4% daily loss limit on a $50k account

If your account's daily limit is 4% on a $50,000 account, the allowance is $2,000 when taken from the initial balance. Below, the same limit measured three ways, plus a calculator set up with these numbers.

Your account and rules

Daily loss limit
The daily % is a percentage of
Example value only — type the figure from your own rules. Counted here as a fixed level below the initial account size.

Today

The daily limit is measured from
Prefilled with the example day below. Use a minus sign for losses and include commission and swap already charged today.

Risk per trade (XAUUSD)

The calculator counts a $1 move as $100 per lot. On many accounts one lot of gold is 100 ounces — check your contract specification. Leave either field empty to skip this part.

Results

Room left today
–
Daily loss floor (do not go below)–
Daily loss allowance–
Current equity–
Maximum drawdown floor–
Room to maximum drawdown floor–
Risk per trade–
Full-stop trades that fit before the floor–

Everything is calculated in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

The same 4% measured three ways

Our example day opens with a closed balance of $51,500 and an open trade showing +$400, so start-of-day equity is $51,900. The table applies a 4% daily limit to that day. “Room” is the start-of-day equity minus the floor, before any new trade.

MethodReferenceAllowanceFloor todayRoom
1. % of the initial balance, from start-of-day balance$51,500$2,000$49,500$2,400
2. % of the start-of-day balance$51,500$2,060$49,440$2,460
3. % of the start-of-day equity$51,900$2,076$49,824$2,076

These figures only show the arithmetic. They are not a recommendation of any limit, position size or number of trades; your account’s own rules decide which line applies.

What 4% means on $50k

On $50k a 4% limit gives $2,000, which is $500 less than 5% would. In gold terms, if one lot is 100 ounces, that $500 is a $10 move on half a lot. When the account is in profit, as here, the start-of-day methods hand you a slightly larger allowance ($2,060 or $2,076), but the floor also climbs with the account, to between $49,440 and $49,824.

One bad day on gold

Take a fresh day on which balance and equity both start at $50,000 and nothing is open, so all three methods give the same $2,000 allowance. You buy 0.4 lot of XAUUSD and gold falls $38 before you close. On many accounts one lot of gold is 100 ounces — check your contract specification — so each $1 move is worth $40 on 0.4 lot and the loss is $1,520. That is 76% of the day’s allowance, leaving $480. A second trade of the same size that ends the same way would cost another $1,520 and go $1,040 past the floor.

A stop is a request, not a promise: on news or in a fast market the fill can be several dollars away, so the real loss can be larger than planned.

Related

Change any field in the calculator above, or open the full daily loss calculator. If you want the limit held on your MetaTrader 5 account automatically, see the free MT5 Daily Loss Lock.

5% on $50k 4% on $100k

Questions

What is a 4% daily loss limit on $50k?

$2,000 if taken from the initial balance. From a start-of-day value it is 4% of that value: $2,060 from a $51,500 balance or $2,076 from $51,900 of equity in our example.

Is my floor still below $50,000 when I am in profit?

Under the balance methods in our example it is just below ($49,500 and $49,440). Under the equity method it is $49,824. A little more profit and every floor would sit above the initial balance.

Where do I check which method my account uses?

In your account's official rules or FAQ. Look for whether the percentage is taken from the initial size or the start-of-day value, and whether that value is balance, equity or the higher of the two.

Not financial advice. This calculator is a planning aid; your account’s own rules and figures always take precedence.

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