Lesson 7 of 8 · 2 min
Trading a prop account
Sizing inside the rules, daily routines, and how to avoid the classic ways funded accounts die.
The best prop traders trade an evaluation exactly like their normal account — the rules are just tighter walls.
Size from the drawdown
Decide how many full losses you want to survive, then divide.
$2,500 drawdown ÷ 10 losses = $250 per trade maximum risk.
Then size contracts from your stop as usual (see Position sizing).
A simple daily routine
- Note today's drawdown level and daily loss limit before the open.
- Set your own daily stop inside the firm's — e.g. stop after two losses.
- Check the news calendar; know the firm's news rules.
- Close everything before the firm's cut-off time.
Classic ways accounts die
- Going for the target in one day with oversized trades.
- Letting open profit evaporate under intraday trailing drawdown.
- Revenge trading after a loss, close to the daily limit.
- Forgetting a rule — holding past the close, exceeding max contracts.
- Running many accounts at once at full size, so one bad day hits all of them.
Treat the target as a by-product
Aim to trade your process well for the minimum days. If your approach has a positive edge and normal size, the target arrives on its own — or it doesn't, and you've learned that cheaply.
Copying across accounts
Some firms allow trade copiers across several accounts; others restrict it. Remember that copying multiplies losses as well as profits — your risk per trade is effectively multiplied by the number of accounts.
Quick recap
- Risk per trade = drawdown ÷ losses you want to survive.
- Your own daily stop sits inside the firm's.
- Don't race the target.
Continuing marks this lesson complete. Your progress stays in this browser.