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Daily drawdown (daily loss limit)

The maximum a prop-firm account may lose in a single day before it is breached, measured from the day's starting balance or equity.

Daily loss limits are typically 2% to 5% of the account. Some firms measure from the previous day's closing balance; others include open profit at the start of the day, which makes the limit tighter than it looks.

Hitting the limit usually ends the evaluation or funded account, not just the day. Personal traders often adopt a similar rule voluntarily.

Example: $100,000 account with a $2,500 daily limit. You are up $1,500 by 10 a.m. and then give back $4,000: you are down $2,500 net and breached, even though the total loss from the peak was larger.

Related: trailing-drawdown, max-drawdown, prop-firm, risk-management

See it drawn

Original diagrams for the ideas on this page. Illustrative, not real market data.

An equity curve and its drawdownAn account balance rising over a year, falling from a peak to a trough, then climbing back to the old peak.ACCOUNT EQUITY$20k$12k$8k024681012TIME (MONTHS)PEAK $16,000TROUGH $12,000DRAWDOWN−25%RECOVERY
Equity curve and drawdown. An account balance plotted month by month. The fall from the $16,000 peak to the $12,000 trough is a 25% drawdown, and the shaded area lasts until the balance climbs back to the old peak.

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