How to Approach an Evaluation: A Tactical Playbook

An evaluation is a test of the rulebook as much as a test of your edge. Speed runs increase size. Most accounts that die in week one died because the trader never wrote the numbers down.

The four numbers

Open the firm's Directory profile. From the program block, when the fields exist, write:

1. Profit target — on the tier table when we have profit target percent.
2. Max drawdown — percent and type (static, trailing, and the variants we store). /article/understanding-drawdowns, /glossary/max-drawdown, /directory/trailing-drawdown, /directory/static-drawdown.
3. Daily loss limit — /glossary/daily-loss-limit.
4. Min trading days — how long the test is required to last, independent of how fast you hit the target.

Then two checks that are not always numbers: news trading (yes/no on the profile, Compare, /directory/news-trading, /article/news-trading-rules) and the consistency rule in the rulebook (/glossary/consistency-rule, /research/consistency-rules). Compare today shows news, overnight, weekend, and copy-trading. It does not show the four numbers above. Do not look for them only on Compare.

We do not publish a typical "single-day cap" percentage for the industry. If the firm names one, copy it from that firm.

Week one

Survival. Size so that a full daily loss still leaves the account inside the max drawdown with room. Log clean days. If Friday is small and green with no rule breach, the week worked. /article/position-sizing-math.

Week two

Full planned size only after you have cushion. Cushion means closed equity that would absorb a full daily loss without tagging the floor. If you do not have it, you are still in week one.

Week three onward

If a consistency cap exists, compute the day cap from current net profit before the open. Stop at the cap. Requesting payout the day you spiked through it is how requests die. /article/payout-mechanics.

Do not treat minimum trading days as optional. If the field says ten, a three-day runner that hits the target is not done.

Next

Side-by-side: /compare. If you do not have two names, /match then Compare. /article/red-flags-prop-firm if the profile is empty where these numbers should be. Closed firms: /closed-firms.

FAQ

Q: What if the tier table has no profit target? A: Write "unknown" and read the rulebook. Do not copy a target from a different program at the same firm without checking.

Q: Can I skip to funded-account habits during the test? A: Only the habits that also satisfy this rulebook. The evaluation is the rulebook in force. /article/building-a-trading-plan.