Why recovery gets exponentially harder
The math is unforgiving: a gain is measured against your remaining balance, which is smaller after a loss. Down 10%? You need +11.1%. Down 50%? You need +100% — you have to double what's left. Down 90%? You need +900% just to get back to even. This is the single best argument for capping losses: avoiding a deep drawdown is worth far more than any winning streak.
The practical takeaway is risk management, not heroics. Size every trade from risk with the position size calculator, rate the danger of a trade with the Rekt Risk Score, and keep leverage low enough that one bad move doesn't put you in the deep end of this table.
FAQ
Why do I need +100% to recover from −50%? Because the +100% is on the smaller balance: $100 → $50 (−50%), then $50 → $100 is +100%.
What's a "safe" max drawdown? There's no magic number, but most professionals work hard to keep drawdowns under ~20% — beyond that, recovery starts to require outsized returns.