An end-of-day (EOD) trailing drawdown is a loss limit that follows your account up but never down, and moves only once a day, on the balance the day closes with. It is the Maximum Loss Limit on our futures One Step account. Read wrongly, it is the rule that ends accounts that are in profit.
How the floor moves
Start with the floor: the starting balance minus the Maximum Loss Limit. On a $50,000 One Step the limit is $2,000, so the floor starts at $48,000. At each session close the floor moves up to the closing balance minus $2,000, if that is higher than where it already is. It never moves down.
- Monday: the account closes at $51,000; Tuesday's floor is $49,000.
- Tuesday: it closes at $50,400; the floor stays at $49,000.
- Wednesday: it closes at $52,000; the floor reaches $50,000 and locks.
During the day the floor stays where the last close left it. A profit that comes and goes inside the session does not raise it; only the closing balance does. The limit includes open losses, so equity touching the floor at any moment ends the account: it is a hard limit.
Why it locks at the starting balance
Once the floor reaches the starting balance it stops trailing for good. From then on the account behaves as if it had a static limit, and the profit above the starting balance is your cushion. On the funded One Step account that cushion is the Profit Buffer: an amount equal to the Maximum Loss Limit that stays on the account and is never paid out. The first time your profit reaches it, the limit locks at the starting balance.
EOD, intraday and static, side by side
- EOD trailing: follows the highest closing balance. Futures One Step.
- Intraday trailing: follows the highest equity during the session, open profit included. Futures Instant.
- Static: never moves; measured from the starting balance. Every WhitePips CFD plan.
The difference that costs traders most is between the first two. On a $50,000 Instant account, with its $2,500 limit, a trade that runs to $1,500 in profit and closes flat raises the floor from $47,500 to $49,000. On a One Step account the same day leaves the floor where it was, because the close did not change. Static and trailing drawdown, side by side covers the CFD side.
The figures on each futures account
- One Step, EOD trailing: $1,000 on $25K, $2,000 on $50K, $3,000 on $100K, $4,500 on $150K.
- Instant, intraday trailing: $1,250 on $25K, $2,500 on $50K, $4,000 on $100K, $5,000 on $150K.
Both are hard: reaching one closes the positions and ends the account. The futures Daily Loss Limit is different in kind. It is soft: reaching it stops trading for the rest of the day, and the account trades again the next session. It is $1,250 on a $50K One Step, and the $25K One Step has none.
Futures positions are closed at 3:55 PM Chicago time every session, so a futures account is flat when each day's closing balance is taken.
Trading with an EOD floor
Measure your room from the floor, not from the starting balance. After a good week the floor has moved up with you, and the distance to it is still only the Maximum Loss Limit. Size each trade so a full stop leaves the account well above the floor; the futures tick value calculator turns a stop in ticks into dollars per contract.
Count the distance to the lock. On a $50,000 One Step the floor locks once a day closes $2,000 up. Until then every new closing high raises the floor, so a run of green days followed by a red one can leave the account closer to the floor than it was on day one.
Questions traders ask
What is the difference between EOD and intraday trailing drawdown? EOD trailing moves the floor once a day, from the closing balance. Intraday trailing moves it during the day, from the highest equity reached, open profit included. At WhitePips the futures One Step uses EOD and the futures Instant uses intraday.
Does an EOD trailing drawdown ever stop moving? Yes. Once the floor reaches the starting balance it locks there for the life of the account.
Do WhitePips CFD accounts have a trailing drawdown? No. Every CFD plan has a static Max Loss measured from the starting balance, and a Max Daily Loss measured from each day's opening balance.
Is the futures daily loss limit a breach? No. It is soft: trading stops for the rest of the day and the account stays open. The Maximum Loss Limit is the hard one.