Position Size & Stop-Loss

Risk no more than 2% of your account on any single trade. With a ₱500K account, that's ₱10K max loss per trade. The math: with a 2% per-trade risk, you can endure roughly 50 consecutive losers before the account is wiped — survivable. At 5% risk per trade, 20 losers wipes you out. Most beginners blow up not because their picks are bad but because they oversize. Van Tharp's 'Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom' is the canonical reference.

Common approaches: (1) Technical — just below a swing low (long) or support level, or just above a swing high / resistance (short). (2) ATR-based — entry minus 1.5–2× the 14-day Average True Range. (3) Percentage — fixed 5–10% from entry (crude but works). (4) Time-based — exit after N days if the trade hasn't worked. Whatever you pick, write it down before entering. A stop you 'adjust' as it gets hit isn't a stop.

PSE trades in board lots that vary by price tier. Above ₱5, the lot is 100. Between ₱1 and ₱5, it's 1,000. Below ₱1 it can be 10,000+ or even 100,000. The calculator floors to whole lots — you can't buy 247 shares of a ₱100 stock; you buy 200 (2 lots) or 300 (3 lots). When you can only buy 2 lots when your risk math wants 2.47, your actual risk is below the 2% target — that's a feature, not a bug.

Yes for a typical PH online broker (COL Financial, BPI Trade, First Metro Sec, Philstocks, etc.). Standard rate is 0.25% commission per side (₱20 minimum), 12% VAT on commission, 0.005% PSE fee, 0.005% SEC fee. Sells add a 0.6% stock transaction tax. Total roundtrip is roughly 1.2–1.5% for a normal-sized trade — high enough that you can't day-trade your way to wealth at retail rates. AAA brokers and large blocks negotiate lower.

R is your risk per share. A 3R trade means the target reward is 3× the per-share risk. If your stop is ₱5 below entry and your target is ₱15 above, that's 3R. The rule of thumb: only take trades where R ≥ 2 (target reward is at least double the risk). Why? Even with a 40% win rate, a system that wins 2R and loses 1R is wildly profitable (expectancy = 0.4×2 − 0.6×1 = +0.2R per trade). R-multiple thinking decouples trade quality from outcome quality.

The position-sizing math is universal — risk amount ÷ per-unit risk = units. The PSE fee schedule embedded in 'breakeven move' is specific to Philippine equities. For crypto, replace fees with your exchange's maker/taker rate. For US stocks via local brokers, add 30% foreign withholding on dividends (not capital gains) and 0.25–0.5% FX spread per side. The shares output is still correct; only the breakeven % needs adjusting.

Retail short selling on the PSE is technically permitted but practically restricted to a small list of pre-approved tickers and requires margin account paperwork most brokers don't bother offering. The 'short' option exists for users trading PH index futures (FMETF), HK/SG/US markets through accredited brokers (IBKR, FirstMetroSec Trade), or simulated paper trades. For ordinary PH equity retail trades, stick to long.

No. Everything runs in your browser. Account size, entry price, and stop assumptions never leave your device.