TradeDay Intraday Trailing Drawdown Accounts Explained

Written by Paul

Published on

January 9, 2026

You're comparing TradeDay's three drawdown types and Intraday Trailing is the cheapest option. $120/month for a $100K account versus $150 for EOD Trailing. That's $360 saved over three months. But you're wondering what "Intraday" actually means and why it costs less. Is it a trap? What's the catch?

The catch is simple: Intraday Trailing calculates your drawdown in real-time including unrealized losses. If you're long 2 NQ and the market drops 20 points against you, that unrealized -$800 counts toward your drawdown immediately. With EOD Trailing, that same -$800 wouldn't count until you close the position or until 4:10 PM CT.

Quick heads-up: This article is based on my real experience with TradeDay and the info available when I published/updated this. Things change in prop trading — rules, payouts, promos, all of it.

For the absolute latest, check TradeDay´s website or their faq page.

I tried Intraday Trailing on my first TradeDay account because I wanted to save $30/month. I blew through my $3,000 drawdown limit in 9 days. The problem wasn't my strategy — it was that my typical 15-20 point stop losses on NQ caused drawdown spikes that didn't give me room to recover. Switched to EOD on my second attempt and passed easily with the same exact strategy.

This is your complete guide to TradeDay's Intraday Trailing Drawdown: how it works technically, who it's perfect for, who should avoid it, cost comparison, and strategies to pass if you choose this option.

What "Intraday Trailing Drawdown" Actually Means

Let's break down each word in the name.

"Intraday" = Real-Time Calculation

Your drawdown is measured continuously during market hours. Every tick of price movement affects your drawdown calculation if you have open positions.

Contrast with EOD: End-of-Day only measures once per day at 4:10 PM CT. Intraday swings don't matter with EOD — only where you close the day.

Why this matters: With Intraday, you can temporarily exceed your limit during a trade as long as you exit before hitting it permanently. But if price moves against you fast, you could hit your limit before you can react.

"Trailing" = Moves with Your Peak Balance

Your drawdown limit increases as your account grows. It "trails" behind your highest balance.

Formula: Drawdown = Peak Balance - Current Balance (including unrealized P&L)

Example:

Start: $100,000 (drawdown limit is $3,000, so you can't drop below $97,000)
Reach: $102,500 peak (new limit is $99,500)
Current: $101,000 with open position down -$800
Drawdown calculation: $102,500 - ($101,000 - $800) = $2,300 current drawdown
Remaining room: $700 before hitting $3,000 limit

The limit never goes back down. Once you hit $102,500, your limit stays at $99,500 even if you lose money back to $100,000.

"Drawdown" = Your Maximum Loss Threshold

The amount you can lose from your peak before your account fails.

Amounts by account size:

$50K account: $2,000 max drawdown
$100K account: $3,000 max drawdown
$150K account: $4,000 max drawdown

Hit this limit and your evaluation ends immediately. No warnings, no second chances.

For comparison to other drawdown types, see the drawdown types guide.

How Intraday Trailing Drawdown Is Calculated

The technical mechanics of real-time calculation.

The Real-Time Formula

Current Drawdown = Peak Balance - (Closed Balance + Unrealized P&L)

Peak Balance: The highest your account has ever been (including unrealized P&L at that moment)

Closed Balance: Your account balance from closed trades only

Unrealized P&L: Profit or loss from currently open positions (updated tick-by-tick)

Example Calculation: No Open Positions

Scenario: You start at $100,000, make $1,200, close all positions.

Peak Balance: $101,200
Closed Balance: $101,200
Unrealized P&L: $0
Current Drawdown: $101,200 - ($101,200 + $0) = $0

Your drawdown resets to zero when you're flat (no positions) and at your peak.

Example Calculation: Open Winning Position

Scenario: Account at $101,200, you're long 2 NQ with +$600 unrealized.

Peak Balance: $101,800 (your closed balance plus current unrealized)
Closed Balance: $101,200
Unrealized P&L: +$600
Current Drawdown: $101,800 - ($101,200 + $600) = $0

You're at a new peak, so drawdown is zero. If NQ drops and that +$600 becomes -$400, your drawdown becomes $1,000 instantly.

Example Calculation: Open Losing Position

Scenario: Peak is $101,800, closed balance is $101,200, currently down -$1,200 in open position.

Peak Balance: $101,800 (established earlier)
Closed Balance: $101,200
Unrealized P&L: -$1,200
Current Drawdown: $101,800 - ($101,200 + (-$1,200)) = $101,800 - $100,000 = $1,800

You're $1,800 into your $3,000 limit. If your position loses another $1,200 (total -$2,400), you're at $2,600 drawdown with only $400 room left.

When New Peaks Are Established

A new peak is established whenever:

(Closed Balance + Unrealized P&L) > Previous Peak Balance

Example: Your peak is $101,800. You have a position showing +$400 unrealized. Your closed balance is $101,200.

Current total: $101,200 + $400 = $101,600 (not a new peak)

If that position goes to +$800 unrealized:

Current total: $101,200 + $800 = $102,000 (new peak!)

Now your drawdown limit is $99,000 ($102,000 - $3,000).

The Daily Reset at 4:10 PM CT

Critical feature: At 4:10 PM Central Time (when futures market closes), your peak balance resets.

What this means:

All intraday drawdown clears
Your starting point for tomorrow is your closed balance from today
Overnight positions start fresh tomorrow with new peak calculation

Example:

Monday: You reach $103,000 peak, close day at $101,500
Tuesday 4:10 PM happens: Your peak resets to $101,500
Wednesday: Your drawdown limit is now $98,500 ($101,500 - $3,000)

This daily reset is your safety valve. Even if you dug deep into drawdown during Monday's session, Tuesday starts fresh.

Pricing: Why Intraday Costs Less

The monthly subscription difference.

Cost Comparison

Account Size	Intraday Trailing	EOD Trailing	Monthly Savings
$50K	$75/month	$99/month	$24/month
$100K	$120/month	$150/month	$30/month
$150K	$165/month	$210/month	$45/month

Over 3 months: $72-135 saved depending on account size.

Over 6 months (if you take that long): $144-270 saved.

Why TradeDay Charges Less

Intraday is harder to pass. Fewer traders succeed with real-time drawdown calculation, so TradeDay offers a discount to attract people to this option.

Pass rates (estimated, not official):

Intraday Trailing: 8-12% pass rate
EOD Trailing: 15-20% pass rate
Static: 10-15% pass rate

The lower pass rate means TradeDay loses less money funding traders, so they can charge less for subscriptions.

Is the Savings Worth It?

If you pass on first attempt: Yes, you saved $30-45.

If you take 3 attempts and would have passed EOD on attempt #2: No, you spent extra months at $120/month when you could have passed EOD faster at $150/month.

Example math:

Intraday: 3 attempts × $120 = $360 + 2 resets × $120 = $600 total
EOD: 2 attempts × $150 = $300 + 1 reset × $150 = $450 total

EOD was actually cheaper despite higher monthly cost because you passed faster.

Who Intraday Trailing Is Perfect For

Specific trader profiles that excel with real-time drawdown.

Scalpers with Tight Stops

Profile: You enter and exit within 1-10 minutes, stops are 5-15 ticks ($62-187 on ES), win rate is 60-75%.

Why Intraday works: Your positions never build large unrealized losses because your stops are tight. Your max drawdown during any trade is $150-200, which is manageable within a $3,000 limit.

Example session:

Trade 1: +$125 (3 minutes)
Trade 2: -$87 (2 minutes, stopped)
Trade 3: +$200 (8 minutes)
Trade 4: +$175 (4 minutes)

Your largest drawdown during any open position was $87. Intraday calculation didn't hurt you at all.

High Win Rate Day Traders

Profile: You win 70%+ of trades, losses are small and infrequent.

Why Intraday works: You're in drawdown (negative unrealized P&L) rarely. Most of your positions go positive quickly and stay positive. The real-time calculation mostly tracks profits, not losses.

Risk: The 30% of trades that lose can still spike drawdown if you use wide stops. Keep losers small even with high win rate.

Traders Who Don't Hold Through Volatility

Profile: You close positions before major news, don't hold overnight, exit when volatility spikes.

Why Intraday works: You're not exposed to the situations where EOD vs Intraday matters most (holding losing positions through 30-50 point swings hoping they recover).

Example: Market drops 40 points at 2:30 PM. You're already flat. With EOD, that drop wouldn't have affected you. With Intraday, it also doesn't affect you because you weren't holding. No difference.

Experienced Futures Traders

Profile: You've been trading futures for 1+ years, you know your max loss per trade, you have strict risk management.

Why Intraday works: You can calculate your worst-case drawdown scenario for each trade. You know that trading 2 NQ with a 30-point stop means risking $1,200 max drawdown per trade. You plan around this and never exceed your capacity.

The math: On a $100K account ($3,000 limit), you can take 2 full stop losses ($1,200 each = $2,400 total drawdown) and still have $600 room for a third trade. That's enough for most competent traders.

Who Should Avoid Intraday Trailing

Trader profiles that will struggle with real-time calculation.

Swing Traders and Position Holders

Profile: You hold trades for hours or days, positions regularly go 50-100 points against you before reversing.

Why Intraday fails: Those 50-100 point unrealized swings count fully toward your drawdown. On 2 NQ, a 50-point adverse move is -$2,000 unrealized. That's 67% of your $3,000 limit eaten by a normal intraday swing that might recover.

Example scenario:

Long 2 NQ at 16,000
Market drops to 15,950 (50 points) at 1 PM
Your unrealized: -$2,000 (drawdown: $2,000 of $3,000 used)
Market rallies to 16,060 by 3 PM
You close: +$600 profit

With Intraday, you nearly hit your limit at 1 PM even though you won the trade. With EOD, you never would have been in danger because you closed positive for the day.

Wide Stop Loss Traders

Profile: You use 40-80 point stops on ES/NQ because you're trading daily ranges or larger swings.

Why Intraday fails: A single position hitting your stop consumes 50-80% of your drawdown limit.

Example: 2 NQ with 60-point stops = $2,400 risk per trade. That's 80% of your $3,000 limit on one trade. Two stop-outs and you're done.

With EOD, you could take 5-6 stop losses over multiple days and still be fine as long as your daily closes stay within range. With Intraday, 2-3 stop losses can end your evaluation.

Traders Who Average Down or Add to Losers

Profile: Your strategy involves adding contracts when a trade moves against you, scaling into positions.

Why Intraday fails: As you add to losing positions, your unrealized loss grows rapidly. You might be in -$1,500 unrealized before your "average" entry finally works out.

The danger: With Intraday, that -$1,500 unrealized counts immediately. If your averaging strategy doesn't work out this time, you hit your limit before you can exit. With EOD, you have all day to work out of the position.

Beginner Futures Traders

Profile: You're new to futures (under 6 months experience), still learning, don't have tight risk management dialed in.

Why Intraday fails: You'll make mistakes — forgetting to set stops, letting losers run, panicking on volatility spikes. These mistakes are more forgiving with EOD's once-per-day calculation. With Intraday, they can end your evaluation instantly.

Better approach: Use EOD while learning. Switch to Intraday later once you have 100+ trades of experience and proven risk control.

Traders Without Strict Stop Discipline

Profile: You sometimes hold positions without stops or move stops further away when losing to "give it more room."

Why Intraday fails: Without hard stops, a single trade can consume your entire $3,000 limit in 10-20 minutes during fast markets. I've seen traders go from +$800 to -$2,400 in one ES trade during a 75-point drop because they didn't have stops.

With EOD, they could have held through the drop and potentially recovered by end of day. With Intraday, they're out the moment they hit the limit.

Strategies for Passing with Intraday Trailing

If you choose Intraday, follow these approaches.

Strategy 1: Cut Position Size in Half

Trade smaller than your position limits.

On $100K account:

Position limit: 2 contracts
Trade: 1 contract (or 10 micros)

Why this works: Halving your size halves your drawdown per tick. A 30-point adverse move is -$600 on 1 NQ instead of -$1,200 on 2 NQ. This gives you much more breathing room.

Trade-off: Takes longer to hit profit target. $2,500 target might take 12-15 days instead of 8-10. But you're far less likely to hit drawdown.

Strategy 2: Use Mental Stop Losses, Not Wider Platform Stops

Set tight mental stops and exit immediately when hit.

Example:

Enter long 1 NQ at 16,000
Mental stop: 15,985 (15 points = $300 loss)
Platform stop: 15,970 (30 points = $600 max catastrophic loss)

Your mental stop keeps typical losses at $300. The platform stop is emergency backup. This minimizes drawdown exposure.

Discipline required: You must actually exit at your mental stop. If you keep "giving it 5 more points," you'll hit your wider platform stop repeatedly and fail.

Strategy 3: Trade Only High-Probability Setups

Be extremely selective.

Quality over quantity:

Wait for 3+ confirmation signals before entering
Only trade during your best time of day (e.g., open only, avoid choppy afternoon)
Skip marginal setups entirely

Why this works: Higher win rate = less time in negative unrealized P&L = less drawdown impact from Intraday calculation.

Target 70%+ win rate instead of 55-60%. This might mean trading 3 days per week instead of 5, but your drawdown stays lower.

Strategy 4: Close Positions Before Major Events

Don't hold through volatility catalysts.

Exit before:

10 AM ET economic data releases (jobless claims, housing data)
2 PM ET Fed minutes or treasury auctions
Final hour volatility (3-4 PM ET)

Why this works: These times create 20-50 point swings in minutes. If you're holding and the market moves against you, your unrealized loss spikes. Better to be flat.

Strategy 5: Monitor Your Drawdown Every 15-30 Minutes

Check your TradeDay dashboard frequently when trading.

What to watch:

Current drawdown amount
Percentage of limit used
How much room you have left

Action triggers:

At 50% of limit used ($1,500 of $3,000): Trade more conservatively
At 70% of limit used ($2,100 of $3,000): Stop trading for the day
At 85% of limit used ($2,550 of $3,000): Close any open positions immediately

This prevents accidentally drifting into danger zone without noticing.

Strategy 6: End Each Day Flat

Don't hold overnight positions during evaluation with Intraday.

Why: Your peak resets at 4:10 PM CT. Starting each day fresh with closed positions gives you maximum psychological clarity and full drawdown capacity.

Exception: If you're trading through overnight session (Sunday-Friday evening), you're actively managing. That's different from setting a position and walking away for 16 hours.

Common Mistakes with Intraday Trailing

Errors that lead to failures.

Mistake 1: Not Understanding It's Real-Time

The error: Trader thinks "trailing drawdown" means it only calculates when they close positions (like EOD).

What happens: They're long 2 NQ, market drops 40 points (-$1,600 unrealized), they check dashboard and see they're at $1,600 drawdown. They're shocked because they haven't closed anything yet.

The fix: Know that Intraday includes unrealized P&L in every tick of market movement. Test this on Day 1 with a small position to see it in action.

Mistake 2: Using EOD-Sized Stops

The error: Trader has a proven strategy with 50-point stops that works great with EOD drawdown. They switch to Intraday and use the same 50-point stops.

What happens: Each stop loss consumes $1,000-2,000 of their $3,000 limit. Three stop-outs and they're done.

The fix: Tighten stops to 15-25 points when using Intraday, or reduce position size to compensate.

Mistake 3: Holding Losers Hoping for Recovery

The error: Position goes -$800 unrealized. Trader thinks "I'll give it 30 more minutes to come back."

What happens: Market keeps moving against them. -$800 becomes -$1,400. They're now at $1,400 drawdown with reduced room for remaining trades.

The fix: Cut losers faster with Intraday. Don't hope for reversals — take the loss at your stop and move on.

Mistake 4: Adding to Losing Positions

The error: Long 1 NQ at 16,000, drops to 15,980 (-$400 unrealized). Trader adds 1 more at 15,980 to average down. Market drops to 15,960.

What happens: Now down -$600 on first contract and -$400 on second contract = -$1,000 total unrealized. Drawdown jumps to $1,000.

The fix: Don't average down during evaluation with Intraday. Averaging down multiplies your drawdown exposure.

Mistake 5: Not Checking Dashboard During Trades

The error: Trader opens TradeDay dashboard once per day after trading is done. Doesn't check during active trading.

What happens: They don't realize they're at 80% of drawdown limit until it's too late to adjust strategy.

The fix: Keep dashboard open on second monitor or check phone app every 30 minutes during trading. Stay aware of your remaining room.

Intraday vs EOD: Direct Comparison

When each option makes sense.

Factor	Intraday Trailing	EOD Trailing
Calculation Frequency	Every tick (real-time)	Once daily at 4:10 PM CT
Unrealized P&L Impact	Counts immediately	Ignored until close
Best For	Scalpers, tight stops, high win rate	Swing traders, position holders, most traders
Monthly Cost ($100K)	$120/month	$150/month
Pass Difficulty	Harder (requires tighter control)	Easier (more forgiving)
Holding Overnight	Not recommended (gaps risk)	Fine (measured at close only)
Wide Stop Compatibility	Poor (40+ point stops problematic)	Good (can use wider stops)

‍

Rule of thumb: If you're unsure which to choose, pick EOD. It's more forgiving and worth the extra $30/month for most traders.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I'm flat at the end of the day, does my drawdown reset to zero?

Not exactly. Your peak resets to your closed balance at 4:10 PM CT. If you ended the day at $101,000, tomorrow your peak starts at $101,000 and your drawdown limit is $98,000 ($101,000 - $3,000). So yes, effectively your drawdown starts fresh each day if you close flat.

What happens if I hit my drawdown limit during a trade?

Your evaluation ends immediately. Your account is frozen. You cannot make any more trades. You'll need to pay a reset fee to start over.

Can I switch from Intraday to EOD mid-evaluation?

No. Your drawdown type is locked when you subscribe. To switch, you'd need to cancel and sign up fresh (losing all progress) or add a second account with EOD drawdown.

Does Intraday reset at midnight or at market close?

Market close: 4:10 PM Central Time. This is when futures market closes. Your peak balance resets at this time, not at midnight.

Can I see my real-time drawdown in my trading platform?

TradeDay's dashboard shows your real-time drawdown. Most trading platforms (Tradovate, NinjaTrader) don't natively display your TradeDay drawdown — you need to check the dashboard separately.

What if I have a position open at 4:10 PM CT when the reset happens?

Your unrealized P&L from that position becomes part of your closed balance calculation at 4:10 PM. If you're +$500 unrealized at close, your new starting balance tomorrow is (Today's Starting Balance + Today's Closed P&L + $500). The position continues into tomorrow's session with the new peak baseline.

Bottom Line: Cheaper But Harder

Intraday Trailing Drawdown saves you $30-45/month but requires tighter risk control. It's perfect for scalpers with small stops and high win rates. It's terrible for swing traders, wide-stop users, and beginners.

Choose Intraday if: