How does intraday trailing drawdown work?
Updated
The Maximum Trailing Intraday Drawdown sets the lowest equity level your account is allowed to reach at any point during a trading session, including on open positions. It trails your highest equity point in real time, meaning as your account reaches new equity highs, the drawdown floor automatically moves up by the same amount. It never moves back down.
Two plans use intraday trailing: Instant Classic, and Daily Payouts funded accounts. EOD, 1-Day-Pass-Plan, Flex, Instant Lite and the Daily Payouts evaluation all use end of day trailing, where the floor is calculated from your closing balance and only updates after the trading day ends.
This is important to understand: the drawdown floor tracks your highest equity, not your closing balance. Even if you give back profits before closing a trade, the floor will have already moved up.
Once the drawdown floor reaches its lock point, it stays there permanently and stops trailing. On Instant Classic the lock point is your initial starting balance. On Daily Payouts it is your starting balance plus $100.
Example (Instant Classic 50K account, $2,000 max drawdown):
- Your account starts at $50,000, so the max drawdown floor is set at $48,000.
- Your equity rises to $51,000 during a trade, so the floor moves up to $49,000.
- If your equity drops to $49,000 at any point, the account is breached, even if the trade has not been closed.
- Your equity continues climbing to $52,000, so the floor moves to $50,000, your initial starting balance. The floor is now locked and will not trail any further.
- Even if your equity later reaches $55,000, the floor stays at $50,000.
On a funded Daily 50K the same mechanics apply, but the floor locks at $50,100 once your equity reaches $52,100. See the Daily Payouts drawdown article.
Important note for funded accounts: once the drawdown floor locks, your account has very little cushion below that level. For example, if you have grown your Instant Classic 50K account to $54,000 and withdraw $4,000 in profits, your balance returns to $50,000, which is exactly where the floor is locked. At that point any drop in equity at all will breach the account. Always keep a buffer in your account when making withdrawals.