How much should I risk per trade on a 5% daily loss limit?

Divide the limit by the number of losses in a row you want to survive, then stay under that. Four losses in a row on a 5% limit puts the ceiling at 1.25% per trade.

Is the daily loss measured from the starting balance?

It varies by firm. Some measure from the day's opening balance or equity. This calculator works in percentages of whichever balance your firm uses.

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Daily drawdown calculator

A daily loss limit is breached by a run of losses, so the question is how many losses in a row your risk per trade can absorb. This calculator gives the risk per trade to stay under for a run of your chosen length, and the chance of that run in one day and across a stretch of trading days.

Last updated 30 September 2026.

Daily drawdown

Daily loss limit%Losses in a row to surviveYour win rate%Trades per dayTrading days

Risk per trade, stay under1.25%

4 losses in a row at exactly this size reach the limit, and reaching it is usually a breach. Size below it.

Chance of 4 losses in a row in one day12.5%

Chance of at least one such day in 2093.1%

Assumes each trade is independent and loses the full risk. Losses in a row are more common than intuition suggests: that second figure is the one to look at.

How to read the result

The first figure is a ceiling, not a target. A run of that length at exactly that size reaches the limit, and most firms count reaching it as a breach.
The second figure is how often that run turns up in a single day at your win rate and number of trades.
The third is the one that matters: the chance of at least one such day over the whole period. It is much larger than the second.

Why runs are longer than they feel

A trader who wins half the time will, over a few hundred trades, see seven or eight losses in a row as a matter of course. Nothing has gone wrong when it happens. Sizing that only survives three losses in a row is sizing that will breach a daily limit, given enough days.

What it leaves out

It assumes every loss is the full risk and every trade is independent. Several positions open at once on markets that move together are one bet, not several, and can lose together inside a single candle. Count those as one trade with their combined risk.

A calculator shows what follows from the numbers you enter. It is not a forecast and not personal financial advice. Trading carries risk and you can lose money.

Daily drawdown calculator

How to read the result

Why runs are longer than they feel

What it leaves out

More calculators

Questions worth asking.

Size for the run you will meet, not the one you hope for.