Drawdown simulator
Drawdown is the rule that eliminates the most candidates, and the difference between its three models only becomes visible once drawn. This simulator applies the same sequence of daily results to a static drawdown, an end-of-day trailing drawdown and an intraday trailing drawdown, then shows the resulting loss floor day by day. Static drawdown is measured once and for all on the starting balance; trailing follows your gains upward, so a winning streak raises the threshold you can no longer fall below. The intraday variant goes further: it tracks peaks reached during the session, including unrealised gains you never banked.
Drawdown respected across the whole sequence.
| Day | Result | Equity | Loss floor | Margin left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | % | $102,100 | $92,100 | $10,000 |
| 2 | % | $100,671 | $92,100 | $8,571 |
| 3 | % | $103,892 | $93,892 | $10,000 |
| 4 | % | $105,035 | $95,035 | $10,000 |
| 5 | % | $102,094 | $95,035 | $7,059 |
| 6 | % | $106,178 | $96,178 | $10,000 |
| 7 | % | $104,160 | $96,178 | $7,983 |
| 8 | % | $106,660 | $96,660 | $10,000 |
The intraday trailing trap
A $100,000 account with 10 % drawdown starts with a floor at $90,000. Under a static model that floor never moves: you can rise to $115,000, fall back to $91,000 and still be alive.
Under intraday trailing the same path gives the opposite result. If you touch $115,000 during the session — for minutes, without closing the position — the floor rises to $105,000. A pullback to $104,000, while you are still $4,000 up on the account, ends the evaluation.
This mechanism explains a large share of failures traders perceive as unfair: they did not lose money, they lost an unrealised profit the rule had already booked as earned.
End-of-day trailing: the compromise
End-of-day trailing only counts the closing balance. Intraday excursions do not move the floor, which leaves room for the normal breathing of a held position. It is the most common model in the forex segment, and a reasonable compromise between protecting the firm and leaving the trader a playable account.
What the simulation does not model
The daily loss limit, separate from total drawdown, applies at most firms on top of it: it caps what you can lose in a single session, usually at half the total drawdown. A catastrophic day can therefore eliminate you well before the global floor is reached.
Some firms also freeze the trailing once the account exceeds its starting balance by the drawdown amount: the floor then locks at the initial deposit level and stops moving. That is a trader-friendly clause worth looking for explicitly in the terms.