TradeDay
TradeDay Evaluation Rules: Daily Loss Limit and Trailing Drawdown
TradeDay runs one of the more trader-friendly rule sets in the futures prop space — a straightforward daily loss limit, a trailing drawdown behind it, and no consistency rule. Here's how the two loss limits interact and what a Pine Script needs to respect.
TradeDay's eval structure and what it means for strategy design
TradeDay combines a daily loss limit with a trailing max drawdown. The daily limit is the immediate constraint — hit the floor intraday and the session is over. The trailing drawdown then tracks the account's peak value across sessions, setting a floor that can never be breached.
The winning approach: size risk so a single trade's loss is a fraction of the daily limit, and keep session P&L positive often enough that the trailing drawdown never becomes a real threat. Strategies built around 1-2 clean setups a session, rather than churning trades, do this naturally.
TradeDay 50k eval — key rules
| Account | Profit Target | Max Drawdown (Trailing) | Daily Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50k | $3,000 | $2,000 | $500 |
25k–50k (MES-focused) and 100k+ (ES/NQ) tiers are discussed qualitatively; only the 50k tier has a full published numbers table.
Drawdown type
Trailing
Trailing max drawdown tracks the peak account value across sessions; the source table does not explicitly label it EOD vs. intraday.
Daily loss limit
$500 on the 50k account per the numbers table. The page’s FAQ separately states it "varies by account size — typically around $500 for a 25k account up to $1,500 for a 150k account," which is not fully consistent with the $500-at-50k table figure — flagged for client verification.
Consistency rule
None.
Min trading days
10 days minimum
Payout split
Not published
Automation policy
Permitted during evaluations via TradingView webhook alerts routed through an automation service.
The 10-day minimum runs longer than Apex or Bulenox, which rewards consistent small wins over one big session. A strategy with a tighter win rate but steady output is a better structural fit here than a high-variance breakout system.
Handling the daily loss limit
Because the daily limit is hard rather than trailing, a per-session circuit breaker matters. In a strategy, that's a daily loss input: once the session's losses cross a threshold you set, no new entries fire, though the chart stays live and signals still appear. At the account level, if your TradeDay account runs on NinjaTrader 8 or Tradovate, CrossTrade's Account Manager can hold a max daily loss and a trailing drawdown, and flatten and lock the account when either is hit. On NinjaTrader, those limits only run while NinjaTrader and the CrossTrade add-on are running. Target Filled is built by the team behind CrossTrade, the automation platform we recommend.
Instruments and account sizes
TradeDay supports the major CME futures. For the evaluation, the most common choices:
- MES — best fit for 25k-50k accounts. Tight risk, gradual equity build.
- MNQ — higher volatility per tick. Reaches the profit target faster on a good run, more punishing on a down session.
- ES / NQ — for 100k+ accounts, where the daily loss limit is proportionally larger and a full-size stop is easier to absorb.
Which Target Filled tier fits TradeDay traders?
Neither tier is tied to a firm or an account size. Indicators ($39/mo) is the full indicator library. Pro ($69/mo) adds every strategy with CrossTrade-ready alerts. You set the contract size and the daily loss threshold for your own account: MES or MNQ on 25k to 50k, ES or NQ on 100k and up. Check TradeDay's current automation rules before you automate.