# Futures prop trading blog > Articles for traders who want to pass a futures evaluation and keep a funded account: how the rules work, how to size positions, what the platforms change, how payouts are paid. Every figure comes from the published catalogue and rulebook, and every article links to the rule it explains. Source: https://startrading.io/blog ยท Updated 2026-09-24 ## Latest articles - [Bots, copy trading and multiple accounts](https://startrading.io/blog/bots-copy-trading-and-multiple-accounts.md) (Strategy, 2026-09-24): Where automation stops being allowed on a futures prop account: HFT, hedging across accounts, micro-scalping, and the checklist to run before you connect a bot. - [What happens after you pass](https://startrading.io/blog/what-happens-after-you-pass.md) (Prop firm guides, 2026-09-21): Passing swaps one rule set for another: the funded simulated account, the buffer, which rules disappear by account type, and the path to Live after 5 payouts. - [Why most evaluations fail](https://startrading.io/blog/why-most-evaluations-fail.md) (Risk management, 2026-09-19): The five failures that end futures evaluations, in the order they happen: oversized entries, the trailing peak, no personal stop, flat time and revenge trading. - [Choosing your account type](https://startrading.io/blog/choosing-your-account-type.md) (Prop firm guides, 2026-09-17): Cycle, Clear, Stream or Direct: the four account types compared on evaluation, drawdown, consistency, buffer and payouts, then a pick by trader profile. - [Your first payout, step by step](https://startrading.io/blog/first-payout-what-to-expect.md) (Prop firm guides, 2026-09-15): What happens between reaching the payout goal and the wire arriving: the conditions to meet, the $500 minimum, the 90% split and why a request is declined. - [Consistency rules: 40%, 50% and 20%](https://startrading.io/blog/consistency-rules-explained.md) (Prop firm guides, 2026-09-11): Why futures prop firms cap the largest day, how the 40%, 50% and 20% thresholds are computed on each StarTrading account type and how to plan payouts around it. - [Prop firm evaluation or your own account?](https://startrading.io/blog/prop-firm-evaluation-vs-own-account.md) (Prop firm guides, 2026-09-11): Trading your own futures account against paying for a prop firm evaluation: margin, real losses, rules, fees, the 90% split, and when each one makes sense. - [Max contracts by account size and scaling](https://startrading.io/blog/scaling-plan-max-contracts.md) (Strategy, 2026-09-11): The position limit on 25K to 150K accounts, 2 to 10 minis with micros at one tenth, why it exists, and how to size from the Max Loss Limit rather than the cap. - [News trading on a funded futures account](https://startrading.io/blog/news-trading-on-a-funded-account.md) (Strategy, 2026-09-10): Trading CPI, NFP and FOMC on a funded futures account: slippage, spread widening, the one-minute flat window on funded Stream and a release-day plan in micros. - [How to pass a one-phase futures evaluation](https://startrading.io/blog/pass-a-one-phase-futures-evaluation.md) (Prop firm guides, 2026-09-10): A plan for a one-phase futures evaluation with no time limit: target, drawdown room, daily budget, consistency check and the mistakes that end most attempts. - [Daily loss limit explained for beginners](https://startrading.io/blog/daily-loss-limit-explained.md) (Risk management, 2026-09-09): What a daily loss limit is on a futures prop account, soft versus hard, the amount by size on each StarTrading account, and how to set your own stop under it. - [Intraday vs end-of-day trailing drawdown](https://startrading.io/blog/intraday-vs-end-of-day-drawdown.md) (Risk management, 2026-09-09): How an intraday trailing drawdown differs from an end-of-day one, a worked day where the same trades fail one and not the other, and which accounts use each. - [Micros vs minis: sizing a 50K account](https://startrading.io/blog/micros-vs-minis-position-sizing.md) (Risk management, 2026-09-09): Tick values of ES, NQ, CL and GC against their micros, and how to size positions on a 50K prop account from the room to the Max Loss Limit rather than the size. - [Futures hours, flat time and the Sunday open](https://startrading.io/blog/futures-trading-hours-and-flat-time.md) (Futures basics, 2026-09-08): When CME futures trade, when the daily maintenance break is, what flat time means on a prop account at 4:15 or 4:45 pm ET, and how the Sunday open affects you. - [What is a trailing drawdown?](https://startrading.io/blog/what-is-a-trailing-drawdown.md) (Futures basics, 2026-09-08): A trailing drawdown is a loss limit that follows your account balance upward. End-of-day and intraday versions, the lock, and worked examples on a 100K account. - [What moves ES, NQ, CL and GC prices](https://startrading.io/blog/what-moves-futures-prices.md) (Futures basics, 2026-09-08): The scheduled data, earnings, oil inventories and dollar moves that drive ES, NQ, CL and GC futures, and how to plan a session around them on a prop account.