Results
| 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 5% measured three ways
Our example day starts with a closed balance of $102,400 and one trade carried over midnight showing +$600, so start-of-day equity is $103,000. The table applies a 5% daily limit to that day. “Room” is the start-of-day equity minus the floor, before any new trade.
| Method | Reference | Allowance | Floor today | Room |
|---|
| 1. % of the initial balance, from start-of-day balance | $102,400 | $5,000 | $97,400 | $5,600 |
| 2. % of the start-of-day balance | $102,400 | $5,120 | $97,280 | $5,720 |
| 3. % of the start-of-day equity | $103,000 | $5,150 | $97,850 | $5,150 |
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 5% means on $100k
$100k is the size most examples online use, which makes it a handy yardstick. 5% is $5,000. If one lot of gold is 100 ounces on your account, that is a $50 move against a single lot, and gold can travel that far on a busy news day. The table shows the second point worth knowing: once the account is in profit, the two start-of-day methods give slightly more money for the day, but the floor itself sits higher than $95,000.
One bad day on gold
Take a fresh day on which balance and equity both start at $100,000 and nothing is open, so all three methods give the same $5,000 allowance. You buy 1 lot of XAUUSD and gold falls $35 before you close. On many accounts one lot of gold is 100 ounces — check your contract specification — so each $1 move is worth $100 on 1 lot and the loss is $3,500. That is 70% of the day’s allowance, leaving $1,500. A second trade of the same size that ends the same way would cost another $3,500 and go $2,000 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.
Questions
How much can I lose in a day with a 5% limit on a $100k account?
If the 5% is taken from the initial $100,000, the allowance is $5,000 every day and the floor is your start-of-day value minus $5,000. If it is taken from the start-of-day value, the allowance changes daily with that value. Your account's own rules say which applies.
Does a floating loss count towards the 5%?
Usually the check during the day is made against live equity, so an open trade that is down already uses part of the allowance. Measured from start-of-day equity, a trade carried over midnight also changes the reference point itself.
Is the floor always $95,000 on a $100k account?
Only on a day that starts at exactly $100,000 with no open trades. In our example the day starts at $102,400 balance and $103,000 equity, and the floor lands between $97,280 and $97,850 depending on the method.
Not financial advice. This calculator is a planning aid; your account’s own rules and figures always take precedence.
