Glossary / Risk
Maximum drawdown
Definition
The largest peak-to-trough decline in your account history.
Why it matters
Prop firms cap this explicitly. Independently, assume your future maximum drawdown will be at least 1.5x your worst historical one.
Example
An account that ran $10,000 -> $14,500 -> $11,600 -> $18,000 has a maximum drawdown of $2,900 (20% from the $14,500 peak).
How to track it in a journal
TradeStack calculates the core performance numbers — win rate, average win and loss, profit factor, expectancy, drawdown and consistency — automatically from imported trades, so maximum drawdown stops being something you estimate and becomes something you read.
Related terms
R multiple
A trade result expressed as a multiple of the amount you risked.
Risk-reward ratio
The size of your planned target compared with the size of your stop.
Position sizing
Choosing how many shares, contracts or lots to trade based on your stop distance and risk budget.
Drawdown
The decline from a peak in your equity curve to the following trough.
Questions that use this term
Keep reading
Trading journal guides
Expectancy, profit factor, drawdown, backtesting and the PDT rule.
Free trading calculators
Position size, risk-reward, expectancy and options profit.
Expectancy calculator
Expected profit per trade from your own numbers.
Broker CSV export guides
Step-by-step exports for Tradovate, NinjaTrader, IBKR and more.
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