What is MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion)?
Maximum adverse excursion measures how far price moved against you before exit.
Formula
MAE (long) = Entry Price − Lowest Intrabar Price During Trade MAE (short) = Highest Intrabar Price During Trade − Entry Price MAE (%) = MAE / Entry Price × 100
Indian market context (NSE)
Reference levels: Nifty 50 at 24,300, Reliance Industries at ₹1,300, Bank Nifty futures at 55,000 (lot size 30). Examples below show how MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) shows up on Indian index, equity, and futures books — update to live quotes in your journal.
Nifty 50 perspective
Apply Maximum Adverse Excursion (MAE) to your Nifty 50 sleeve (spot near 24,300): track the metric on closed index F&O or ETF trades over at least 30 sessions before changing rules. NSE costs and slippage on fast opens often widen the gap between spreadsheet maximum adverse excursion (mae) and bank P&L.
Reliance Industries perspective
On Reliance (₹1,300) delivery or intraday trades, calculate maximum adverse excursion (mae) with contract-note costs included. Single-name results can look strong on maximum adverse excursion (mae) while your Nifty-correlated book tells the opposite — tag “RELIANCE” separately in TradeLyser.
Bank Nifty futures perspective
Bank Nifty futures near 55,000 (lot 30) amplify maximum adverse excursion (mae) swings versus cash — one volatile session can move the metric more than a week of Nifty trades. Log margin mode (MIS/NRML) with each entry for honest review.
How to validate
- Minimum sample: 30 closed trades on one strategy tag before trusting MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion).
- Check for one outlier week inflating MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) — export largest winners and losers.
- Recompute MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) after including brokerage, STT, and slippage on F&O tags.
- Compare MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) on the same date range as profit factor and max drawdown.
How to track in TradeLyser
- Open Strategy Board or analytics → filter by strategy tag and review period.
- Locate the widget or column reporting MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) (or export trades to compute manually).
- Store snapshot values in weekly review: MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion), profit factor, drawdown, trade count.
- If MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) is custom, add a spreadsheet column fed from TradeLyser CSV export.
Best practices
- Publish MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) per strategy, not only at account level.
- Use the same calculation window (weekly vs monthly) year-round.
- Pair MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) with sample size in every review slide or note.
- Document formula used so mentors interpret the same number.
Common pitfalls
- Changing rules after fewer than 20 trades because MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) moved slightly.
- Mixing intraday and positional tags when computing MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion).
- Ignoring costs so MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) looks better than banked P&L.
- Letting one outlier trade dominate the MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) reading.
How to use this in TradeLyser
Log MAE in R at exit; compare to stop distance on winners vs losers monthly.
Related terms
Maximum favorable excursion is peak unrealized profit before you closed.
Risk-reward ratio frames whether a setup pays enough when you are wrong often. A 1:3 plan risks ₹1,000 to target ₹3,000 — independent of whether you hit the target.
A stop loss is a pre-defined exit when the market moves against you by a set amount. It caps loss per trade when fills match your plan.
Trade management covers adjustments after entry — stops, targets, adds, and exits.
FAQ
MAE on closed winners only?
Study MAE on all trades — winners show how much heat you tolerated.
MAE from entry or add level?
Pick entry anchor; note if you scale in.
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