Open Risk Board for MetaTrader 5

Open Risk Board for MetaTrader 5 - Position Size Calculator, Risk Per Trade and Money Management Tool

WHAT IT IS

A board on your chart that answers one question: how much can this account lose from here, and how big should the next trade be?

It is a risk management tool for traders who size positions by hand. It is a position size calculator, it shows the risk per trade on every open position, it totals the open risk against your balance and equity, and it tells you the lot size for the next trade from the risk percentage you choose and the distance to your stop.

For every open position it shows the entry price, the stop, the money that would be lost if that stop is hit, the profit on the position right now, and the R multiple - the profit as a share of the risk the position carries.

Underneath, it totals the open risk and shows it as a share of your balance and equity, so one position that is too big for the account cannot hide inside a list of small ones. Your own limit is a setting, and the board changes colour when the open risk goes past it.

And it works out the size for the next trade: give it the share of the balance you are willing to lose and the distance to your stop, and it gives you the lot size, the money that size risks, and the broker's step, minimum and maximum for that symbol. The risk figure is worked out again from the size that will actually be traded, so the size and the money always agree.

Position sizing, risk per trade, money management, exposure, drawdown control and open position risk, measured on the chart rather than calculated in your head.

WHY IT IS USEFUL

Most people size a trade by feel, and then find out afterwards what the position was really worth. A stop of 50 points is 50 points of risk on one pair and something quite different on another, and three positions that each look small can add up to more than the account can carry.

This measures it instead. It reads what is open, works out what each position would cost you if its stop is hit, and puts the total next to your balance. You can see a bad size before the trade is on, not after.

It also shows the R multiple of each position - profit measured against the risk the position carries - which is the one number that lets you compare a trade on one symbol with a trade on another.

WHAT IT DOES NOT DO

It does not open a position. It does not change a stop or a target. It does not place an order of any kind, and it cannot interfere with anything else running on the account. It reads the account, it measures, and it tells you.

It also makes no claim about what a market will do. It tells you what the account is exposed to. What that exposure is worth is a different question, and one this tool does not pretend to answer.

WHAT YOU SEE

The board sits in the top left corner of the chart.

Symbol the symbol of the position

Side buy or sell

Vol the volume

Entry the price the position was opened at

Stop the stop, or "none" if there is no stop

At risk the money lost if the stop is hit

P/L the profit on the position now, with the swap

R the profit as a share of the risk

Under the table:

Positions how many positions are open

open risk the total money at risk across them

balance the account balance

equity the account equity

open profit the total profit on the open positions

open risk is X% of balance (limit Y%) coloured by how close you are

to the limit you set

next SYMBOL at Z%: the lot size, and the money it risks

step / min / max / stop the broker's limits for that symbol, and

the stop distance the size was worked out

from

The Hide panel button folds the board away, and the small button brings it back.

SETTINGS

Risk

Risk limit, percent the share of the balance at which the open

risk is shown as too large. Default 5.

Include positions with

no stop on by default, so a position without a stop

is not quietly left out of the total

Next trade

Risk per trade, percent the share of the balance the next trade

risks. Default 1.

Stop distance, points the distance to the stop the size is worked

out from. Set it to zero to use the stop of

the last position on the current symbol

instead.

Display

Font size, and the colours of the text, the headings, the good and

bad figures, the panel and the button.

HOW IT WORKS

Every second it reads the open positions from the account. For each one it works out what the position would lose at its stop using the terminal's own profit calculation, which uses the real contract size and the real tick value for that symbol, so the figure is the money as the broker counts it rather than an estimate.

The R multiple is the profit on the position divided by that risk. The total open risk is the sum of the risk of every position, shown against the balance as a percentage.

The size for the next trade comes from the balance, the share you are willing to risk, and the distance to the stop, converted through the symbol's own point value. It is rounded down to the broker's lot step, and held inside the broker's minimum and maximum. If your risk figure and the broker's minimum size cannot both be met, the board says so rather than showing a size that would not be accepted.

It works on any account, in any timezone, on any symbol your broker offers.

NOTES

Runs on MetaTrader 5 build 1350 and later.

The chart must be open, as any chart tool is.

The board only appears on charts where you attach it.

It reads only; it does not trade.