Drawdown Calculator
Lose 50% and you need +100% to recover — losses and recovery are never the same thing.
What it is
Drawdown is how far the account falls from its peak, and the gain required to recover is always bigger than the loss: −20% needs +25%, −50% needs +100%, −70% needs +233%. The asymmetry comes from the shrinking base — the deeper the drawdown, the faster the recovery difficulty accelerates. It is the hardest truth of risk control: keeping drawdowns shallow beats any fantasy of "winning it back after a big loss". It is also exactly why the position size calculator insists on 1%–2% risk per trade.
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How deep is this drawdown — and what gain recovers it?
Enter the account peak and trough — drawdown and recovery gain appear instantly, in your browser.
Drawdown
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Money lost
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Gain required to recover
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Reference: recovery difficulty by drawdown depth
| Drawdown | Loss | Recovery needs |
|---|---|---|
| −10% | −10% | +11.1% |
| −20% | −20% | +25% |
| −30% | −30% | +42.9% |
| −40% | −40% | +66.7% |
| −50% | −50% | +100% |
| −60% | −60% | +150% |
| −70% | −70% | +233.3% |
Enter the peak and trough balances to see the drawdown result.
How to use it
- Enter the account peak: the balance before the drawdown (historical high-water mark or this round's peak);
- Enter the trough: the balance after the drawdown (current equity or the round's low);
- Read the drawdown percentage and the gain required to recover;
- Compare with the reference table below to feel how recovery difficulty scales with depth.
The formula
Two balances, one division each — the asymmetry comes from the different denominators.
Drawdown and recovery are defined as "from the trough back to the peak"; if the trough is 0 (account blown), the recovery gain is mathematically undefined — that is why a blow-up is irreversible.
Worked example
An account falling from 20,000 USD to 16,000 USD:
- Drawdown = (20,000 − 16,000) ÷ 20,000 = 20%;
- Money lost = 4,000 USD;
- Recovery gain required = 20,000 ÷ 16,000 − 1 = 25%.
A 20% loss needs a 25% gain — manageable. A 50% loss needs 100%: the same "get back to even" is a completely different ask.
FAQ
Q Why is the recovery gain always bigger than the loss?
Because the denominator changes: the drawdown divides by the peak, the recovery divides by the shrunken trough. The deeper the loss, the smaller the base, and the larger the percentage needed to claw back each dollar — the asymmetry accelerates with depth.
Q How much drawdown is dangerous?
No universal line, but look at the table's trend: up to 30% recovery stays feasible (needs 42.9%); past 50% it doubles (needs 100%); 70% needs 233%. Professional funds typically cap drawdowns at 10%–20% — that is not conservatism, it is arithmetic.
Q How do I keep drawdowns small?
Drawdowns are stacked losing streaks: a small fixed fraction per trade (1%–2%), diversification across symbols, and an overall exposure cap — three locks that keep drawdowns shallow. The position size calculator handles the first one.
Q Max drawdown vs current drawdown?
Max drawdown is the worst peak-to-trough decline in history (how bad the strategy/account has ever been); current drawdown is from the latest high to now (how things stand). Evaluate strategies by max drawdown; decide on de-risking by current drawdown.
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Download Camovia TrayResults are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. The calculation simplifies the equity curve into two points — full drawdown statistics belong to the complete equity series.