first

Start from what you can lose

Set the account size and the risk as a percent or in dollars. That risk budget drives every result.

  • Account size
  • Percent or dollars
  • Risk budget
02 / Futures and stock

Size from the stop distance

Enter a stop distance, or entry, stop and target. The Calculator rounds the size down so the loss stays inside the budget.

  • Stop Distance
  • Entry / Stop / Target
  • Micro contracts
03 / Options

See the risk of a strategy

Pick a strategy and expiration. Prices are estimates from HedgePulse's ATM IV unless you type your broker's price.

  • Max loss and gain
  • Breakevens and Greeks
  • Payoff with PG, ZG, NG
04 / Your broker

HedgePulse never places trades

Paste a thinkorswim order to load it, or copy the setup as an order to check in thinkorswim.

  • Paste an order
  • Copy an order
  • Check before sending

What the Calculator does

Open Calculator. It turns a risk budget into a position size, and shows an options strategy's risk before you place it.

The Calculator is planning math. It is not a recommendation, and HedgePulse never places trades.

Set your risk budget

Control What it sets
Instrument Futures, Stock or Options. The page opens on Options
Risk basis Percent of the account or Dollars
Account size Your account value
Risk percent 0.25%, 0.5%, 1% or 2%, or your own value
Dollar risk The amount, when the basis is Dollars

The Risk budget at the top is the most you plan to lose on this trade. Reset returns the inputs to their defaults.

Futures

  1. Pick the Futures market, such as ES, NQ, RTY, YM, GC, SI or CL. Tick Use micro contract for MES, MNQ, MYM, MGC, SIL or MCL.
  2. Choose the Calculation mode:
    • Stop Distance: enter how far the stop is, plus an optional Reward multiple.
    • Entry / Stop / Target: enter the three prices.
  3. Read Calculated size: the contracts, Max loss, Target reward, and the tick math (tick size, tick value, stop ticks).

The size is rounded down to whole contracts, so the loss never exceeds the budget. If one contract already risks more than the budget, the size is zero. Futures contract specs lists the tick size and value used for each contract.

Stock

The same two modes, with shares instead of contracts. Results show the shares, Max loss, Capital used and Target reward. Shares are rounded down too.

Options

Build the position

  1. Type a Symbol. The last price and its time show under it.
  2. Choose the expiration: Scope Manual or a preset (0DTE, Weekly, Monthly, Next Month, Quarter), then the Expiration. Each date shows its days left and HedgePulse's ATM IV.
  3. Pick a Strategy:
Group Strategies
Single option Long call, Long put
Naked short option Short put, Short call
Vertical Call or put debit spread, put or call credit spread
In/out spread Calls or puts
Butterfly Call, put, and broken-wing butterflies
Ratio backspread Call or put, 1×2
Risk twist Put or standalone bullish call version, with an optional far short leg; the put version also retains its optional 1×2 call add-on
Condor Call, put, iron and reverse iron condors
Calendar and diagonal Call or put calendars and diagonals, with a back expiration
  1. Set the strikes and gaps the strategy asks for. The legs show as SELL and BUY lines.
  2. For strategies with open-ended risk, set Exit if price reaches. The loss at that price is used for sizing.

Risk Twist choices

The put version sells one put and buys three lower-strike puts. The bullish call version sells one call and buys three higher-strike calls. Each can include one additional short option beyond the three long options. Removing that far short leg leaves a 1×3 ratio backspread. The far sale brings in premium but reduces the payoff from a further move beyond that strike; it is not a free reduction in risk.

Suggest listed strikes selects distinct strikes observed for the selected expiration and option side, nearest modeled absolute deltas of 0.375, 0.245 and 0.20. It uses the existing saved contract data, not a new provider request. If that bounded data does not contain suitable contracts, no suggestion is applied. Decimal strikes are possible when those exact strikes appear in the contract data; the calculator does not invent a fractional strike to hit a delta target.

Deltas and premiums remain model estimates, not live quotes. Suggestions apply only when requested. You can retain saved setups or type custom strikes; manually entered values are not contract-verified. Confirm contracts, prices and trading availability at your broker. The displayed data time refers to the saved calculation, not a fresh exchange quote. Existing put setups and their optional call backspread remain available.

Prices are estimates

While the browser tab is visible during the regular market session, Options checks its existing data about once a minute using the app's shared session status. The panels remain visible while refreshing; a failed background request keeps the last good data. Manual Refresh is still available. Check the displayed data time: this loads the latest available options snapshot, not a streaming stock quote.

For the same symbol, a refreshed price keeps the strikes and gaps you were viewing, even if they were originally filled automatically. Model estimates can change, but a premium you typed stays unchanged. Symbol and strategy changes still follow their normal default behavior; pasted custom orders retain their legs.

Option prices are not live quotes. They are Black-Scholes estimates from the symbol's price and HedgePulse's ATM IV for each expiration, with one IV for every strike and a 4% rate. Type your broker's price for real numbers; Use the estimate switches back.

Read the results

  • Status and Contracts: how many fit the budget. If one contract risks more than the budget, it says so.
  • Credit received or Net debit, Max loss, Max gain and Breakevens at expiration.
  • Delta, Theta and Vega for the position.
  • Chance of profit: an estimate of how likely price is to finish in a profitable range, from the same IV. It is not a forecast.
  • Notes on the position, such as where price sits against ZG and the typical broker approval level: Long options, Spreads, Naked puts or Naked calls.

Payoff and IV

  • The Payoff chart shows profit and loss by price, with PG, ZG, NG and the breakevens marked. Drag the price marker, or jump to Price now, At PG, At ZG or At NG.
  • Value on shows the position today or on a later date. IV change moves every leg's IV by the same points.
  • The IV and time grid shows profit or loss at one price as days pass and IV rises or falls. Real IV often drops after an event and rises in a selloff, so try both directions.

Strategy guide

A table of every strategy with its price view, how IV and time affect it, its risk, its typical approval level and when it is often paired with price above or below ZG. Filter by Up, Down, Sideways or Big move, and click a row to load it.

thinkorswim orders

  • Paste a thinkorswim order and choose Load order to rebuild that position here.
  • This setup as a thinkorswim order gives one unit at the estimated price to Copy. Check the order in thinkorswim before sending it.

Before you act

  • Check the contract specs and your broker's prices.
  • Remember the Calculator uses one IV for every strike; real smiles differ (see Volatility).
  • Calculated levels and chance of profit are context, not guarantees.