Field Journal · 14 June 2026

Read the Drawdown Before You Read the Entry

A losing-sequence exercise can reveal whether a risk percentage is emotionally and mathematically tolerable.

A percentage that looks modest in isolation can produce a drawdown that changes behaviour. Before choosing a fixed fraction, write out ten consecutive losses and reduce the account base after each one.

Arithmetic meets behaviour

At one percent of current equity, ten full-risk losses leave roughly 90.4 percent of the starting balance before costs. Recovery then requires more than the percentage lost. The lesson is not that one percent is universally correct; it is that the sequence must be tolerable enough for rules to survive it.

Repeat the table with slippage and correlated positions. If three trades express the same market view, separate tickets do not necessarily mean separate risk.

Define a brake

A plan needs a drawdown response decided in advance: reduced risk, a pause for review, or another measurable action. “Be more careful” is not a rule. A brake should state its threshold and the evidence required before normal size resumes.