What is maximum drawdown, and why it matters more than the best day
Maximum drawdown is the biggest fall from a peak. It tells you what holding through the bad times would have felt like.
The definition
Maximum drawdown is the largest percentage drop from a high point to a later low point. If an account goes from 100 to 120, then down to 108, the drawdown is 10%.
It is a measure of pain, not of probability. A small drawdown over a short record says little, because the bad period may not have arrived yet.
Why it beats the average return
Two accounts can both show +8%. One got there smoothly, the other fell 25% on the way. Most people cannot sit through the second one, so the return is not really comparable.
Leverage makes drawdowns larger. That is why we show the biggest drop from a peak next to the gain, in the key figures on the home page.
A note on short records
A few weeks of data cannot contain a full market cycle. Treat every number on a young record as provisional. This is a record of our own account, not advice. Leveraged trading can lose more than you expect, quickly. Read the risk notice.