5% daily loss limit on a $200k account

If your account's daily limit is 5% and the account size is $200,000, the day's allowance is a five-figure sum. This page shows how far that floor moves under each measuring method, plus a prefilled calculator.

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 5% measured three ways

In our example the day starts with a closed balance of $206,000 and an open position worth +$1,500, so start-of-day equity is $207,500. The table applies a 5% 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$206,000$10,000$196,000$11,500
2. % of the start-of-day balance$206,000$10,300$195,700$11,800
3. % of the start-of-day equity$207,500$10,375$197,125$10,375

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 changes on a $200k account

On $200k the allowance at 5% is $10,000 or more. Larger allowances tend to invite larger or more numerous positions, and every cost scales with size: a $2 slip on 3 lots, at 100 ounces per lot, is $600, which is 6% of a $10,000 allowance. With several positions open at once, add their stop losses together and compare the total with the room left, not each one on its own.

One bad day on gold

Take a fresh day on which balance and equity both start at $200,000 and nothing is open, so all three methods give the same $10,000 allowance. You buy 2 lot of XAUUSD and gold falls $28 before you close. On many accounts one lot of gold is 100 ounces — check your contract specification — so each $1 move is worth $200 on 2 lot and the loss is $5,600. That is 56% of the day’s allowance, leaving $4,400. A second trade of the same size that ends the same way would cost another $5,600 and go $1,200 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 $100k 5% on $50k

Questions

What is a 5% daily loss on a $200k account?

Taken from the initial balance it is $10,000. Taken from a start-of-day value it is 5% of that value, so $10,300 from a $206,000 balance or $10,375 from $207,500 of equity in our example.

Why is the equity-based floor the highest in the table?

Because the reference includes the +$1,500 of open profit. The floor is 5% below $207,500, which is $197,125, so giving back that open profit uses today's allowance.

Does a bigger account make slippage less important?

No. Slippage is charged per lot, so larger positions lose more money for the same slip. It is worth leaving a margin between the loss you plan for and the floor.

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

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