Trading Rules Explained
Clear, fair rules designed to test proper risk management. One evaluation, no tricks.
Quick Reference Guide
- Profit Target8%
- Max Drawdown8%
- Min Trading Days4 days
- Max Daily Profit40% of target
- Time LimitUnlimited
- Weekend HoldingNot Allowed
- News TradingAllowed
- Starting P&L$0
- Max Drawdown8% EOD trailing
- Trailing Based OnEnd-of-Day Balance
- Floor Lock$0 after 8% EOD profit
- Profit Split80/20
- Min Trading Days5 days
- Payout FrequencyBi-weekly
- Weekend HoldingNot Allowed
Funded Account: End-of-Day Trailing Drawdown
Funded accounts start at $0 P&L with an 8% trailing drawdown based on your end-of-day balance (not intraday peaks).
Once your EOD balance reaches 8% profit, the floor locks at break-even ($0) - you can never go negative after that, only lose your profits.
Profit Target
Example by Account Size:
- $50,000 account → $4,000 profit target
- $100,000 account → $8,000 profit target
- $200,000 account → $16,000 profit target
Drawdown Rules
Evaluation Phase
Fixed 8% max drawdown from starting balance.
Example: $100k account → floor is $92k. Hit $92k equity = evaluation failed.
Funded Account - End-of-Day Trailing Drawdown
You start at $0 P&L with 8% trailing drawdown based on your end-of-day balance (not intraday peaks).
Example on $100K funded account:
- • Day 1 EOD: Balance = $102k → Floor = $94k
- • Day 2 intraday high: $108k, EOD: $104k → Floor = $96k (based on EOD, not peak)
- • Day 3: Drop to $95k intraday → Still safe (floor is $96k from Day 2 EOD)
- • Day 4 EOD: $108k+ → Floor locks at $100k (break-even)
- • Day 5: Drop to $99k → BREACH (below $100k floor)
Why EOD Trailing?
This gives you room to work during the trading day without the floor chasing intraday spikes. Your floor only updates at market close (5 PM ET).
Once your EOD balance hits 8% profit, you can never go negative - only lose your gains.
Consistency Rule
No single trading day can account for more than 40% of your profit target.
Example:
- $50K account ($4,000 target) → max $1,600 per day
- $100K account ($8,000 target) → max $3,200 per day
- $200K account ($16,000 target) → max $6,400 per day
This ensures you demonstrate consistent, sustainable trading rather than one lucky trade.
Minimum Trading Requirements
A trading day counts when you open at least one trade. You don't need to trade every day - just meet the minimum before passing.
Weekend Holding Policy
No Weekend Holding - ACCOUNT BREACH
You are responsible for closing all positions before market close on Friday (4 PM EST).
If you have ANY open positions at Friday market close, your account will be immediately breached and you will lose your challenge or funded account.
Why this policy?
- • Teaches discipline and self-management
- • Protects against weekend gap risk
- • Prevents surprise news events from wiping accounts
- • Real funded traders must manage their own risk
Trading Hours & Holiday Schedule
Regular Trading Hours
US Holiday Schedule
Markets follow CME/NYSE holiday schedules. Plan your trades accordingly.
Full Market Closure
New Year's Day, Good Friday, Independence Day (July 4), Thanksgiving, Christmas Day
Early Close - 12:00 PM EST
Christmas Eve, Day After Thanksgiving, July 3rd, New Year's Eve
Early Close - 1:00 PM EST
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Labor Day
Warning: On early close days, you MUST close all positions before the early close time. Open positions at market close will result in account breach. The platform shows holiday warnings - pay attention to them.
Payout Rules
Trading Day Definition
A trading day is any day where you execute at least one trade. The day counts regardless of whether the trade was profitable or not.
Activation Fee
After passing the evaluation, pay a one-time $150 activation fee to unlock your funded account.
Why Activation Fee?
- • Only charged after you prove yourself
- • Confirms commitment to serious trading
- • Same fee regardless of account size
- • No monthly fees after activation
Reset Policy
Failed the evaluation or blew your funded account? Reset at a discounted price and try again.
Trading Instruments
Forex Pairs
- EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY
- AUD/USD, USD/CAD, NZD/USD
- EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY
- + 20 more major & minor pairs
Commodities
- XAU/USD (Gold)
- XAG/USD (Silver)
- WTI Crude Oil
- Brent Crude Oil
Leverage by Symbol
Leverage varies by instrument type to manage risk appropriately. Higher volatility instruments have lower leverage.
EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, USD/CHF, AUD/USD, USD/CAD, NZD/USD
EUR/GBP, GBP/JPY, EUR/JPY, AUD/JPY, and other cross pairs
XAU/USD (Gold), XAG/USD (Silver), WTI Oil, Brent Oil
Why Different Leverage?
Commodities like Gold can move $50+ per ounce in a single day. Lower leverage protects both you and us from excessive losses during high volatility periods. Forex majors are more liquid and stable, allowing higher leverage.
Tip: The trading terminal shows the current leverage for each symbol when you place an order. Plan your position sizes accordingly.
Allowed Strategies
Allowed
- ✓ News trading
- ✓ Scalping
- ✓ Swing trading
- ✓ Day trading
- ✓ Position trading
Not Allowed
- ✗ EAs / Bots
- ✗ Weekend holding
- ✗ Account sharing
- ✗ Copy trading between MTF accounts
- ✗ Exploiting platform errors
- ✗ High-frequency tick scalping
- ✗ Arbitrage abuse
Prohibited Trading Strategies
The following strategies are strictly prohibited and will result in account termination without payout. All trading activity is monitored and flagged violations are reviewed by our risk team.
Hedging
Opening opposing positions (BUY and SELL) on the same instrument simultaneously. This includes opening a hedge to lock in profits or losses without closing the original position.
Example: Opening a 1 lot BUY on EUR/USD while having an existing SELL position on EUR/USD.
Martingale / Grid Trading
Progressively increasing position sizes after losses to recover previous losses. This includes grid strategies that add positions at fixed intervals against the trend.
Example: Losing 1 lot, then opening 2 lots, then 4 lots to "make back" the loss.
High-Frequency / Tick Scalping
Opening and closing positions within seconds to exploit small price movements or latency. All trades must be held for a minimum of 1 minute.
Latency Arbitrage
Exploiting price feed delays or differences between our platform and external sources. This includes trading on delayed prices or using faster external feeds to gain advantage.
Internal Copy Trading
Copying trades between multiple MTF accounts you own, or coordinating trades with other MTF users. Each account must be traded independently based on your own analysis.
Enforcement: Our system automatically flags suspicious trading patterns. Flagged accounts are reviewed by our risk team. If a violation is confirmed, the account will be terminated and any pending payouts will be forfeited.
Trading Costs
What You Pay
Your only trading cost is the spread (difference between bid and ask price). We don't charge commissions per trade or swap fees for holding positions overnight. This keeps your trading costs predictable and transparent.
Account Limits
You can have up to 5 active accounts at once (any combination of evaluation and funded). This allows you to diversify strategies or scale up as you prove yourself.
All accounts provided are demo accounts with simulated funds in a simulated trading environment. MTF Prop provides services of simulated trading and educational tools for traders.