What 1 point is on US30
US30 is a CFD on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, priced in US dollars. At around 46,000 it has the highest price of the US indices, so its moves are large in points: a 150-point stop is about 0.33% of the price.
Capital.com, BlackBull Markets and Purple Trading all list a contract size of 1, so 1.00 lot = $1 per point and a 150-point stop costs $150 per lot. The MT5 point is the broker's price step (0.1 at BlackBull, 0.01 at Purple Trading), not the Dow point.
US30 point value per lot
Value of one point (1.00 in price): 1 × 1 = $1 per 1.00 lot, with a contract size of 1.
| Position | 1 point | 150 points (150.00) |
|---|---|---|
| 1.00 lot | $1.00 | $150.00 |
| 0.10 lot | $0.10 | $15.00 |
| 0.01 lot | $0.0100 | $1.50 |
Worked example: 1% of $10,000
- Risk: 1% × $10,000 = $100.00.
- Stop: 150 points = 150.00 in price.
- Value of 1 point per 1.00 lot: $1.00.
- Lot size = $100.00 ÷ (150 × $1.00) = 0.6667, rounded down to the 0.01 step: 0.66 lots.
The exact size is 0.6667 lots, rounded down to 0.66.
Contract size and tick value in MT5
In MetaTrader 5, right-click US30 in Market Watch and choose Specification: it shows Contract size, Digits, Profit currency and the volume limits. Tick size and tick value are what MQL5 reads with SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE and SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_VALUE; the script below prints them for your account.
| Contract size | 1 at the three brokers below |
|---|---|
| Digits | 1 or 2 depending on the broker |
| Tick size (SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE) | 0.1 or 0.01 |
| Profit currency | USD |
| Tick value, 1.00 lot (SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_VALUE) | contract size × tick size |
| Value of 1 Dow point per lot | contract size × $1 |
Published values, checked on 2026-11-12. Specifications change and can differ by account type: your own Specification window is the reference.
| Source | Symbol there | Contract size | Price step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital.com | US30 | 1 | 1 digit |
| BlackBull Markets | US30 | 1 | 0.1 |
| Purple Trading | US30 | 1 | 0.01 |
MQL5: lot size from a money risk
A script that sends no order: it reads the contract size, tick size, tick value and volume limits your broker sets for US30, then prints the lot size that risks 1% of the balance at the stop. The stop is a price distance (150.00), so the result is the same on 2-, 3- or 5-digit quotes. Save it as MQL5/Scripts/LotSize_US30.mq5 and compile it in MetaEditor (F7): 0 errors, 0 warnings.
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| LotSize_US30.mq5 |
//| Lot size that risks a % of the balance at a given stop distance|
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
#property script_show_inputs
input string InpSymbol = "US30"; // Symbol, exactly as in Market Watch
input double InpRiskPercent = 1.0; // Risk per trade, % of balance
input double InpStopDistance = 150.00; // Stop-loss distance in price (150.00 = 150 points)
// Lots that lose about riskMoney at the stop, rounded down to the volume step.
// Returns 0 when even the minimum volume would risk more than riskMoney.
double LotsForRisk(const string symbol, const double riskMoney, const double stopDistance)
{
double tickSize = SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE);
double tickValue = SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_VALUE); // 1.00 lot, one tick, account currency
double step = SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_VOLUME_STEP);
double minLot = SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_VOLUME_MIN);
double maxLot = SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_VOLUME_MAX);
if(tickSize <= 0.0 || tickValue <= 0.0 || step <= 0.0 || stopDistance <= 0.0)
return 0.0;
double lossPerLot = stopDistance / tickSize * tickValue; // money lost by 1.00 lot at the stop
double lots = MathFloor(riskMoney / lossPerLot / step + 1e-9) * step;
if(lots < minLot)
return 0.0;
int volumeDigits = (int)MathMax(0.0, MathCeil(-MathLog10(step) - 1e-9));
return NormalizeDouble(MathMin(lots, maxLot), volumeDigits);
}
void OnStart()
{
if(!SymbolSelect(InpSymbol, true))
{
PrintFormat("%s not found: use the exact name from Market Watch (some brokers add a suffix)", InpSymbol);
return;
}
int digits = (int)SymbolInfoInteger(InpSymbol, SYMBOL_DIGITS);
double point = SymbolInfoDouble(InpSymbol, SYMBOL_POINT);
double contract = SymbolInfoDouble(InpSymbol, SYMBOL_TRADE_CONTRACT_SIZE);
double tickSize = SymbolInfoDouble(InpSymbol, SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE);
double tickVal = SymbolInfoDouble(InpSymbol, SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_VALUE);
string currency = AccountInfoString(ACCOUNT_CURRENCY);
double risk = AccountInfoDouble(ACCOUNT_BALANCE) * InpRiskPercent / 100.0;
double lots = LotsForRisk(InpSymbol, risk, InpStopDistance);
PrintFormat("%s: contract size %g, %d digits, tick size %s, tick value %g %s per lot",
InpSymbol, contract, digits, DoubleToString(tickSize, digits), tickVal, currency);
PrintFormat("Stop %s = %.0f points. Risk %.2f %s",
DoubleToString(InpStopDistance, digits), InpStopDistance / point, risk, currency);
if(lots > 0.0)
PrintFormat("Lot size: %g", lots);
else
Print("Even the minimum volume risks more than that: widen the risk or tighten the stop");
}
The key line is stopDistance / tickSize * tickValue: the money one lot loses at the stop, already converted to your account currency by the terminal. Dividing the risk by it and flooring to SYMBOL_VOLUME_STEP gives the volume to pass to CTrade::Buy() or CTrade::Sell().
Pine Script v6 equivalent
The same sizing on a TradingView chart, from syminfo.pointvalue (money per 1.0 of price per unit) and syminfo.mintick (the chart's tick). Checked by Edgoro Pine Check; paste it into TradingView's Pine Editor to add it to a chart.
//@version=6
indicator("US30 lot size for a money risk", overlay = true)
riskMoney = input.float(100.0, "Risk per trade (account currency)", minval = 0.01)
accountCcy = input.string("USD", "Account currency")
stopDistance = input.float(150.00, "Stop-loss distance (price)", minval = 0.0)
contractSize = input.float(1.0, "Units per 1.00 lot at your broker", minval = 0.0)
// One unit of the symbol gains or loses syminfo.pointvalue (in syminfo.currency) per 1.0 of price
fx = request.currency_rate(syminfo.currency, accountCcy)
lossPerUnit = stopDistance * syminfo.pointvalue * fx
units = lossPerUnit > 0 ? riskMoney / lossPerUnit : na
lots = contractSize > 0 ? math.floor(units / contractSize * 100) / 100 : na
var table info = table.new(position.top_right, 2, 3, bgcolor = color.new(color.gray, 80))
if barstate.islast
table.cell(info, 0, 0, "Stop")
table.cell(info, 1, 0, str.tostring(stopDistance / syminfo.mintick, "#") + " ticks of " + str.tostring(syminfo.mintick))
table.cell(info, 0, 1, "Units")
table.cell(info, 1, 1, str.tostring(units, "#.####"))
table.cell(info, 0, 2, "Lots (rounded down)")
table.cell(info, 1, 2, str.tostring(lots, "#.##"))
On a CFD chart syminfo.pointvalue is usually 1, so units is the number of index units: set the contract size input to your broker's value. On a futures chart, syminfo.pointvalue already includes the contract multiplier, so units are contracts and the contract size input should be 1.
Common mistakes on US30
- A stop that is small in percent but large in points. 150 points is a normal intraday stop on the Dow; sized like a forex trade in "pips", it would be far too big.
- MT5 points. On a 1-digit quote, 150 Dow points are 1,500 MT5 points; on a 2-digit quote, 15,000.
- Futures numbers. The E-mini Dow is $5 per point and the Micro $0.50: neither is the CFD's value per lot.
- Contract size by broker. If your Specification window shows another contract size, multiply: with 10, the same $100 and 150 points give 0.06 lots.
Lot size sets how much a trade loses if the stop is hit at its price. It doesn't make a trade a good one, and gaps or slippage can make the loss larger. Trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. Edgoro is a software tool, not a broker or financial adviser: nothing it produces is investment advice, and past or backtested performance does not guarantee future results.