The formula
The "highest" in the formula is the crux: whether it includes open profit decides how the rule behaves.
A worked example
A $50,000 account with a $2,500 trailing drawdown starts with its floor at $47,500.
You open a trade that runs to +$1,800 unrealised, so equity touches $51,800, then it reverses and you close at +$300.
Same trade, same result, and the intraday version took $1,500 of your room for a profit you never banked. That is why trailing accounts reward taking profits at plan and punish letting big open winners round-trip.
Common mistakes
- Thinking the room grows with profit. It never exceeds the trail amount until the trail locks.
- Forgetting that open profit counts. On intraday trailing, a winner that gives back gains still moved your floor.
- Sizing as if the limit were static. After a good run your room is the same as day one, not bigger.
- Not knowing the lock level. Once the trail stops, the rule becomes static and your sizing can change. Confirm the exact rule on your firm's site.
How the RB journal tracks it
On a prop account you set Max Drawdown Type to Static (fixed from the starting balance) or Trailing (rises with the equity peak), and the journal tracks your floor and the room left to it.
See your own Trailing Drawdown from real trades
Log trades by hand, import a file, or live-sync MT4, MT5 and cTrader through the RBSync EA. The numbers on this page then come from your own history instead of examples.
Start free, no card