📉 Equity Curve Control — How Pros Manage Drawdowns
🎯 The Lesson
Anyone can grow an account in good times.
But what separates pros from amateurs is how they behave when the equity curve dips.
Drawdowns are inevitable — controlling them is a skill.
It’s what keeps traders in the game long enough to win.
⚙️ Step 1: Know Your Maximum Drawdown Limit
Your maximum drawdown (MDD) is the largest loss from a peak to a valley in your balance.
A professional sets this limit before trading.
Example:
-
Peak balance: $10,000
-
Lowest point: $9,200
→ MDD = $800 or 8%
Most consistent traders keep their MDD below 10–12%.
Anything beyond that means risk control is broken.
🧮 Step 2: The Recovery Math
The deeper the drawdown, the harder the recovery.
| Drawdown | Needed Gain to Recover |
|---|---|
| 10% | 11% |
| 25% | 33% |
| 50% | 100% |
| 70% | 233% |
This is why capital protection > profit chasing.
You can always make money later — but you can’t trade without money now.
📊 Step 3: Cut Risk During Losing Streaks
Let’s say your risk per trade = 2%.
If you lose 3 trades in a row, reduce it to 1%.
If you lose 5 trades in a row, stop trading for 24 hours.
This simple rule creates an auto-brake system for your equity curve.
You’ll never spiral into deep losses by accident.
💡 Step 4: Track Your Equity Like a Pilot
Pilots monitor altitude — traders monitor equity.
Log your daily balance and equity (open trades included).
If your curve drops faster than expected, it’s not “bad luck.”
It’s bad management.
Adjust before you crash.
🚀 Takeaway
A smooth equity curve isn’t luck — it’s discipline in numbers.
You can’t control the market, but you can control your drawdown.
And once you do that, profits become predictable.
📢 Join my MQL5 channel for more trading & risk-management insights:
👉 https://www.mql5.com/en/channels/issam_kassas
