Drill Deck 2 — Risk & Options Math

Reading about risk is one thing. Doing the math in five seconds, mid-trade, with real money moving — that is the skill. This deck is 60 rapid-fire drills on the arithmetic that protects your account: position sizing, loss recovery, options profit and loss, spread math, futures conversions, and expectancy.

How to use it: read the Situation, answer Your call out loud or on paper, then check the Answer Key at the back — every answer shows its math. Miss one? Redo it until the formula is automatic, and re-study the module behind it (sizing and risk: Risk Management A–Z; options: Options Part 1: The Basics to Options Part 4: Risk & 0DTE; futures points: Futures A–Z). Scoring: 55 or more, sharp. 45–54, solid — redo the misses. Under 45, stop and re-study before you trade.

Drill 1 — Sizing: The Clean $2 Stop

Situation: Your account is $10,000 and your rule is risk 1% per trade. You want to buy a stock at $50 with a stop at $48. Your call: How many shares do you buy?

Drill 2 — Sizing: Round Down, Always

Situation: Account $25,000, risk 1%. Entry $80, stop $74. The raw division does not come out even. Your call: How many shares — and do you round up or down?

Drill 3 — Sizing: The 2% Aggressive Plan

Situation: Account $5,000, and your written plan allows 2% risk per trade. Entry $25, stop $23.50. Your call: How many shares?

Drill 4 — Sizing: Half-Percent Discipline

Situation: Account $50,000, risk 0.5% per trade. Entry $120, stop $112. Your call: How many shares?

Drill 5 — Sizing: What Is the Position Worth?

Situation: Account $20,000, risk 1%. Entry $35, stop $33. Your call: How many shares, and what is the total dollar value of the position?

Drill 6 — Spot the Break: "It Just Felt Right"

Situation: Account $10,000 with a 1% risk rule. A trader buys 200 shares at $60 with a stop at $57 because the setup "felt strong." Your call: How much is he actually risking, what percentage of his account is that, and how many shares should he have bought?

Drill 7 — Sizing: The $1 Corridor

Situation: Account $8,000, risk 1%. Entry $16, stop $15. Your call: How many shares?

Drill 8 — Sizing: The Big Account

Situation: Account $100,000, risk 1%. Entry $210, stop $200. Your call: How many shares, and what size position does that create?

Drill 9 — Sizing in Reverse

Situation: A trader holds 150 shares, entered at $40, stop at $38. She followed her 1% rule exactly. Your call: How big is her account?

Drill 10 — Sizing a Short

Situation: Account $12,000, risk 1%. You short a stock at $30; your cover stop is $32 — if price rises there, you buy back and take the loss. Your call: How many shares can you short?

Drill 11 — Recovery: Down 10%

Situation: Your account drops 10%. Your call: What percentage gain do you now need just to get back to even?

Drill 12 — Recovery: Down 25%

Situation: Your account drops 25%. Your call: What gain gets you back to even?

Drill 13 — Recovery: Down 50%

Situation: Your account is cut in half. Your call: What gain gets you back to even?

Drill 14 — Recovery: Down 20%

Situation: Your account drops 20%. Your call: What gain gets you back to even?

Drill 15 — Recovery in Dollars

Situation: A $10,000 account loses $2,500. Your call: What is left, what percentage did you lose, and what percentage gain restores the account?

Drill 16 — Recovery: Down 75%

Situation: Your account drops 75%. Your call: What gain gets you back to even?

Drill 17 — Options: The Call That Ran

Situation: You bought 1 call, $100 strike, for a $3.00 premium. At expiration the stock is $108. Your call: What is your profit in dollars?

Drill 18 — Options: Right Direction, Still Red

Situation: Same call — $100 strike, $3.00 premium. At expiration the stock is $101, above your strike. Your call: Profit or loss, and how much?

Drill 19 — Options: Call Breakeven

Situation: You buy a $50 strike call for a $2.50 premium. Your call: At expiration, what stock price makes you exactly break even?

Drill 20 — Options: Two Puts Pay Off

Situation: You bought 2 puts, $60 strike, for $1.80 premium each. At expiration the stock is $52. Your call: What did you pay, and what is your total profit?

Drill 21 — Options: Put Breakeven

Situation: You buy a $75 strike put for a $4.00 premium. Your call: At expiration, what stock price makes you exactly break even?

Drill 22 — Options: Cutting a Fading Call

Situation: You bought 1 call for a $2.00 premium. The stock stalls and the call now trades at $0.50. You sell it. Your call: What is your loss in dollars?

Drill 23 — Options: Pinned at the Strike

Situation: You bought a call for a $2.20 premium. At expiration the stock closes exactly at your strike price. Your call: What is the call worth, and what is your result?

Drill 24 — Options: The $300 Budget

Situation: Your plan lets you spend at most $300 on one options position. The premium is $1.25 per contract. Your call: How many contracts can you buy?

Drill 25 — Options: The $45 Call

Situation: You bought 1 call, $45 strike, for a $3.20 premium. At expiration the stock is $51. Your call: What is your profit?

Drill 26 — Options: The $90 Put

Situation: You bought 1 put, $90 strike, for a $2.60 premium. At expiration the stock is $84. Your call: What is your profit?

Drill 27 — Options: The Melting 0DTE

Situation: You hold a same-day-expiration call you bought for $1.50. Twenty minutes from the close it trades at $0.30 and the stock is going nowhere. Your call: Per contract, what is the most you can still lose if you hold it to expiration?

Drill 28 — Options: Splitting the Premium

Situation: A stock trades at $74. Its $70 strike call trades at $5.30. Your call: How much of that premium is intrinsic value (the part backed by the stock's price right now), and how much is time value?

Drill 29 — Spreads: Bull Call Max Gain

Situation: You buy the $100 call for $3.00 and sell the $105 call for $1.20 — a bull call spread, 5 wide. Your call: What is your maximum possible gain per spread?

Drill 30 — Spreads: Bull Call Breakeven

Situation: You buy the $50 call for $2.40 and sell the $55 call for $0.90. Your call: What is your net debit, and what stock price at expiration breaks you even?

Drill 31 — Spreads: Bear Put Max Loss

Situation: You buy the $80 put for $2.60 and sell the $75 put for $1.10 — a bear put spread. Your call: What is the most you can lose per spread?

Drill 32 — Spreads: Credit Spread Max Loss

Situation: You sell the $95 put for $1.40 and buy the $90 put for $0.60 — a put credit spread, 5 wide. Your call: What is the most you can lose per spread?

Drill 33 — Spreads: The Iron Condor's Bad Day

Situation: You sold an iron condor with 5-wide wings and collected $1.50 total credit. Price blasts through one side. Your call: What is your maximum loss per condor?

Drill 34 — Spreads: Credit Spread Breakeven

Situation: You sold a put credit spread: short the $120 put, long the $115 put, total credit $1.60. Your call: At expiration, what stock price breaks you even?

Drill 35 — Spreads: Landing Between the Strikes

Situation: You own a $60/$65 bull call spread bought for a $2.00 debit. At expiration the stock is $63. Your call: What is the spread worth, and what is your profit?

Drill 36 — Spreads: Banking a Winner Early

Situation: You sold a credit spread for $1.20. It now costs $0.40 to buy it back and close. Your call: If you close now, what profit do you lock in per spread?

Drill 37 — Spot the Break: "Premium Was Too Good"

Situation: A trader sells a naked (unprotected) call on a hot stock because "the premium was too good to pass up." The stock gaps up hard overnight. Your call: What rule did he break, and what is his maximum loss?

Drill 38 — Spreads: The Covered Call, Called Away

Situation: You own 100 shares bought at $48. You sold the $50 call for a $1.30 premium. The stock rises and your shares are called away at $50. Your call: Counting both the shares and the premium, what is your total profit?

Drill 39 — Spreads: Cash Behind the Put

Situation: You sell 1 cash-secured put, $40 strike, for a $1.00 premium — meaning you must be ready to buy 100 shares at $40 if assigned. Your call: How much cash must you set aside, and how much premium do you collect?

Drill 40 — Spreads: Which One Can Hurt More?

Situation: Spread A: 5 wide, $2.00 credit. Spread B: 10 wide, $4.50 credit. Both are credit spreads. Your call: Which has the larger maximum loss, and what is it?

Drill 41 — Futures: The ES Trend Day

Situation: You are long 1 ES contract from 6,000. You exit at 6,012. (ES = $50 per point.) Your call: What is your profit?

Drill 42 — Futures: Three Micros

Situation: You are long 3 MES contracts and price rises 8 points. (MES = $5 per point.) Your call: What is your profit?

Drill 43 — Futures: Counting ES Ticks

Situation: ES moves from 6,000 to 6,003.50. The ES minimum tick is 0.25, worth $12.50. Your call: How many ticks is the move, and what is it worth on 1 contract?

Drill 44 — Futures: The NQ Short

Situation: You short 1 NQ at 21,000 and cover at 20,975. (NQ = $20 per point.) Your call: What is your profit?

Drill 45 — Futures: Gold Runs

Situation: You are long 1 GC from 3,300 and gold reaches 3,315. (GC = $100 per point.) Your call: What is your profit?

Drill 46 — Futures: The MNQ Stops Out

Situation: You are long 2 MNQ contracts and price falls 15 points against you. (MNQ = $2 per point.) Your call: What is your loss?

Drill 47 — Futures: Sizing the Stop

Situation: Account $10,000, risk 1%. Your MES trade idea needs a 20-point stop. (MES = $5 per point.) Your friend suggests "just use ES, same chart." Your call: How many MES contracts fit your risk — and how many ES contracts fit?

Drill 48 — Futures: The 1% Day

Situation: ES trades at 6,000 and the index moves exactly 1% — 60 points — while you hold 1 ES contract the wrong way. Your call: How much do you lose?

Drill 49 — Futures: Micro Gold

Situation: You are long 2 MGC contracts and gold rises 22 points. (MGC = $10 per point.) Your call: What is your profit?

Drill 50 — Futures: Crude by the Tick

Situation: You are long 1 CL and crude oil rises $1.40. (CL = $1,000 per point — each $0.01 tick is $10.) Your call: What is your profit?

Drill 51 — Expectancy: The 40% System

Situation: A system wins 40% of the time. Average win $300, average loss $150. Your call: What is the expectancy — the average result per trade?

Drill 52 — Expectancy: Winning More, Losing Money

Situation: A system wins 60% of the time. Average win $100, average loss $200. Your call: What is the expectancy, and is this system profitable?

Drill 53 — R: The Clean Winner

Situation: You risked $200 on a trade (that distance to your stop was "1R") and you made $500. Your call: How many R did you earn?

Drill 54 — Spot the Break: The Moved Stop

Situation: A trader planned to risk $150. Mid-trade, "giving it room," he moved his stop twice and finally exited for a $450 loss. Your call: How many R did he actually lose, and what rule did he break?

Drill 55 — Spot the Break: Trade Number Seven

Situation: A written plan says: maximum 3 trades per day, stop at 2 losses. At noon the trader is down 2 trades — and places his seventh trade of the day "to win it back." Your call: Name the rules being broken.

Drill 56 — Spot the Break: Averaging Down

Situation: A trader buys 100 shares at $50 with no stop. At $44 he buys 200 more "to lower my average cost." Your call: What is his new average cost per share — and what rule is broken?

Drill 57 — The Daily Limit Says No

Situation: Your written plan sets a $300 daily loss limit. You are down exactly $300 at 1 PM when a textbook-perfect setup appears. Your call: Do you take it? Why?

Drill 58 — Expectancy: The Win Rate You Need

Situation: Your average win is $200 and your average loss is $100. Your call: What win rate do you need just to break even?

Drill 59 — The Open-Risk Audit

Situation: You hold four open positions risking $150, $200, $100, and $250 (entry to stop). Your account is $20,000. Your call: What is your total open risk, in dollars and as a percentage of the account?

Drill 60 — Expectancy: The Long Run

Situation: Your journal shows a proven expectancy of +$25 per trade after 200 trades of live data. Your call: If the edge holds, what do the next 200 trades add up to?

Answer Key

50 shares. Risk money = $10,000 × 1% = $100. Risk per share = $50 − $48 = $2. $100 ÷ $2 = 50 shares.
41 shares — round down. $25,000 × 1% = $250; $250 ÷ $6 = 41.7. Round to 41 (real risk 41 × $6 = $246). Rounding up would risk $252 — more than your rule allows.
66 shares. $5,000 × 2% = $100. Risk per share = $25 − $23.50 = $1.50. $100 ÷ $1.50 = 66.7 → 66 shares.
31 shares. $50,000 × 0.5% = $250. Risk per share = $8. $250 ÷ $8 = 31.25 → 31 shares.
100 shares, a $3,500 position. $20,000 × 1% = $200; $200 ÷ $2 = 100 shares. 100 × $35 = $3,500. Notice: a $3,500 position risks only $200 because the stop does the sizing.
He risks $600 — 6% of his account — and should have bought 33 shares. 200 × ($60 − $57) = $600. His rule allows $100, so $100 ÷ $3 = 33 shares. "Feeling strong" is not a sizing formula.
80 shares. $8,000 × 1% = $80. Risk per share = $1. $80 ÷ $1 = 80 shares.
100 shares, a $21,000 position. $100,000 × 1% = $1,000. Risk per share = $10. 1,000 ÷ 10 = 100 shares; 100 × $210 = $21,000.
$30,000. Her risk = 150 × ($40 − $38) = $300. If $300 is 1%, the account is $300 ÷ 1% = $30,000.
60 shares. $12,000 × 1% = $120. On a short, risk per share = $32 − $30 = $2 (price rising hurts you). $120 ÷ $2 = 60 shares.
+11.1%. $100 falls to $90. You need $10 back on a $90 base: $10 ÷ $90 = 11.1%. Losses and gains are not symmetric — this table is why.
+33.3%. $100 falls to $75. $25 ÷ $75 = 33.3%.
+100%. $100 falls to $50. You must double what is left: $50 ÷ $50 = 100%.
+25%. $100 falls to $80. $20 ÷ $80 = 25%.
$7,500 left; you lost 25%; you need +33.3%. $10,000 − $2,500 = $7,500. $2,500 ÷ $10,000 = 25% lost. Recovery: $2,500 ÷ $7,500 = 33.3%.
+300%. $100 falls to $25. $75 ÷ $25 = 300%. Deep holes are nearly unclimbable — defense is the whole game.
+$500. Value at expiration = $108 − $100 = $8. Profit = ($8 − $3.00) × 100 = $500.
A $200 loss. Value = $101 − $100 = $1. Result = ($1 − $3.00) × 100 = −$200. The stock finished above your strike and you still lost — you paid for more move than you got.
$52.50. Call breakeven = strike + premium = $50 + $2.50.
Paid $360; profit $1,240. Cost = 2 × $1.80 × 100 = $360. Each put is worth $60 − $52 = $8, so $800 × 2 = $1,600. Profit = $1,600 − $360 = $1,240.
$71. Put breakeven = strike − premium = $75 − $4.00.
Lose $150. ($2.00 − $0.50) × 100 = $150. Cutting early saved the last $50 — the full premium was at risk.
Worth $0; you lose the full $220. At the strike, intrinsic value is zero, and at expiration there is no time value left. A bought option's max loss is the premium: $2.20 × 100 = $220.
2 contracts. Each contract costs $1.25 × 100 = $125. $300 ÷ $125 = 2.4, so 2 contracts ($250). Three would cost $375 — over budget.
+$280. Value = $51 − $45 = $6. Profit = ($6 − $3.20) × 100 = $280.
+$340. Value = $90 − $84 = $6. Profit = ($6 − $2.60) × 100 = $340.
$30 per contract. The call can only fall from $0.30 to $0: $0.30 × 100 = $30. You have already lost the other $120 of the premium — this is the melt, live.
Intrinsic $4.00; time value $1.30. Intrinsic = $74 − $70 = $4.00 (what the call is worth if exercised now). Time value = $5.30 − $4.00 = $1.30 — the part that evaporates by expiration.
$320. Debit = $3.00 − $1.20 = $1.80. Max gain = (width − debit) × 100 = ($5 − $1.80) × 100 = $320.
Debit $1.50; breakeven $51.50. Debit = $2.40 − $0.90 = $1.50. Breakeven = $50 + $1.50 = $51.50.
$150. A debit spread's max loss is the debit paid: ($2.60 − $1.10) × 100 = $150.
$420. Credit = $1.40 − $0.60 = $0.80. Max loss = (width − credit) × 100 = ($5 − $0.80) × 100 = $420. You risk $420 to make $80 — know that before you sell one.
$350. Max loss = (wing width − credit) × 100 = ($5 − $1.50) × 100 = $350.
$118.40. Put credit spread breakeven = short strike − credit = $120 − $1.60 = $118.40.
Worth $3; profit $100. At $63 the spread = $63 − $60 = $3 (the $65 call is worthless). Profit = ($3 − $2.00) × 100 = $100.
$80. Profit = (credit received − cost to close) × 100 = ($1.20 − $0.40) × 100 = $80. Closing early also removes the risk — often worth more than the last $40.
He sold undefined risk. A naked call's maximum loss is unlimited — a stock can rise without any cap, and he owns the other side of that move. Spreads and covered positions exist precisely to delete this sentence.
$330 total. Shares: ($50 − $48) × 100 = $200. Premium kept: $1.30 × 100 = $130. Total $330 — and his upside was capped at $50 the moment he sold the call. That trade is fine when it is chosen on purpose.
Set aside $4,000; collect $100. Cash to secure = $40 × 100 shares = $4,000. Premium = $1.00 × 100 = $100.
B — $550. A: ($5 − $2.00) × 100 = $300 max loss. B: ($10 − $4.50) × 100 = $550 max loss. B collects more credit and still risks far more: width, not credit, sets the danger.
$600. 12 points × $50 = $600.
$120. 3 contracts × 8 points × $5 = $120.
14 ticks, worth $175. 3.50 ÷ 0.25 = 14 ticks. 14 × $12.50 = $175.
$500. A short gains as price falls: 21,000 − 20,975 = 25 points. 25 × $20 = $500.
$1,500. 15 points × $100 = $1,500.
Lose $60. 2 contracts × 15 points × $2 = $60. Small dollars, real lesson — that is exactly what micros are for.
1 MES contract — and zero ES. One MES with a 20-point stop risks 20 × $5 = $100, exactly your 1%. One ES risks 20 × $50 = $1,000, ten times your rule. Same chart, same trade — the contract choice IS the risk choice.
$3,000. 60 points × $50 = $3,000 on a single contract. A routine 1% day in the index is a four-figure swing in ES — respect the multiplier.
$440. 2 contracts × 22 points × $10 = $440.
$1,400. $1.40 × $1,000 = $1,400. Check by ticks: 140 ticks × $10 = $1,400. Two routes, same answer.
+$30 per trade. 0.40 × $300 − 0.60 × $150 = $120 − $90 = +$30. A system can lose most of its trades and still make money.
−$20 per trade — it is a losing system. 0.60 × $100 − 0.40 × $200 = $60 − $80 = −$20. Win rate is vanity; expectancy is the business.
+2.5R. $500 ÷ $200 = 2.5. Measuring in R lets you compare a stock trade, an options trade, and a futures trade on one scale.
−3R. He broke the rule: never widen risk mid-trade. $450 ÷ $150 = 3R lost against a 1R plan. The stop he moved was the whole plan — everything after was improvisation.
Three breaks: the daily trade cap, the stop-after-2-losses rule, and revenge trading. Trading "to win it back" is not a strategy; it is the loss, compounding.
Average cost $46 — and the rule broken is averaging down with no stop. (100 × $50 + 200 × $44) ÷ 300 = $13,800 ÷ 300 = $46. His position tripled while the idea failed, and nothing defines his exit.
No. The daily limit is a hard stop on the day itself. "One more, it's perfect" is how −$300 becomes −$900. The limit resets tomorrow — so do you, if you obey it today.
33.3%. You need wins × $200 = losses × $100. Break-even win rate = $100 ÷ ($200 + $100) = 33.3%. Win twice what you lose, and you only need to be right one time in three.
$700 total — 3.5% of the account. $150 + $200 + $100 + $250 = $700. $700 ÷ $20,000 = 3.5%. Each trade passed the 1% test; the book as a whole is the real position.
+$5,000 expected. 200 × $25 = $5,000, before commissions and fees. Expectancy is an average over many trades, not a promise for any single week — but a proven positive edge, repeated, is the entire game.