Maximum Adverse Excursion Calculator
Calculate the MAE of your trades—the largest unfavorable price move against your position from entry. Use it to review trades and improve stop placement.
Add exit to see realized P&L vs MAE.
Per share/unit
Of entry price
How to Use the Maximum Adverse Excursion Calculator
Maximum Adverse Excursion (MAE) measures the largest unfavorable price movement against your position from entry during the life of the trade. This calculator helps you quantify it for trade review and strategy improvement.
- Select Position Type: Choose Long or Short depending on your trade direction.
- Enter Entry Price: The price at which you entered the trade.
- Enter Worst Price: For a long, enter the lowest price the asset reached during the trade. For a short, enter the highest price it reached.
- Optional: Exit Price: Add your closing price to see realized P&L and compare it to MAE.
- Review MAE: Use the result to evaluate whether your stops were too tight, too wide, or appropriate for the move.
What is Maximum Adverse Excursion (MAE)?
MAE is the largest unfavorable price move against your position from entry before the trade is closed. It answers: “How far did price go against me at worst?”
- Long positions: MAE = Entry price minus the lowest price during the trade. The “worst” moment is when price dropped the most before you closed.
- Short positions: MAE = Highest price during the trade minus entry. The “worst” moment is when price rose the most before you closed.
MAE is often used together with MFE (Maximum Favorable Excursion)—the largest favorable move—to study how much room winning and losing trades needed. This helps with stop placement and profit targets.
Why MAE Matters for Traders
Tracking MAE across many trades reveals whether your stops are consistently hit before price reverses in your favor, or whether you give trades enough room.
- Stop placement: If MAE often exceeds your planned risk (e.g. 1R), you may be placing stops too tight and getting stopped out before the move develops.
- Trade review: Comparing MAE to realized P&L shows how much drawdown you endured before the trade resolved— useful for psychology and discipline.
- Strategy tuning: Distributions of MAE on winners vs losers help you set evidence-based stops and targets instead of arbitrary levels.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Maximum Adverse Excursion (MAE)?
Maximum Adverse Excursion (MAE) is the largest unfavorable price movement against your position from entry during the life of the trade. For a long, it is the drop from entry to the lowest price; for a short, the rise from entry to the highest price before you closed.
How do you calculate MAE for a long position?
For a long position, MAE = Entry Price − Lowest Price During Trade. The lowest price is the worst (most adverse) point against your position. MAE is often expressed in dollars per share and as a percentage of entry.
How do you calculate MAE for a short position?
For a short position, MAE = Highest Price During Trade − Entry Price. The highest price is the worst point against your short. MAE in dollars and percent is then calculated from that difference.
Why is MAE useful for traders?
MAE helps you review trades and improve stop placement. If your stops are frequently hit just before price reverses, MAE analysis can show that you are cutting winners too early or using stops that are too tight. Comparing MAE across winning and losing trades helps set evidence-based stops and targets.
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