Tool

Trailing Drawdown Calculator

Last updated: March 11, 2026

See your moving fail line and how much room you have left.

Educational only. Firms do not all calculate trailing drawdown the same way.

Calculator

Beginner mode

Trailing drawdown is just a moving fail line.

Trailing drawdown follows your best account value upward, then locks in below it by a fixed amount.

Show current account value

Visual tracker

Where the line sits right now

Liquidation line on the left, best value on the right, and your room left shaded in between.

Fail line —
Best value reached —

Add your current account value to shade the room left.

Rule type

How your firm handles the fail line

Default: capped at starting balance, which is the most common beginner example.

Best value rises. Fail line rises until it reaches the starting balance.

Watch how it works

Step through one account

This example shows how the fail line moves and when capped rules stop it.

Step 1

Start balance = $50,000 and trailing drawdown = $2,500, so the fail line begins at $47,500.

Account value $50,000.00
Capped fail line $47,500.00
Uncapped fail line $47,500.00
Advanced options, notes, and sharing

Share

Share links reproduce the calculator state without exposing the URL format up front.

What to double-check

  • Some firms use equity.
  • Some firms use balance.
  • Some trail intraday.
  • Some trail end-of-day.
  • Some cap at starting balance.

Add your numbers to see firm-specific cautions.

Important: firms do not all calculate this the same way

Always check the written rule
Some firms use equity, some use balance, some trail intraday, some trail end-of-day, and some cap the line at your starting balance while others keep moving it.

See the exact math

Common formula
Fail line = Highest value reached − Trailing drawdown amount

If your firm caps the line at the starting balance, use the smaller of that result and your starting account size.

If you add your current account value, the calculator shows room left with this formula: Current value − Fail line.

Developer / share-link details

Use the Copy share link button to generate a URL with the calculator state.

  • td_start: starting account size
  • td_dd: trailing drawdown amount
  • td_hwm: highest account value reached
  • td_eq: current account value
  • td_variant: cap_start or uncapped

FAQ

Why does my buffer look smaller than my “account size”?

Because the drawdown buffer is often the real risk budget. A $50,000 account does not mean you can lose $50,000.

Why did my fail line stop moving?

If your firm caps the trailing line at starting balance, it stops rising once the line reaches that starting balance. Other firms keep trailing higher.

What if my firm uses end-of-day (EOD) trailing?

Use the end-of-day high-water mark and end-of-day equity or balance values defined by that firm. The calculator does the math, but it cannot infer the firm’s snapshot policy.