Forex Drawdown Calculator
Measure one entered peak-to-trough decline and the exact gain required to recover. Optionally compound one entered fractional loss across a fixed number of steps to inspect a conditional loss and recovery path.
What does this forex drawdown calculator show?
The two-point result divides the decline by the entered peak. Its recovery result divides the missing amount by the lower trough. The optional repeated-loss table applies the same entered loss percentage to each new balance, so both the loss amount and balance decline geometrically.
- The peak and trough calculation remains a two-point episode; it does not scan an equity series for maximum drawdown.
- Repeated-loss rows are a deterministic what-if path from the entered peak, not a forecast or probability estimate.
- Full time-series maximum drawdown and prop-firm trailing floors remain on their separate canonical tools.
Enter one drawdown episode
Peak and trough are required. Leave both repeated-loss fields blank to omit the optional path.
A display label only; no currency conversion occurs.
The reference high-water value.
The later low value, from zero up to the peak.
Applied to each new balance, not repeatedly to the original peak.
A whole-number conditional horizon from 1 to 100.
Peak-to-trough result
Capital Change and Recovery 1.0.0 + Repeated Loss Recovery 1.0.0.
Inputs changed — recalculate before using these results.
Conditional repeated-loss and recovery path
Every row applies the entered loss percentage to the prior closing balance. It does not estimate whether or when the losses occur.
—
| Loss | Opening balance | Loss amount | Closing balance | Cumulative drawdown | Gain to regain peak |
|---|
Drawdown and recovery use different bases
Drawdown is measured from the peak. Recovery is measured from the lower trough. That base change is why the required recovery percentage is larger than the drawdown percentage.
In the optional path, each repeated loss is applied to the prior closing balance. The cumulative drawdown is still measured against the original entered peak, and each row’s recovery percentage uses that row’s lower closing balance.
This page computes one entered episode and one deterministic repeated-loss scenario. It does not find a maximum drawdown from a time series or infer the chance of consecutive losses.
Worked examples
| Entered scenario | Derived output | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 peak; 9,000 trough | 10.00% drawdown; 11.11% recovery | The account retains 90% of the peak. |
| 10,000 peak; 7,500 trough | 25.00% drawdown; 33.33% recovery | The missing 2,500 is one third of the trough. |
| 10,000 peak; five repeated 5% losses | 7,737.81 ending balance; 22.62% cumulative drawdown | Every 5% loss uses the prior closing balance; 29.24% is then required to regain the peak. |
How to interpret the result
The drawdown percentage uses the entered peak as its denominator, while the recovery percentage uses the lower trough. That denominator change is why a 25.00% decline from 10,000 to 7,500 requires a 33.33% gain from 7,500 to return to the peak. This two-point arithmetic does not estimate recovery time or probability.
Model and execution limitations
- This is a two-point calculation, not a maximum-drawdown scan of an equity curve.
- The repeated-loss table uses one constant entered fractional loss. It does not estimate win rate, losing-streak probability, timing or recovery probability.
- Deposits, withdrawals, fees and currency conversion can change the meaning of account values.
- The model cannot reproduce loss amounts fixed in currency, changing risk, gaps, slippage, margin calls or losses beyond the entered capital values.
- No prop-firm, broker or strategy threshold is evaluated or treated as universally safe or acceptable.
The CFTC cautions that hypothetical results have inherent limitations and that actual results can differ because of factors including spreads, commissions, liquidity and execution. The result on this page should be read within the narrower boundaries stated above.
Frequently asked questions
- It is the percentage decline from the entered peak value to the entered trough value.
- Each row multiplies the prior closing balance by one minus the entered loss percentage. Cumulative drawdown remains measured from the original entered peak.
- No. It is deterministic what-if arithmetic and does not estimate the probability, timing or order of future outcomes.
- Only if the values you enter are the actual high-water peak and the lowest later trough for the period being studied. The page does not inspect a time series.
- Recovery is calculated from the smaller trough base, while drawdown is calculated from the larger peak base.
- Not in this capital-value model because the trough cannot be negative. A trough of zero is a 100% drawdown.
- No. Static or trailing provider floors, daily limits, balance-versus-equity rules and breach decisions belong to the separate prop-firm tool and current official terms.
- No. The output is arithmetic only and does not assess future risk, strategy quality or suitability.
Method sources and provenance
- Investor.gov margin-account bulletin — Official examples showing that percentage gains and losses depend on their calculation base, with leverage able to extend losses beyond a simple capital-value model.
- CFTC trading-system advisory — Official caution on hypothetical and consecutive-loss presentations, execution, costs and omitted market conditions.
Local calculation: Inputs are processed in the browser by the named versioned model. The page does not send entered balances, rates, probabilities or notes to a calculation API.
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