Slippage
The difference between the price you expected and the price at which the order actually filled.
Glossary
Drawdown explained
Drawdown measures the hole you are in, not the last trade. It is the drop from the highest equity you have seen to the lowest point after that peak.
DefinedTerm · Drawdown
How far an account or equity curve has fallen from its highest point, usually shown as a percentage.
What
How far an account or equity curve has fallen from its highest point, usually shown as a percentage.
Not
A recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any instrument.
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Read the related tools, then size risk in pounds — not in hope.
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Definition
The working meaning
If an account grew from £1,000 to £1,400 and then fell to £1,120, the drawdown is £280 from the peak — 20%. The starting balance is irrelevant to that figure. Traders quote maximum drawdown as the worst such peak-to-trough stretch on a track record.
A strategy can be profitable over a year and still have a drawdown large enough to force you out if you cannot tolerate it. Recovery is asymmetric: a 50% drawdown needs a 100% gain to get back to the old peak.
Position size and leverage decide how fast drawdown arrives. The leverage page and the position-size calculator exist so you can see that math before a live account does it for you.
Keep going
Other terms in this set
Order Block
A chart zone some traders treat as leftover institutional buying or selling, used as a possible future reaction area.
Swap Rates
The overnight interest credited or charged when a leveraged position is held past the provider’s rollover time.