Losses and recoveries are not symmetric, and that asymmetry is one of the most under-appreciated facts in trading. A drawdown of a given percentage always demands a larger percentage gain to get back to where you started. The drawdown and recovery calculator puts that uncomfortable math in front of you before a hole gets deep enough to matter.
Why a loss needs a bigger gain to recover
If an account falls by a fifth, it is not back to even after a one-fifth gain — because that gain is measured against the smaller, post-loss balance. A 20% loss needs a 25% gain to recover. A 50% loss needs a 100% gain. The deeper the drawdown, the more punishing the climb out, and the curve steepens fast.
Using the calculator
Enter the percentage decline from a peak, and the tool returns the gain required to return to that high-water mark. Try a few values in a row — 10%, 25%, 50% — and watch the required recovery accelerate. Seeing the numbers next to each other is more convincing than any warning in prose.
A worked example: the recovery curve in numbers
The required gain is just the loss divided by what remains after it. Start with a $10,000 account and read across the table. The recovery gain is what you would need on the reduced balance to climb back to the original $10,000.
| Drawdown | Balance left | Gain needed to recover |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $9,000 | +11.1% |
| 20% | $8,000 | +25.0% |
| 33% | $6,700 | +49.3% |
| 50% | $5,000 | +100.0% |
| 75% | $2,500 | +300.0% |
The arithmetic is unforgiving: a 10% dip asks for an 11.1% bounce, but a 50% loss demands you double what is left, and a 75% loss needs a quadruple. The required gain climbs far faster than the loss because each recovery is measured against a smaller base. This is exactly why a shallow, enforced limit beats hoping a deep hole fills itself.
Let it shape your limits
The practical use of this is not to scare you after a loss but to set limits before one. If the recovery cost of a deep drawdown is clearly unacceptable, that is the argument for a maximum-drawdown threshold that halts trading well before you reach it. The calculator turns an abstract limit into a concrete decision.
Common questions
Why isn't a 20% loss recovered by a 20% gain?
Because the gain is measured against the smaller balance left after the loss. Twenty percent of $8,000 is only $1,600, which lands you at $9,600 — still short of $10,000. You need 25% of $8,000 to get back to even. The percentages do not cancel.
How does this connect to position sizing?
Small, consistent position sizes keep each loss shallow, which keeps the recovery curve in its gentle range. Turn a risk limit into an order size in how to size a position from your risk limit, and check the friction first with how to compute your break-even after fees.
Which calculator should I reach for first?
The drawdown tool answers "how bad would recovery be?", but it pairs with others that answer different questions. Which trading calculator to use, and when is the short decision guide.
Set the threshold this argues for in how to set a maximum-drawdown threshold, and size each trade so a single loss stays small in how to size a position from your risk limit. This is a planning utility, not a trade recommendation, and it promises no profit.