Pick the firm whose rules you can follow without changing your model. Not the biggest discount, not the biggest account. Read these seven rule types on any firm’s own rules page before you pay.
Drawdown (maximum loss)
The line your balance must never touch. Touch it and the account fails.
Check
- Static (a fixed floor), end-of-day trailing (follows your highest closing balance) or intraday trailing (follows your highest balance at any moment)?
- Does open profit you never banked move the floor?
- Does the floor stop trailing at some point?
How Ches uses it. Size from it: a normal losing streak of 8-10 losses should fit inside the drawdown. Static and end-of-day drawdown put less pressure on a runner than intraday trailing.
Daily loss limit
The most the firm lets you lose in one day. Depending on the firm, breaking it fails the account or locks it for the day.
Check
- Is there one, and is it a hard fail?
- Is it measured from the start-of-day balance, and do open trades count?
- When does the firm’s day reset (and in which time zone)?
How Ches uses it. Keep your own daily stop well inside it, in R: for example stop at -2R or after two trades.
Consistency rule
A limit on how much of your total profit may come from your single best day.
Check
- What percentage?
- Does it apply in the evaluation, the funded account, or both?
- Does breaking it delay a pass or payout, or end the account?
How Ches uses it. Steady days of similar size pass consistency rules on their own. One oversized day is what breaks them.
Payout rules
When and how much you can withdraw from a funded account.
Check
- The profit split, and how often you can request a payout.
- Minimum days or winning days before a request; minimum and maximum amounts.
- Is there a buffer you must keep above the floor, and what does a payout do to the drawdown?
How Ches uses it. Read them before your first funded trade, and plan the payout rhythm like a trade.
Activation and reset fees
The true cost is more than the sticker price: evaluation, activation on passing, resets, and data or platform fees.
Check
- One-time fee, monthly subscription, or instant funding?
- Is there an activation fee when you pass?
- What does a reset cost, and what does it reset?
How Ches uses it. Set a monthly prop budget. Never reset on the day you failed: write down which rule broke first.
Scaling and contract limits
How many contracts you may trade, often rising as the account grows, and how many accounts you may hold.
Check
- Maximum contracts for your size, and how micros count against minis.
- Is there a scaling plan in the funded account?
- Maximum accounts per trader, copy trading between your own accounts, and hedging rules.
How Ches uses it. The firm’s limit is a ceiling. Your risk rule decides your actual size.
News, time and minimum days
Some firms restrict trading around high-impact news, overnight holds or weekends, and ask for a minimum number of trading days.
Check
- Which events, and how many minutes either side?
- Evaluation only, or funded too?
- Minimum trading days before a pass or a payout.
How Ches uses it. Ches’s model already avoids news in the window. A runner still open when news lands can still break the rule.