e.g. LME nickel jumps on the back of a major drawdown in LME inventories as well as technical-related buying, says Robin Bhar of UBS.

The peak-to-trough decline during a specific record period of an investment, fund or commodity. A drawdown is usually quoted as the percentage between the peak and the trough.

A drawdown is measured from the time a retrenchment begins to when a new high is reached. This method is used because a valley can't be measured until a new high occurs. once the new high is reached, the percentage change from the old high to the smallest trough is recorded.

Drawdowns help determine an investment's financial risk. Both the Calmar and Sterling ratios use this metric to compare a security's possible reward to its risk.