Recovery Factor Calculator
Divide the net change from the first to final entered account value by the maximum monetary drawdown found inside the same ordered path. The result is descriptive and does not rate a strategy or predict recovery.
Enter one ordered account-value path
Use like-for-like values in one currency unit from earliest to latest.
One non-negative value per line, earliest first. Use one currency and one balance-or-equity definition.
Endpoint-change recovery ratio
Observed Equity Drawdown 1.0.0.
How observed recovery factor is calculated
Recovery factor = Endpoint net change ÷ Maximum monetary drawdown
The denominator is the largest currency-unit decline from a running peak to a later entered value. It is not the largest percentage drawdown unless both happen in the same episode.
The numerator uses only the first and final entered values. It does not separate trading performance from deposits, withdrawals or other cash flows.
Assumptions and limits
- The series must use one consistent balance or equity definition and one currency unit.
- External cash flows can materially distort both endpoint change and the drawdown path.
- Sparse observations can miss a deeper drawdown between rows.
- A negative result is possible when the final value is below the start.
- No threshold, quality label, confidence interval or future-performance claim is applied.
Worked example from the audited fixture
For the audited path 10,000 → 10,500 → 9,800 → 11,000 → 9,000 → 12,100, endpoint net change is +2,100 and the largest currency-unit peak-to-trough decline is 2,000.
How to interpret the result
The numerator and denominator are both currency amounts from the same entered path, so their units cancel. This differs from Calmar, whose numerator is annualized percentage growth and whose denominator is percentage drawdown. The 1.05 fixture result is descriptive, not a recovery-time estimate or performance grade.
Frequently asked questions
- It divides net change from the first to final entered value by the largest monetary peak-to-trough decline in the same ordered path.
- The model tracks the running peak and subtracts each later value. The largest currency-unit decline is the denominator.
- The numeric recovery factor is undefined because maximum monetary drawdown is zero. Other path summaries remain available.
- Yes. If the final entered value is below the starting value, endpoint net change is negative while drawdown magnitude remains positive.
- No. Recovery percentage measures the gain needed from one trough to regain a peak. Recovery factor compares endpoint net change with the path’s maximum monetary drawdown.
- MetaTrader can use its own balance record, trade set and testing window. This page uses only the ordered values you enter and cannot verify that they match a report.
- Yes. They can change the endpoint numerator and create or remove apparent drawdowns unless values are adjusted consistently.
- No. It describes one supplied path and does not establish data quality, robustness, persistence or future returns.
Sources and methodology
- MQL5 Reference — Testing Statistics — Official recovery-factor definition as net profit divided by maximum balance drawdown.
- CFTC — Trading system claims advisory — Official caution on hypothetical and past-performance presentations.
Continue the performance review
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Confirm valuation basis, deposits, withdrawals and trading charges before deriving the path.
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