What 1 pip is on USDCHF
USD/CHF is quoted in Swiss francs per dollar, so the profit of a position is counted in francs: 100,000 × 0.0001 = CHF 10 per pip per lot. A USD account converts it at the pair's own rate: CHF 10 ÷ 0.80 = $12.50.
Because the franc has traded above the dollar (USD/CHF below 1.00), a pip of USD/CHF is worth more than $10 there, and its dollar value rises as USD/CHF falls. The quote has 5 digits, so 1 pip = 10 points and MT5's tick of 0.00001 is worth CHF 1 per lot.
USDCHF pip value per lot
Value of one pip (0.0001 in price): 0.0001 × 100,000 = CHF 10 ÷ 0.8 = $12.50 per 1.00 lot, at an example USD/CHF rate of 0.8.
| Position | 1 pip | 20 pips (0.0020) |
|---|---|---|
| 1.00 lot | $12.50 | $250.00 |
| 0.10 lot | $1.25 | $25.00 |
| 0.01 lot | $0.13 | $2.50 |
Worked example: 1% of $10,000
- Risk: 1% × $10,000 = $100.00.
- Stop: 20 pips = 0.0020 in price.
- Value of 1 pip per 1.00 lot: $12.50.
- Lot size = $100.00 ÷ (20 × $12.50) = 0.4000, rounded down to the 0.01 step: 0.40 lots.
The same 20 pips cost more on USD/CHF than on EUR/USD while the pair trades below 1.00, so the position is smaller for the same $100.
Same stop with USD/CHF at 0.90: $100.00 ÷ (20 × $11.11) = 0.45 lots.
Contract size and tick value in MT5
In MetaTrader 5, right-click USDCHF 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 | 100,000 USD |
|---|---|
| Digits | 5 (e.g. 1.16253) at most brokers |
| Tick size (SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE) | 0.00001 |
| 1 pip | 0.0001 = 10 ticks (10 MT5 points) |
| Profit currency | CHF |
| Tick value, 1.00 lot (SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_VALUE) | CHF 1.00, about $1.25 in a USD account at USD/CHF 0.8 |
| Volume step | Shown in Specification; 0.01 at most retail brokers |
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 USDCHF, then prints the lot size that risks 1% of the balance at the stop. The stop is a price distance (0.0020), so the result is the same on 2-, 3- or 5-digit quotes. Save it as MQL5/Scripts/LotSize_USDCHF.mq5 and compile it in MetaEditor (F7): 0 errors, 0 warnings.
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| LotSize_USDCHF.mq5 |
//| Lot size that risks a % of the balance at a given stop distance|
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
#property script_show_inputs
input string InpSymbol = "USDCHF"; // Symbol, exactly as in Market Watch
input double InpRiskPercent = 1.0; // Risk per trade, % of balance
input double InpStopDistance = 0.0020; // Stop-loss distance in price (0.0020 = 20 pips)
// 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("USDCHF 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(0.0020, "Stop-loss distance (price)", minval = 0.0)
contractSize = input.float(100000.0, "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 TradingView forex chart, syminfo.pointvalue is 1: units is an amount of USD, and 100,000 of them make a lot. request.currency_rate() converts the CHF result into your account currency.
Common mistakes on USDCHF
- Assuming $10 per pip. At 0.80 a pip is $12.50: a 0.50-lot position sized with $10 pips loses $125 at a 20-pip stop, not $100.
- Franc gaps. On 15 January 2015 the Swiss National Bank dropped the 1.20 floor it had held under EUR/CHF since 2011, and franc pairs moved hundreds of pips in minutes. Stops filled far from their price: a stop limits the planned loss, not the worst case.
- Converting with the wrong pair. USD/CHF converts at its own rate (divide by it). EUR/CHF and GBP/CHF convert francs at USD/CHF too, not at EUR/USD or GBP/USD.
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.