Drawdown
This refers to a decrease or reduction and is used in the world of finance to describe the drop on the return curve, from the highest to the lowest point. In other words, the Drawdown is the most extreme series of accrued losses.
In trading, we use the Drawdown to understand broadly how much an individual trader can afford to lose. It also helps us to recognize the processes and strategies each trader has used to reach their final goal, and any upheavals their account may have endured on that journey.
Calculating the TickTick Drawdown
During the evaluation phase of your trading career, your permitted Drawdown will be calculated at the end of each trading day.
Note: The drawdown is calculated at the end of each day, so it does not change AT ALL during the day. However, if the balance reaches and exceeds the value of your Drawdown limit, you will get liquidated.
You can use your Trading Dashboard on Rtrader Pro and Tradovate to keep track of your results. When your account balance reaches a new high at the end of the trading day, the TickTick Drawdown will be calculated, taking into account only the profits realized at that point, while excluding any unrealized profits you may have been aiming for throughout the day.
$100,000 Pro Account Example
For an example of the TickTick Drawdown, imagine you were trading with a $100,000 account over five (5) days with a TickTick Drawdown of $3,500.
| Trading Days | Open Position Balance | Balance at Closing | TickTick Drawdown |
| 1st Day |
$100,500 |
$100,000 | $96,500 |
| 2nd Day | $100,800 | $98,000 | $96,500 |
| 3rd Day | No trading done on the 3rd Day | $96,500 | |
| 4th Day | $103,000 | $100,000 | $96,500 |
| 5th Day | $105,000 | $104,000 | $100,500 |
This example shows how the TickTick Drawdown ignores unrealized profits, taking into account only the realized gains at the end of the trading day.
TickTick Drawdown in R|Trader Pro
To check your TickTick Drawdown in Rtrader Pro, follow these steps:
- Log into your Rithmic account using your username and password.
- Go to the "Trader’s Dashboard" section of the platform.
- Right-click the column header and click “Add/Remove Column”.
- Find and search for “Auto Liquidate Threshold” and click on the boxto add the column to your R|Trader Dashboard.
- The value you will find under the “Auto Liquidate Threshold” field is your Drawdown or your Minimum Account Balance.
Note: Once you have added the “Auto Liquidate Threshold” field, you can rearrange your columns to your specification.
TickTick Drawdown in Tradovate
To check your TickTick Drawdown in Tradovate, follow these steps:
- Log into your Tradovate account using your username and password.
- On your dashboard, go to “Open P/L” and click the dropdown “⌄” icon to view the drawdown limit.
- Your drawdown limit is found on the “TR. MAX DRAWDOWN” line.