My largest drawdown was about 70%, not futures, but my 401k (I still selected that as my answer). I worked for a technology infrastructure company that suffered when the dot-com crash happened, and my portfolio was heavily in our own company's stock. Buy high sell low.
Futures, I think my largest was a 30% account drawdown, over a span of time. I cannot recall my largest single position drawdown, but it could not have been too large. I'm still here.
~vmodus
Enjoy everything!
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I destroyed several accounts until I see that trading is not easy.
So, more of 90% of DD
Then I changed my risk using Micros. Now is almost impossible to have more of 50% of DD.
Increasing contracts if increase the account or viceversa.
Automated my trading to have 100% discipline with targets or max DD permited.
Bernard
The following 4 users say Thank You to bcomas for this post:
Great question! I answered the poll thinking about my newly found algo trading. Which currently hovers around 25%.
Before all this started I blew up 5 accounts and well over 100k discretionary trading before finally figuring out I can’t follow rules as good as computer do. I just couldn’t find any consistency in the markets with my own discretion. So my real max drawdown is over 90% many times over.
The following 3 users say Thank You to FastNCurious for this post:
I'll second that. Blew a lot of money discretionary trading (well over 100k 4 times over) until I figured out how to code algos. Now doing much better and feeling better too! The beauty of algos is that at least you have a clue what your performance SHOULD be like even if you're testing isnt perfect. No emotional trading which is the main thing. Just love seeing that bot work for me
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The 3rd week of Sept 2001. 17 MM. Yeah that was a day. A bunch from asset prices. A bunch from Vola. A bunch from interest rate move. Outside of that, never more than typical daily swings.
The following 8 users say Thank You to wldman for this post:
I should probably add my experience for perspective against wldman's and others'. When I was fresh out of SIM trading in January 2019 I put up back-to-back $800.00 and $900.00 losing days right away, thinking I just had to shake off the jitters. Both losses really only took minutes. I thought losing $1700.00 so easily was a wake-up call and that amount (small in comparison to others) was a major drawdown to me.
I joined FIO shortly after that, in February 2019, and decided I wouldn't do that kind of thing to myself again. I still lose it at times and take stupid losses but I am much better at trading within myself now, due in no small part to the things I learn from this community.
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Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: My own custom solution
Trading: Emini Futures
Posts: 49,744 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,292 given,
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received
Trading & holding during 9/11 is a helluva thing.
I believe that Danny Riley from Mr TopStep talked about it during one of his FIO webinars. He told the story. He also lost his ass.
Dan, it would be amazing if you would coordinate with Shane (aka @Rrrracer) to do an FIO "An Afternoon With" webinar just to shoot the shit with us fellow members and tell your story. Please do it!
"Hold" Ha. No, you trade your ass off. I was a local and part of a JBO group, so we had capital and access to more for deposit. Plus, some members of that group were quite venerable in the trading community. So, I benefited from their experience, reputation, and capital. Remember "drawdown" is not necessarily "lost" because positions are not closed. Realized loss is a different thing. There were some doozies associated with working out that situation.
I would say that the "recovery" and trade around necessary to get square did hold the lessons of a lifetime, for sure. What was I going to do at that point, get a job on the loading docks or submit to cubicle life? Refusing to die is not living, but never quitting will teach you how to live. One day and one trade at a time.
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Not to hijack the thread, but I think having guys like @wldman around are essential for retaining what I refer to as "tribal knowledge". It's kind of a weird amorphous collective intelligence where the knowledge of the really experienced guys mix with the new ideas of the younger guys and makes this forum all the better. Wow! I'm just really blown away and appreciative thinking about it.
The following 7 users say Thank You to TheShrike for this post:
Would you believe the best set up for my trade occurs only once a week, but, it gives me 99% confirmation what is about to happen and I trade it smoothly and nicely.
P. S. It's not a hundred percent because there's no one hundred percent anywhere!
After suffering two separate 40% drawdowns, I have learned to sit on my hands. Overtrading was a ki8ller for me. I have also learned that trading higher time frames helped in keeping me from jumping into too many trades.
The following 4 users say Thank You to sammysam for this post:
I have been trading thru a broker, mostly options that have expired worthless. Had good trades in 2020 untill the end, but this last 3-4 months have been killer with the unexpected rises in the S&P and and the grains for which I blame scarcity and fear of loss of food supply. Looking forward to market evening out with the advent of covid vaccines and the stabilization of countries where production was down
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My current drawdown is tied for deepest at ~15%. I started trading with nearly my entire net worth (>80%) - thankfully I've not ever blown up an account. Being well-capitalized, risk-conscious, and skeptical of ones own abilities goes a long way in stunting risk of ruin.
Notable point: I've only been trading for 2.5 years. I'm sure I will endure drawdowns much deeper than 15% over the next few decades.
-Zimmer
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