Best Prop Firms for End of Day Drawdown

How end of day drawdown works

An end of day drawdown is a trailing maximum loss that moves only once a day. At the firm's daily cut off it looks at the day's closing figure, and if that is a new high, the floor rises to sit the full drawdown amount below it. Open profit during the session does not move the floor, which is the main difference from an intraday trailing limit that follows every new high in real time. Many models stop trailing at a lock level, often the starting balance. The firms listed above have at least one program with an end of day maximum loss, and the list changes as firms rewrite their rules.

A worked example

Take a made up $100,000 example account with a $3,000 maximum loss. On day one a trade runs to $2,400 of open profit, then gives some back, and the day closes up $900. The table shows where the floor sits for day two under three models. The figures are an illustration, not any firm's plan.

The end of day model ignored the $2,400 peak and moved the floor by the $900 that was actually banked, leaving twice the room of the intraday model. Two details still matter. At most firms the floor is monitored in real time, so an open loss that touches it during the session ends the account, even though the floor itself only moves at the close. And until the floor reaches its lock level, the room never exceeds the drawdown amount, however much profit has been made.

Who this suits

End of day drawdown suits intraday traders who let trades run and accept that some open profit will be given back, and futures traders who want more room than an intraday trailing limit allows. It suits traders less well if they hold large open winners over the cut off at a firm that records equity, because the floor can rise on profit they have not taken.

The trade offs

End of day models give more room than intraday trailing but less than a static limit, since the floor still rises after every winning day until it locks. Firms sometimes price the end of day version of an account above the intraday version, or pair it with a smaller dollar limit or a daily loss limit. Some use end of day drawdown in the evaluation and switch to intraday trailing on the funded account. The cut off time is set by the firm, often a futures session close or midnight in its server time zone, which may not match your own trading day.

How firms differ

Firms differ on what is recorded at the cut off: the closing balance, the equity including open trades, or the higher of the two. They differ on the cut off time and time zone, on the lock level, and on whether touching the floor during the day ends the account or only blocks trading. Some let traders choose between end of day, intraday and static models at purchase, and some apply different models to the evaluation and the funded stage.

What to check before you buy

• The cut off. Note the time and time zone at which the floor is recalculated.
• Balance or equity. Check what the firm records at the cut off, especially if you hold trades through it.
• Real time monitoring. Confirm whether an intraday touch of the floor ends the account.
• Lock level. Find the point at which the floor stops trailing.
• Funded stage. Check whether the funded account keeps the end of day model.

How to compare the firms listed

Start with the drawdown amount in dollars and the lock level, since together they decide how much room you have in the early weeks and when the account becomes more forgiving. Then compare what is recorded at the cut off and whether the model carries over to the funded account. Check any daily loss limit that sits alongside it, because the tighter of the two applies on any given day. Finish with fees, contract or lot caps and payout terms. The drawdown calculator models the floor day by day, each firm's profile lists its rules, and the comparison table filters firms by platform and country.

End of day drawdown explained covers the model in depth, and trailing vs static drawdown compares all three models. Futures drawdown rules explained covers the futures side, and firms with a fixed floor are listed under static drawdown.