[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":1272},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance":3,"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance-related":264},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":249,"date":250,"description":251,"draft":252,"extension":253,"meta":254,"navigation":252,"path":255,"related":256,"seo":261,"stem":262,"term":26,"updated":250,"__hash__":263},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance.md","What Is Drawdown on Balance? DD on Balance",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":241},"minimark",[9,32,37,40,51,54,57,60,88,92,95,102,108,121,125,153,169,173,190,204,208,234],[10,11,12,13,17,18,23,24,27,28,31],"p",{},"Drawdown on balance is the deepest peak-to-trough fall an account's ",[14,15,16],"strong",{},"closed"," balance has ever taken, ignoring the unrealised profit and loss of open positions. It counts a loss only once realised, which makes it the more forgiving of the two drawdown figures on a ",[19,20,22],"a",{"href":21},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record","track record",". On ShowMyTrades it is published as ",[14,25,26],{},"DD on Balance",", always beside the equity-based ",[14,29,30],{},"Drawdown",".",[33,34,36],"h2",{"id":35},"how-it-works","How it works",[10,38,39],{},"Both are worst-ever readings against the same high-water mark, drawn on balance. What differs is the value compared against it, and how often:",[41,42,47],"pre",{"className":43,"code":45,"language":46},[44],"language-text","Peak = high-water mark of closed balance, rescaled by every cash flow\n\nDD on Balance % = worst of (Balance − Peak) \u002F Peak × 100              at every trade\nDrawdown %      = worst of (min(Balance, Equity) − Peak) \u002F Peak × 100  once a day\n                  where Equity = Balance + floating P&L on open positions\n","text",[48,49,45],"code",{"__ignoreMap":50},"",[10,52,53],{},"The balance rolls forward from the account's own history, every closed trade entering net of its commission and swap. The peak ratchets upward on trading gains and never falls on its own. Both are historical worsts, not today's position, so neither ever improves.",[10,55,56],{},"Cash flows are handled deliberately: a deposit or withdrawal scales the peak by exactly the factor it scales the balance, so money moving in or out neither creates a drawdown nor repairs one. Both are floored at −100%, so a balance driven below zero by a stop-out reads as a total loss.",[10,58,59],{},"Because the two share a peak, the pair reads as one measurement:",[61,62,63,70,76,82],"ul",{},[64,65,66,69],"li",{},[14,67,68],{},"The two are close."," Positions are closed near where they went wrong. Little is being carried.",[64,71,72,75],{},[14,73,74],{},"Equity drawdown is far larger."," Losers are being held open. The account reports its losses late, and the balance figure is describing bookkeeping rather than risk.",[64,77,78,81],{},[14,79,80],{},"The two are identical."," Either no floating loss ever coincided with a high-water moment, or no floating history exists for that stretch.",[64,83,84,87],{},[14,85,86],{},"Balance drawdown is the larger one."," Usually the sampling gap: balance is checked at every trade, equity only on daily closing values, so a hole opened and refilled inside one day shows in the first and not the second.",[33,89,91],{"id":90},"why-it-matters","Why it matters",[10,93,94],{},"The gap between them is the clearest single tell for a system that never closes a loser. Grid, martingale and averaging-down strategies produce a smooth balance curve by construction: a position that is never closed never touches the balance. Their equity tells a different story, and it is the equity story that ends the account.",[10,96,97],{},[98,99],"img",{"alt":100,"src":101},"A smooth balance line beside an equity line pulled below it by open positions held at a loss","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fequity-vs-balance.svg",[10,103,104],{},[105,106,107],"em",{},"The gap between the two lines is the loss the balance figure has not been told about yet.",[10,109,110,111,115,116,120],{},"That is not interpretation. Margin is calculated on equity, so ",[19,112,114],{"href":113},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-margin-level","margin level"," and any ",[19,117,119],{"href":118},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-margin-call","margin call"," follow the equity line and ignore the balance line entirely. A record showing solid gains against a 3% balance drawdown next to a 45% equity drawdown is not a low-risk system: it was 45% underwater and had not admitted it. Where the two converge, that convergence is evidence in its own right — losses were taken when they occurred.",[33,122,124],{"id":123},"what-the-data-shows","What the data shows",[10,126,127,128,131,132,136,137,140,141,144,145,148,149,152],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. Across the ",[14,129,130],{},"published accounts with trading history"," (August 2026), the median deepest ",[19,133,135],{"href":134},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown","drawdown"," is ",[14,138,139],{},"9.7%",". The tails are wide: ",[14,142,143],{},"38.5%"," of accounts have never been more than 5% below their peak, while ",[14,146,147],{},"38.2%"," have been more than 20% underwater and ",[14,150,151],{},"17.6%"," more than 50%.",[10,154,155,156,159,160,164,165,168],{},"That first group is where the pair earns its keep: a record under 5% is either tight risk control or a floating loss not yet realised, and the two look identical on a balance chart. Most of this population is automated — the median account runs ",[14,157,158],{},"99%"," of its trades through an ",[19,161,163],{"href":162},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-expert-advisor","automated system"," and ",[14,166,167],{},"53.9%"," are more than 90% automated — and a robot holding a loser neither tires nor loses its nerve.",[33,170,172],{"id":171},"where-you-see-it-on-showmytrades","Where you see it on ShowMyTrades",[10,174,175,177,178,180,181,184,185,189],{},[14,176,26],{}," sits directly under ",[14,179,30],{}," in the ",[14,182,183],{},"Account Stats"," panel, on every published account page and in the ",[19,186,188],{"href":187},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-widgets-and-embeds","Complete Dashboard widget",". Those two rows are the panel's whole risk block, set off by a rule with no heading above them. The value comes from our statistics service, computed over the account's synchronised history rather than entered by anyone, and printed without its minus sign.",[10,191,192,193,196,197,199,200,203],{},"Two other places on the page complete the picture. The ",[14,194,195],{},"Equity"," row shows equity as a percentage of balance — under 100% means open positions are underwater right now, and that shortfall is exactly what DD on Balance excludes. In the charts viewer, the ",[14,198,30],{}," view plots daily drawdown as bars over the account's life, making the ",[105,201,202],{},"duration"," of a decline visible rather than inferred.",[33,205,207],{"id":206},"common-misunderstandings","Common misunderstandings",[61,209,210,216,222,228],{},[64,211,212,215],{},[14,213,214],{},"\"The lower number is the real risk.\""," The lower number is usually DD on Balance, and it is the optimistic one by construction.",[64,217,218,221],{},[14,219,220],{},"\"It excludes trading costs.\""," It does not. Every closed trade enters the balance with its commission and swap already applied.",[64,223,224,227],{},[14,225,226],{},"\"A withdrawal shows up as a drawdown.\""," It does not. A cash movement scales the high-water mark by the same factor as the balance. Deposits cannot mend a drawdown either.",[64,229,230,233],{},[14,231,232],{},"\"Both numbers see the same detail.\""," The equity figure is sampled once a day, so a fall and full recovery inside one session leaves no trace in it.",[10,235,236,237,31],{},"For the full method, including why depth and duration are separate questions, see ",[19,238,240],{"href":239},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmaximum-drawdown-explained","maximum drawdown explained",{"title":50,"searchDepth":242,"depth":242,"links":243},2,[244,245,246,247,248],{"id":35,"depth":242,"text":36},{"id":90,"depth":242,"text":91},{"id":123,"depth":242,"text":124},{"id":171,"depth":242,"text":172},{"id":206,"depth":242,"text":207},"Risk","2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z","DD on Balance is the deepest peak-to-trough fall in closed results only. How to read it against equity drawdown, and what published accounts show.",true,"md",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance",[257,258,259,260],"what-is-drawdown","what-is-maximum-drawdown","what-is-margin-level","what-is-absolute-gain",{"title":5,"description":251},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance","YNssKoit9sr03-dJpxHlpf4_3O1G9oJAiUxBNeg6S-M",[265,488,684,964],{"id":266,"title":267,"body":268,"category":475,"date":250,"description":476,"draft":252,"extension":253,"meta":477,"navigation":252,"path":478,"related":479,"seo":484,"stem":485,"term":486,"updated":250,"__hash__":487},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-absolute-gain.md","What Is Absolute Gain? Abs. Gain vs Gain",{"type":7,"value":269,"toc":467},[270,276,278,281,287,290,315,319,330,333,344,347,349,357,360,362,375,392,394,412,427,430,432,460],[10,271,272,273,31],{},"Absolute gain is the profit an account has realised measured against the money paid into it: net closed profit and loss divided by total deposits, as a percentage. Unlike a time-weighted figure, it makes no attempt to remove the effect of when that capital arrived. On ShowMyTrades it is the row labelled ",[14,274,275],{},"Abs. Gain",[33,277,36],{"id":35},[10,279,280],{},"Two quantities, both from the account's own history:",[41,282,285],{"className":283,"code":284,"language":46},[44],"Abs. Gain % = Net closed P&L \u002F Total deposits × 100\n\nNet closed P&L = Σ (profit + swap + commission) over all closed trades\nTotal deposits = Σ every deposit ever credited to the account\n",[48,286,284],{"__ignoreMap":50},[10,288,289],{},"Three properties follow, and each matters when reading someone else's page.",[61,291,292,303,309],{},[64,293,294,297,298,302],{},[14,295,296],{},"The numerator is net of costs."," Every closed trade enters with its commission and its ",[19,299,301],{"href":300},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-swap-in-forex","swap"," already applied, so the figure is what the account kept, not what the trades looked like before the broker was paid.",[64,304,305,308],{},[14,306,307],{},"It counts closed trades only."," Unrealised profit or loss on open positions is not in it. The number moves when a position closes, not when it moves against you.",[64,310,311,314],{},[14,312,313],{},"The denominator is every deposit, not the starting balance."," An account funded in five instalments carries all five, including the one that arrived last week. Withdrawals appear in neither term, so taking profits out neither helps nor hurts the percentage.",[33,316,318],{"id":317},"abs-gain-read-against-gain","Abs. Gain read against Gain",[10,320,321,324,325,329],{},[14,322,323],{},"Gain",", the row directly above it, is ",[19,326,328],{"href":327},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-time-weighted-return","time-weighted return",". Each closed trade contributes one factor — its net result over the balance standing before it — and those factors are multiplied together. Deposits and withdrawals move the balance but never create a factor of their own.",[10,331,332],{},"That has an exact consequence. On an account funded once and never topped up or withdrawn from, the chain of factors collapses to final balance divided by the deposit, which is 1 + Abs. Gain. The two rows print the same number, and separate only once cash has moved.",[10,334,335,336,339,340,343],{},"Fund an account with $10,000 and make $2,000: both rows read +20.00%. Now deposit another $10,000 and make $2,000 more. Abs. Gain is $4,000 \u002F $20,000 = ",[14,337,338],{},"+20.00%",". Gain is 1.20 × (1 + 2,000\u002F22,000) − 1 = ",[14,341,342],{},"+30.91%",", because the second $2,000 is measured against the $22,000 standing when it was earned, not against every dollar ever paid in.",[10,345,346],{},"Neither is wrong: Abs. Gain answers what the account returned on the money committed to it, Gain how well that money was traded. Only the second compares cleanly across accounts of different sizes.",[33,348,91],{"id":90},[10,350,351,352,356],{},"The asymmetry runs one way, and that is the useful part. A rescue deposit after a bad month cannot lift Abs. Gain: fresh money lands in the denominator and nowhere else, so the percentage drops the moment it arrives and only trading brings it back. That makes it ",[19,353,355],{"href":354},"\u002Fguides\u002Fspotting-fake-ea-results","harder to manufacture"," than a steep balance chart, which any deposit will produce.",[10,358,359],{},"The same mechanism is the limitation. An account scaled up after it started working reads low even when every trade was good, because most of the denominator arrived after most of the trading. Read the pair, never one row alone.",[33,361,124],{"id":123},[10,363,364,365,164,371,374],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not traders in general. Funding is rarely a single event here: ",[14,366,367],{},[19,368,370],{"href":369},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-multiple-accounts-portfolio","699 users run more than one account",[14,372,373],{},"429 run accounts at more than one broker",". Money moved between them arrives as a fresh deposit at the destination and enlarges its denominator permanently.",[10,376,377,378,380,381,384,385,164,388,391],{},"Across the ",[14,379,130],{}," (August 2026), built from ",[14,382,383],{},"15,436,464 synchronised trades",", the median time-weighted return is ",[14,386,387],{},"+3.2%",[14,389,390],{},"63.0%"," of accounts are positive on that basis. Wherever an account's two rows disagree, the gap between them is measuring its funding history and nothing else.",[33,393,172],{"id":171},[10,395,396,398,399,401,402,404,405,164,408,411],{},[14,397,275],{}," is the second row of the ",[14,400,183],{}," panel, directly under ",[14,403,323],{},", on every published account page and in the Complete Dashboard widget when that page is embedded elsewhere. The panel separates its blocks with a rule but prints no headings, so Gain, Abs. Gain, ",[14,406,407],{},"Avg Daily %",[14,409,410],{},"Avg Monthly %"," read as the first four rows.",[10,413,414,415,418,419,422,423,426],{},"Both ingredients appear further down the same panel. ",[14,416,417],{},"Profit"," is the numerator — net closed profit and loss in account currency — and ",[14,420,421],{},"Deposits"," is the denominator, with ",[14,424,425],{},"Withdrawals"," beside them so a reader can see what has been taken out without wondering whether it moved the percentage. It did not.",[10,428,429],{},"The value is not calculated in your browser. It is produced by our statistics service from the account's synchronised history and refreshed on each sync, and the same figure feeds the public page, the owner's dashboard and the widget alike.",[33,431,207],{"id":206},[61,433,434,448,454],{},[64,435,436,439,440,444,445,447],{},[14,437,438],{},"\"My open positions are in it.\""," They are not. ",[19,441,443],{"href":442},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-equity-curve","Floating profit and loss"," appears in the ",[14,446,195],{}," row of the same panel, never in Abs. Gain.",[64,449,450,453],{},[14,451,452],{},"\"A withdrawal lowered it.\""," It cannot. Withdrawals are absent from both the numerator and the denominator.",[64,455,456,459],{},[14,457,458],{},"\"A bigger Abs. Gain means better trading.\""," Not across accounts. It also records when the money arrived: two identical strategies, one funded once and one topped up monthly, will not print the same figure.",[10,461,462,463,31],{},"For how this row reads alongside every other number on the page, see ",[19,464,466],{"href":465},"\u002Fguides\u002Freading-a-trading-account-dashboard","how to read a trading account dashboard",{"title":50,"searchDepth":242,"depth":242,"links":468},[469,470,471,472,473,474],{"id":35,"depth":242,"text":36},{"id":317,"depth":242,"text":318},{"id":90,"depth":242,"text":91},{"id":123,"depth":242,"text":124},{"id":171,"depth":242,"text":172},{"id":206,"depth":242,"text":207},"Metrics","Absolute gain is net closed profit and loss divided by total deposits. Here is the formula, how it differs from Gain, and what published accounts show.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-absolute-gain",[480,481,482,483],"what-is-time-weighted-return","what-is-drawdown-on-balance","what-is-an-equity-curve","what-is-a-profit-factor",{"title":267,"description":476},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-absolute-gain","Absolute Gain","FFtKoKiYZFPxnfhaNPOTaeILG4TlCjF_k0hrOL8RPEI",{"id":489,"title":490,"body":491,"category":475,"date":250,"description":675,"draft":676,"extension":253,"meta":677,"navigation":252,"path":134,"related":678,"seo":681,"stem":682,"term":30,"updated":250,"__hash__":683},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown.md","What Is Drawdown? Definition, Formula and Real Numbers",{"type":7,"value":492,"toc":668},[493,496,498,501,507,510,513,546,548,551,557,562,565,577,579,584,595,598,600,617,631,633,663],[10,494,495],{},"Drawdown is the decline in an account's value from a previous peak down to a subsequent low, expressed as a percentage of that peak. It measures how far the account fell from its own best point, not how much it lost on any single trade. Because it accumulates, a 20% drawdown can be built out of forty small losses just as easily as out of one disaster.",[33,497,36],{"id":35},[10,499,500],{},"Every account carries a running high-water mark: the highest value it has ever reached. Drawdown is the distance below that mark at any given moment.",[41,502,505],{"className":503,"code":504,"language":46},[44],"Drawdown % = (Peak value − Current value) \u002F Peak value × 100\n",[48,506,504],{"__ignoreMap":50},[10,508,509],{},"The mark only moves up. When a new high is printed, the high-water mark resets to it and drawdown returns to zero. Until then, every day below the peak is a day in drawdown, whether the account is falling or grinding sideways.",[10,511,512],{},"Three distinctions decide what the number actually means:",[61,514,515,525,531],{},[64,516,517,520,521,524],{},[14,518,519],{},"Relative vs absolute."," Relative drawdown is the percentage above. Absolute drawdown, as MetaTrader reports it, is the fall below the ",[105,522,523],{},"initial deposit"," in currency — a completely different figure that can read 0% on an account currently 40% below its peak.",[64,526,527,530],{},[14,528,529],{},"Equity vs balance."," Equity drawdown counts floating losses on open positions. Balance drawdown counts only closed trades, so a loss that is never realised never appears in it.",[64,532,533,536,537,541,542,545],{},[14,534,535],{},"Current vs maximum."," Current drawdown is where the account sits today. The historical worst is ",[19,538,540],{"href":539},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown","maximum drawdown",", and it is the figure most ",[19,543,544],{"href":21},"track records"," quote.",[33,547,91],{"id":90},[10,549,550],{},"Drawdown is the constraint that decides whether a strategy is investable, because losses and gains do not compound symmetrically. A 20% fall needs a 25% gain to get back to even. A 50% fall needs 100%.",[10,552,553],{},[98,554],{"alt":555,"src":556},"A 10% loss needs an 11.1% gain to undo it, 25% needs 33.3%, 50% needs 100%, 70% needs 233%","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Frecovery-asymmetry.svg",[10,558,559],{},[105,560,561],{},"Past 50%, the recovery is a bigger job than the loss that caused it.",[10,563,564],{},"It is also the number that removes people from the market. Almost nobody quits during a fast, violent fall — the emotion there is hope. They quit in month nine of a flat recovery. Depth is only half of it; duration is the other half, and it is invisible on a returns chart.",[10,566,567,568,164,572,576],{},"And drawdown is the direct output of ",[19,569,571],{"href":570},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing","position sizing",[19,573,575],{"href":574},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-stop-loss","stop-loss"," discipline, far more than of entry quality. Two traders with identical signals and different lot sizes produce identical win rates and completely different survivability.",[33,578,124],{"id":123},[10,580,581,582,31],{},"The figures below describe accounts published on ShowMyTrades. They are not a survey of traders in general. Across the published accounts that have trading history (August 2026), drawn from 15,436,464 synchronised trades, the median deepest drawdown ever reached is ",[14,583,139],{},[10,585,586,587,136,589,591,592,594],{},"Set that against what the same accounts earned. The median ",[19,588,328],{"href":327},[14,590,387],{},", and ",[14,593,390],{}," of them are positive over time. The middle account here therefore gave up roughly three times its eventual return in peak-to-trough decline along the way: the risk absorbed is larger than the result, and larger by a multiple rather than a margin.",[10,596,597],{},"That ratio, not the raw depth, is what makes a drawdown figure readable. A published claim of large gains beside a two- or three-percent drawdown is not impossible, but it sits at the outer edge of this distribution, and the rest of the account page is where an edge case has to be justified.",[33,599,172],{"id":171},[10,601,602,603,605,606,608,609,611,612,616],{},"On every published account page, the ",[14,604,183],{}," panel carries two figures on consecutive rows, immediately below ",[14,607,410],{},": ",[14,610,30],{},", measured on equity so floating losses on open positions are included, and ",[14,613,614],{},[19,615,26],{"href":255},", measured on closed results only. Both are historical maxima rather than today's reading, and both come from the broker feed rather than from the account owner.",[10,618,619,620,622,623,625,626,630],{},"The charts module has a ",[14,621,30],{}," view that plots daily drawdown as bars over the life of the account. That is where the ",[105,624,202],{}," of a decline becomes readable instead of inferred, which no single headline percentage can convey. The ",[19,627,629],{"href":628},"\u002Ftools\u002Fdrawdown-calculator","drawdown calculator"," runs the recovery arithmetic on your own balance.",[33,632,207],{"id":206},[61,634,635,641,647,657],{},[64,636,637,640],{},[14,638,639],{},"\"Drawdown is my biggest losing trade.\""," It is not. It is a cumulative peak-to-trough path that can contain hundreds of trades, including winners.",[64,642,643,646],{},[14,644,645],{},"\"My drawdown went back to zero after I recovered.\""," Current drawdown did. Maximum drawdown never falls, by design — it stops a good quarter from erasing a bad one.",[64,648,649,652,653,31],{},[14,650,651],{},"\"Low drawdown means low risk.\""," On a young account it usually means untested. The median published account here has 171 closed trades; below a few hundred, ",[19,654,656],{"href":655},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-much-history-a-track-record-needs","a small drawdown is a sample size, not a risk profile",[64,658,659,662],{},[14,660,661],{},"\"Balance drawdown is the real one.\""," It is the flattering one. Grid and averaging-down systems keep balance drawdown small precisely by refusing to close losers.",[10,664,665,666,31],{},"For how drawdown reads alongside every other number on an account page, see ",[19,667,466],{"href":465},{"title":50,"searchDepth":242,"depth":242,"links":669},[670,671,672,673,674],{"id":35,"depth":242,"text":36},{"id":90,"depth":242,"text":91},{"id":123,"depth":242,"text":124},{"id":171,"depth":242,"text":172},{"id":206,"depth":242,"text":207},"Drawdown is the peak-to-trough fall in an account's value, in percent. Here is the formula, why it is cumulative, and what thousands of real trading accounts show.",false,{},[258,679,680,483],"what-is-position-sizing","what-is-a-stop-loss",{"title":490,"description":675},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown","DMQq_wxULyvtTewFH3EendlyxckASOfp4LLweDXbTKY",{"id":685,"title":686,"body":687,"category":249,"date":250,"description":954,"draft":252,"extension":253,"meta":955,"navigation":252,"path":113,"related":956,"seo":960,"stem":961,"term":962,"updated":250,"__hash__":963},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-margin-level.md","What Is Margin Level? Formula and Stop Out Levels",{"type":7,"value":688,"toc":947},[689,692,694,700,703,711,792,795,801,832,834,840,842,855,858,869,871,874,914,916,942],[10,690,691],{},"Margin level is account equity divided by the margin locked up by open positions, expressed as a percentage. It is the number a broker watches to decide whether your positions are still adequately funded; below published thresholds the platform warns you, then closes positions for you.",[33,693,36],{"id":35},[41,695,698],{"className":696,"code":697,"language":46},[44],"Equity       = Balance + floating P&L of open positions\nUsed margin  = Σ (position size × contract size × price) ÷ leverage\nMargin level = (Equity ÷ Used margin) × 100\nFree margin  = Equity − Used margin\n",[48,699,697],{"__ignoreMap":50},[10,701,702],{},"500% means equity is five times the collateral in use; 100% means it exactly equals it. Below that the account is funding positions it can no longer cover.",[10,704,705,706,710],{},"Worked example: a $10,000 account opens 5 lots of EUR\u002FUSD at 1:100 ",[19,707,709],{"href":708},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-leverage","leverage",". Used margin is about $5,400, margin level starts at 185%, and one pip on that size is $50.",[712,713,714,732],"table",{},[715,716,717],"thead",{},[718,719,720,724,726,729],"tr",{},[721,722,723],"th",{},"Adverse move",[721,725,195],{},[721,727,728],{},"Margin level",[721,730,731],{},"Free margin",[733,734,735,750,764,778],"tbody",{},[718,736,737,741,744,747],{},[738,739,740],"td",{},"0 pips",[738,742,743],{},"$10,000",[738,745,746],{},"185%",[738,748,749],{},"$4,600",[718,751,752,755,758,761],{},[738,753,754],{},"−60 pips",[738,756,757],{},"$7,000",[738,759,760],{},"130%",[738,762,763],{},"$1,600",[718,765,766,769,772,775],{},[738,767,768],{},"−120 pips",[738,770,771],{},"$4,000",[738,773,774],{},"74%",[738,776,777],{},"−$1,400",[718,779,780,783,786,789],{},[738,781,782],{},"−146 pips",[738,784,785],{},"$2,700",[738,787,788],{},"50%",[738,790,791],{},"−$2,700",[10,793,794],{},"A 146-pip move, routine on EUR\u002FUSD in a news week, takes that account from apparently comfortable to liquidated at the broker's thresholds — typically 100% and 50%, but always set in the contract rather than by any universal standard.",[10,796,797,800],{},[14,798,799],{},"Why it collapses fastest when you are already losing."," With size held constant the ratio falls in a straight line, but four things break that assumption at exactly the wrong moment:",[61,802,803,809,815,821],{},[64,804,805,808],{},[14,806,807],{},"The denominator does not shrink with you."," Used margin is frozen at the size you opened, so every dollar of floating loss comes off the numerator alone.",[64,810,811,814],{},[14,812,813],{},"Losing traders add size."," Averaging down, grid and martingale systems open more positions as price moves against them: equity falls while used margin rises, so the ratio drops non-linearly.",[64,816,817,820],{},[14,818,819],{},"Margin requirements rise in volatility."," Brokers cut leverage before major releases and weekends. Used margin increases on positions you never touched, with no price move at all.",[64,822,823,826,827,831],{},[14,824,825],{},"Spreads widen with the loss."," Equity is marked at the price that would close the position, so a ",[19,828,830],{"href":829},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-spread","spread"," blowout reprices the whole book at once.",[33,833,91],{"id":90},[10,835,836,837,839],{},"Margin level converts an unrealised loss into a forced, realised one at the worst point of the move — the mechanism behind a ",[19,838,119],{"href":118},". It also reframes sizing: opening a position is choosing how much price movement the account can absorb before someone else takes over the exits, and that buffer, in pips, is knowable before you click.",[33,841,124],{"id":123},[10,843,844,845,136,848,850,851,854],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the ",[19,846,847],{"href":539},"median deepest drawdown",[14,849,139],{},", but ",[14,852,853],{},"17.6% have passed 50%",". These are accounts published here, not traders in general.",[10,856,857],{},"Hold that 50% against the ratio. Margin level scales with equity: an account at a comfortable-looking 200% is already at 100% — the usual call threshold — once equity has halved, and reaching a 50% stop out takes a fall of roughly three quarters. Falls past half are about one published account in six.",[10,859,860,861,863,864,868],{},"The gap between the two published drawdown figures tells the rest. ",[14,862,30],{}," is measured on equity and includes floating losses; ",[14,865,866],{},[19,867,26],{"href":255}," counts closed results only. A first figure far larger than the second means the account carried deep unrealised losses — another way of saying its margin level was low.",[33,870,172],{"id":171},[10,872,873],{},"Used margin is not published, so no account page carries a margin-level gauge. The numerator and the two variables behind the denominator are all visible.",[61,875,876,889,895,908],{},[64,877,878,164,881,883,884,180,886,888],{},[14,879,880],{},"Balance",[14,882,195],{},", the two rows immediately below ",[14,885,26],{},[14,887,183],{}," panel, where Equity carries its own percentage in brackets — equity as a share of balance. Well under 100% is an account holding floating losses right now, its margin level falling with them.",[64,890,891,892,894],{},"The ",[14,893,709],{}," badge in the account header, beside the broker and the account currency: it divides the notional value of every position, fixing the denominator before the first order.",[64,896,891,897,903,904,907],{},[14,898,899],{},[19,900,902],{"href":901},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftrading-volume-analysis","Volume"," column in the ",[14,905,906],{},"trades table",", in lots, which is the other half of used margin. Several tickets open at once on large volume means a large denominator against the same equity.",[64,909,910,913],{},[14,911,912],{},"Highest $",", the peak balance on the row directly under Equity, showing how far equity now sits below the account's own best.",[33,915,207],{"id":206},[61,917,918,924,930,936],{},[64,919,920,923],{},[14,921,922],{},"\"Margin level is my leverage.\""," Related but not the same. Leverage is set per instrument and determines used margin; margin level is a live ratio that changes on every tick.",[64,925,926,929],{},[14,927,928],{},"\"1,000% is safe.\""," It is safe for that position set. Open four more of the same size and the same equity covers five times the collateral.",[64,931,932,935],{},[14,933,934],{},"\"Free margin is money I can withdraw.\""," It is unencumbered equity, including floating profit that has not been realised and can disappear.",[64,937,938,941],{},[14,939,940],{},"\"Closing one position fixes it.\""," Not proportionally. Closing the largest releases the most margin and lifts the ratio fastest; closing the smallest may not lift it above the threshold at all. Which one the platform picks at a stop out is not your choice.",[10,943,944,945,31],{},"For how equity, balance and drawdown read together, see ",[19,946,466],{"href":465},{"title":50,"searchDepth":242,"depth":242,"links":948},[949,950,951,952,953],{"id":35,"depth":242,"text":36},{"id":90,"depth":242,"text":91},{"id":123,"depth":242,"text":124},{"id":171,"depth":242,"text":172},{"id":206,"depth":242,"text":207},"Margin level is equity divided by used margin, as a percentage. The formula, the margin call and stop out thresholds, and why it falls fastest when you lose.",{},[957,958,679,959],"what-is-a-margin-call","what-is-leverage","what-is-a-daily-drawdown-limit",{"title":686,"description":954},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-margin-level","Margin Level","Q9Dx6hpaBEKrz852D0ibuqsOObwtB7xfIPla6pe6iSc",{"id":965,"title":966,"body":967,"category":475,"date":250,"description":1264,"draft":676,"extension":253,"meta":1265,"navigation":252,"path":539,"related":1266,"seo":1268,"stem":1269,"term":1270,"updated":250,"__hash__":1271},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown.md","What Is Maximum Drawdown? Formula and Recovery Maths",{"type":7,"value":968,"toc":1257},[969,976,978,981,987,990,1040,1046,1063,1065,1068,1129,1132,1139,1141,1147,1153,1158,1169,1196,1198,1211,1224,1226,1252],[10,970,971,972,975],{},"Maximum drawdown is the largest ",[19,973,974],{"href":134},"peak-to-trough decline"," an account has recorded over its entire history, expressed as a percentage of the peak. It is the worst loss the strategy has actually inflicted, as opposed to the worst loss its owner expects. It never decreases: once printed, a 34% maximum drawdown stays at 34% through every subsequent new high.",[33,977,36],{"id":35},[10,979,980],{},"Walk the equity curve forward one point at a time, keeping the highest value seen so far. At each point, measure the fall below that running high. The maximum drawdown is the deepest fall found anywhere on the walk.",[41,982,985],{"className":983,"code":984,"language":46},[44],"MaxDD % = max over t of [ (Peak(0..t) − Value(t)) \u002F Peak(0..t) ] × 100\n",[48,986,984],{"__ignoreMap":50},[10,988,989],{},"The result depends entirely on which curve you walk, and ShowMyTrades publishes both.",[712,991,992,1008],{},[715,993,994],{},[718,995,996,999,1002,1005],{},[721,997,998],{},"Metric",[721,1000,1001],{},"Measured on",[721,1003,1004],{},"Open positions counted?",[721,1006,1007],{},"What it tells you",[733,1009,1010,1025],{},[718,1011,1012,1016,1019,1022],{},[738,1013,1014],{},[14,1015,30],{},[738,1017,1018],{},"Equity (balance + floating P&L)",[738,1020,1021],{},"Yes",[738,1023,1024],{},"The real fall in what the account was worth at that moment",[718,1026,1027,1031,1034,1037],{},[738,1028,1029],{},[14,1030,26],{},[738,1032,1033],{},"Closed balance only",[738,1035,1036],{},"No",[738,1038,1039],{},"The fall in realised results",[10,1041,1042,1045],{},[19,1043,1044],{"href":255},"Balance drawdown"," is the more flattering figure, and it is flattering by construction: an unrealised loss is invisible to it. That is the mechanism behind grid, martingale and averaging-down systems — they keep the balance curve smooth by never closing losers.",[10,1047,1048,1049,164,1052,1055,1056,1059,1060,1062],{},"So an account showing ",[14,1050,1051],{},"Drawdown 41%",[14,1053,1054],{},"DD on Balance 6%"," is not broken. It was 41% underwater while its closed results claimed a rough patch of 6%. The equity figure is the honest one, and the ",[105,1057,1058],{},"gap between the two"," is a description of the strategy. When the two sit close together, positions are being closed near the point where damage is taken — which is what a ",[19,1061,575],{"href":574}," is for.",[33,1064,91],{"id":90},[10,1066,1067],{},"Recovery is asymmetric, because the gain has to compound off a smaller base than the loss did.",[712,1069,1070,1080],{},[715,1071,1072],{},[718,1073,1074,1077],{},[721,1075,1076],{},"Maximum drawdown",[721,1078,1079],{},"Gain needed to reach the old peak",[733,1081,1082,1090,1098,1106,1113,1121],{},[718,1083,1084,1087],{},[738,1085,1086],{},"10%",[738,1088,1089],{},"11.1%",[718,1091,1092,1095],{},[738,1093,1094],{},"20%",[738,1096,1097],{},"25.0%",[718,1099,1100,1103],{},[738,1101,1102],{},"30%",[738,1104,1105],{},"42.9%",[718,1107,1108,1110],{},[738,1109,788],{},[738,1111,1112],{},"100.0%",[718,1114,1115,1118],{},[738,1116,1117],{},"70%",[738,1119,1120],{},"233.3%",[718,1122,1123,1126],{},[738,1124,1125],{},"90%",[738,1127,1128],{},"900.0%",[10,1130,1131],{},"Under 20% the asymmetry is a nuisance. Past 50% it becomes the dominant fact of the account: you have to double your money with the same strategy that just halved it.",[10,1133,1134,1135,1138],{},"Maximum drawdown is also the number that sets your practical leverage ceiling. If a system has historically drawn down 30%, running it at double ",[19,1136,1137],{"href":570},"position size"," implies a 60% drawdown you have no evidence you can sit through.",[33,1140,124],{"id":123},[10,1142,1143,1144,1146],{},"The numbers here come from accounts published on ShowMyTrades, not from traders at large. Across the published accounts that have trading history (August 2026), the median deepest drawdown is ",[14,1145,139],{},", and the spread around that median is wide in both directions.",[10,1148,1149],{},[98,1150],{"alt":1151,"src":1152},"Deepest drawdown across public ShowMyTrades accounts: 38.5% under 5%, 23.3% between 5% and 20%, 20.6% between 20% and 50%, 17.6% over 50%","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fdrawdown-distribution.svg",[10,1154,1155],{},[105,1156,1157],{},"Median 9.7%, and the tail is longer than most published claims allow for.",[10,1159,1160,1161,1164,1165,1168],{},"At the far end, ",[14,1162,1163],{},"17.6% have fallen more than 50%"," below their peak and ",[14,1166,1167],{},"38.2% have been more than 20% underwater",". Roughly one account in six has therefore faced the 50% row of the recovery table above: a 100% gain required just to get back to level.",[10,1170,1171,1172,1174,1175,1178,1179,1183,1184,1187,1188,1191,1192,31],{},"The near end deserves the same scepticism: ",[14,1173,143],{}," record a maximum drawdown under 5%. Some of those are genuinely conservative. Many are simply young. The median published account holds ",[14,1176,1177],{},"171 closed trades"," at a ",[19,1180,1182],{"href":1181},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-average-trade-length","median trade length"," of ",[14,1185,1186],{},"2.4 hours","; on a sample that size, a small maximum drawdown records what has not happened yet rather than what cannot. A maximum drawdown is a claim about the tail of a distribution, and ",[19,1189,1190],{"href":655},"tails need history behind them"," — which is why the figure is only worth much on a ",[19,1193,1195],{"href":1194},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record","verified track record",[33,1197,172],{"id":171},[10,1199,891,1200,1202,1203,164,1205,1207,1208,1210],{},[14,1201,183],{}," panel on every published account page shows ",[14,1204,30],{},[14,1206,26],{}," on consecutive rows below ",[14,1209,410],{},", both derived from the broker feed rather than self-reported. Compare them first; the divergence is the fastest read on the page.",[10,1212,1213,1214,1216,1217,1220,1221,1223],{},"The charts module includes a dedicated ",[14,1215,30],{}," view, which plots daily drawdown as bars and so answers the question the headline percentage cannot: how ",[105,1218,1219],{},"long"," the account stayed below its high-water mark. A 25% drawdown recovered in seven weeks and a 25% drawdown still open fourteen months later print the identical number and are not the same account. The ",[19,1222,629],{"href":628}," runs the recovery table above against your own balance.",[33,1225,207],{"id":206},[61,1227,1228,1234,1240,1246],{},[64,1229,1230,1233],{},[14,1231,1232],{},"\"My maximum drawdown improved this year.\""," It cannot improve. It is a historical maximum, and a good year cannot un-print it.",[64,1235,1236,1239],{},[14,1237,1238],{},"\"The two drawdown figures should match.\""," They match only when positions are closed near the loss. A wide gap is the signature of held losers, not a data error.",[64,1241,1242,1245],{},[14,1243,1244],{},"\"Small max drawdown, low risk.\""," Not on a short history. Ask how many trades and how many months produced it before treating it as a risk measure.",[64,1247,1248,1251],{},[14,1249,1250],{},"\"Percentage drawdown and money drawdown are interchangeable.\""," A 30% fall on a $2,000 account and on a $200,000 account are the same risk profile and very different experiences — but only the percentage is comparable between accounts.",[10,1253,1254,1255,31],{},"For maximum drawdown in context with every other metric on a live account page, read ",[19,1256,466],{"href":465},{"title":50,"searchDepth":242,"depth":242,"links":1258},[1259,1260,1261,1262,1263],{"id":35,"depth":242,"text":36},{"id":90,"depth":242,"text":91},{"id":123,"depth":242,"text":124},{"id":171,"depth":242,"text":172},{"id":206,"depth":242,"text":207},"Maximum drawdown is the deepest peak-to-trough fall an account ever recorded. The formula, the recovery table, and the real spread across thousands of accounts.",{},[257,679,1267,483],"what-is-a-verified-track-record",{"title":966,"description":1264},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown","Maximum Drawdown","ApNMddCmg0QCLnuOwuyL_buXf8nvEi3z-WICzHc5jDU",1787415687112]