Guide 4.2
Intermediate, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.3 on .
In short
Pick Risk (Cents) in the order bar's method dropdown and set each buy button to the dollars you are willing to lose. When you press, Scalpel puts your stop that many cents under the fill and buys as many whole shares as that risk allows: a $100 button with a 30c stop buys 333 shares, so a stop-out costs about $100 on any stock.
Sizing by shares means a 500-share clip risks $50 on a stock with a 10c stop and $250 on one with a 50c stop. Risk (Cents) turns that around: you choose the dollars, Scalpel works out the shares. Every trade then risks the same amount, which is what makes your results comparable and your losing days survivable.
Before you start
Three numbers decide every entry:
| You set | Example | Where |
|---|---|---|
| The dollar risk on the button | $100 | Settings > Sizing, or the button itself |
| The stop distance in cents | 30c | The Stop stepper on the order bar |
| The price | 5.71 ask | Live, at the moment you press |
Shares = risk / stop distance, rounded down to whole shares. $100 / $0.30 = 333.3, so Scalpel buys 333 shares. If the stop is hit, you lose 333 x $0.30 = $99.90, never more than the $100 you set (before slippage and fees). The price only decides how many dollars the position ties up: 333 shares at 5.71 is about $1,900.
The order bar sits under each desk's chart. Open the method dropdown 1 next to Buy and pick Risk (Cents). The buy buttons 2 now read Risk $25, Risk $50 and so on, and a Stop stepper 3 appears beside the buy Offset.
The method on the order bar is the kind of your first preset. Changing it here changes all four presets to the same kind, which is what you want for fixed-risk trading.
Open Settings (Ctrl+,), then Sizing. Each row is one buy key, Shift+1 to Shift+4. With the kind on Risk (Cents), the number is dollars of risk. The defaults are $25, $50, $100 and $200; a common ladder for a funded account is a quarter, half, one and two times your normal risk. Click Apply.
The stop the buttons size against is Settings > Stops > Risk (Cents) sizing > Stop (c), 30c by default. Set it to the stop you use most often.
Above each buy button is the dollar size that press would put on at the current ask, for example $1.9k over Risk $100. It updates with every tick. If it is bigger than you expected, your stop is too tight for that risk; if it is tiny, the stop is wide.
Click - or + on the Stop stepper to move it 5c at a time (1c is the least). Tighter on a $2 stock, wider on a $12 one. The size lines change as you click.
Press Shift+2. Scalpel sends a marketable limit for the shares the line showed. When it fills, the chart draws your entry, the red working stop exactly 30c under the fill, and the green take-profit at 2R, each with the P&L and R it would realise.
All at a 30c stop:
| Button | Shares | At a $2.40 stock | At a $9.80 stock | Loss at the stop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Risk $25 | 83 | $199 | $813 | $24.90 |
| Risk $100 | 333 | $799 | $3,263 | $99.90 |
| Risk $500 | 1,666 | $3,998 | $16,327 | $499.80 |
| Risk $1,000 | 3,333 | $7,999 | $32,663 | $999.90 |
The loss at the stop is the same on both stocks; only the money tied up changes. That is the point.