What counts as a trading day at TradeDay?

Any calendar day on which you execute at least one trade. The trade can be a single contract entered and exited within seconds, a multi-contract position held for hours, or anything in between. The Help Center wording is straightforward - a day with at least one trade qualifies. Days without any trade execution don't count, regardless of whether you logged in, watched markets, or had open orders that didn't fill.

How many trades do I need on a TradeDay trading day?

One. There's no minimum trade count per day to make the day count. A single round-trip trade - open and close one contract - is enough to qualify the day. There's also no minimum hold time. A trade opened and closed within the same minute counts the same as a position held for hours.

Do trading days at TradeDay have to be consecutive?

No. The 5-day minimum is cumulative, not consecutive. You can trade Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday in one week and Monday-Tuesday in the next week to satisfy the 5 days. Most traders spread the requirement across 2-3 weeks rather than forcing 5 consecutive days, especially if their strategy doesn't have a setup every session.

Does watching the markets count as a trading day?

No. Sitting in front of charts without executing a trade doesn't count. The trigger for a day to count is execution - a fill - not screen time, not analysis, not pending orders that didn't trigger. If you spent the entire session watching ES setups but didn't pull the trigger, that day adds zero to your 5-day total.

If I hold a position overnight, which day does it count for?

The day the position was opened. If you open ES at 2:45 PM ET on Tuesday and close it at 9:45 AM ET on Wednesday, Tuesday counts as the trading day. Wednesday only counts if you opened a separate trade that day. The closing fill of a held position is generally attributed to the entry day for trading-day count purposes.

Do trades I cancel count as a trading day?

No. Working orders that are cancelled before they fill don't count. Only filled trades count. Pending limit orders, stop orders, or any unexecuted resting orders don't qualify the day even if they sat in the book all session.

Can I trade on a Sunday at TradeDay?

Sunday evening session opens (6 PM ET on Sunday for the new week's CME futures session) typically count as Monday's session in most platform reporting because the trading session is named for the close date. The technical answer is platform-specific, but in TradeDay's simulator, the Sunday evening open is usually attributed to the next session's date. The practical answer: if you trade Sunday evening, expect it to count as Monday for your 5-day total.

Do bank holidays count as a trading day at TradeDay?

Yes, if the futures market is open and you trade. US bank holidays often produce shortened sessions - closing at 1 PM ET instead of 4 PM ET, for example. The shortened session still qualifies as a trading day if you execute at least one trade. Days where the futures market is fully closed obviously can't count because no trades can be placed.

How do I plan 5 trading days across 2 weeks without overtrading?

Pick the 5 days where your strategy has the highest-quality setups. Skip choppy or low-volume sessions. Many traders trade Tuesday-Thursday in week one (3 days) and Monday-Wednesday in week two (2 more days), totaling 5 days across roughly 9 calendar days. The point is to satisfy the count without forcing trades on days where your edge isn't there - TradeDay doesn't reward day-count for its own sake.

What happens if I trade right before midnight ET - which day does it count for?

Whatever day the futures session is named for. CME futures sessions span across calendar dates (the new session opens at 6 PM ET the prior calendar day and closes at 5 PM ET the named calendar day). A trade at 11:59 PM ET on Tuesday's calendar date is technically inside Wednesday's CME session and will usually be recorded as Wednesday in platform reporting.

Does TradeDay track partial-fill or split-fill trades as one day?

Yes. A trade that fills in multiple slices (3 contracts of a 5-contract order, then 2 more a moment later) is the same trade for trading-day purposes. The day is qualified once the first slice fills. Subsequent slices on the same day don't add new day-count.

Are funded accounts also subject to the 5-day minimum?

No. The 5-day minimum is an evaluation objective. Once you graduate to Funded Sim and Funded Live, the minimum-trading-days requirement no longer applies. You can trade as actively or as sparingly as you want on funded accounts (subject to drawdown, news lockouts, and prohibited practices). The full evaluation-vs-funded rule comparison is in [TradeDay funded account rules](/blog/tradeday-funded-account-rules).

Does the 5-day minimum still apply if I hit the profit target faster?

Yes. Hitting the profit target on day 3 doesn't shortcut the requirement. You still need at least 5 trading days before TradeDay graduates the account. The Help Center is explicit that all three evaluation objectives - 5-day minimum, profit target, 30% consistency - must be satisfied before the funded transition. Hitting the target early just means you trade the remaining days with the buffer of completed-target.

Can I trade multiple TradeDay accounts on the same day for double day count?

No. Each TradeDay account has its own independent day count. Trading on Account A does not qualify Account B for that day. Each account must satisfy its own 5-day minimum independently during evaluation.

What happens if I trade exactly at session open and close?

Trades execute when they fill, not when the session opens. A trade entered at the session open and closed at the session close is one trade for day-count purposes, and the day counts. Even an entry-and-exit within the same minute qualifies the day.

Does TradeDay count my trade if it fills outside US regular trading hours?

Yes. The trade-day rule is based on the futures session date as recorded in your platform, not on US equity session hours. A trade that fills during the Globex overnight session counts for the named session date. Verify your platform's session-time settings if attribution looks unexpected.

Can I use a single trade to qualify multiple days?

No. One trade qualifies one day. Holding a trade across multiple sessions does not multiply the day count - the trade is attributed to the day of entry only. To qualify additional days, you must execute additional trades on those days.

Does TradeDay's 5-day minimum apply differently across Intraday TMD, EOD TMD, and Static drawdown variants?

No. The 5-day minimum is the same across all three drawdown variants. The drawdown mechanic differs but the day-count rule is identical. The variant choice affects how you manage intraday and overnight risk, not how days are counted.

What if I have a TradingView-attributed trade that did not show up in my TradeDay dashboard?

Open a TradeDay support ticket immediately. The day-count rule requires the trade to be recorded in your TradeDay account, not just the upstream platform. Verification typically resolves within 24 hours during business days. The platform sync issue is rare but does occur on initial setup days.

TradeDay Trading Day Definition: What Counts

A trading day at TradeDay is any calendar day with at least one filled trade. The threshold is intentionally low. The 5-day minimum is cumulative, non-consecutive, and applies to evaluation only. Held-overnight positions count for the day of entry. Pending and cancelled orders do not count. Funded accounts have no minimum.

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Days added
Week 1	skip	trade	trade	trade	skip	3
Week 2	trade	trade	skip	skip	skip	2
Total						5 days

Day	P&L	Cumulative	Max single-day allowed
Day 1	$400	$400	$400 - one day allowed everything
Day 2	$300	$700	$210 = 30% of $700
Day 3	$500	$1,200	$360 = 30% of $1,200
Day 4	$200	$1,400	$420 = 30% of $1,400
Day 5	$300	$1,700	$510 = 30% of $1,700

Firm	Min days	Threshold to qualify	Non-consecutive?
TradeDay	5	1 trade	Yes
Topstep	5	1 trade typical	Yes
Apex Trader Funding	Varies by product	1 trade typical	Yes
MyFundedFutures	5 typical	1 trade	Yes
Bulenox	Varies	1 trade typical	Yes