# Intraday vs end-of-day trailing drawdown

> An end-of-day trailing drawdown moves once per session, from the closed balance; an intraday one follows open equity tick by tick. The same trades can fail the intraday version and leave the end-of-day version untouched. StarTrading uses end of day on Cycle, Clear and Direct accounts and on evaluations; funded Stream trails intraday, and a Stream evaluation lets you choose.

By StarTrading Team · Published 2026-09-09 · Updated 2026-09-09 · Source: https://startrading.io/blog/intraday-vs-end-of-day-drawdown

An end-of-day trailing drawdown moves once per session, from the closed balance. An intraday one follows open equity tick by tick. The two rules produce the same limit on a quiet day and very different limits on a day with a runner that comes back. This article assumes you know what a trailing drawdown is; if not, start with [what is a trailing drawdown](https://startrading.io/blog/what-is-a-trailing-drawdown). Here the question is narrower: on the same trades, when does one version fail and the other not, and which StarTrading account has which.

## What is the only difference between the two?

The definition of a new high. At StarTrading the trailing limit is the [Max Loss Limit](https://startrading.io/rules/max-loss-limit); it starts a fixed distance below the starting balance, $3,000 on a 100K, and rises whenever the account makes a new high until it locks at the starting balance plus $100.

-   **End of day** reads the account once, after the close. The high is the highest closed balance. Nothing that happens inside the session moves it.
-   **Intraday** reads the account continuously. The high is the highest equity ever reached, open positions included. A peak that lasts two seconds counts.

Everything else is identical: the amount, the lock, what happens when it is hit. The difference is entirely about open profit that does not become closed profit.

## Which StarTrading accounts use which?

| Account | Evaluation | Funded |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cycle | end of day | end of day |
| Clear | end of day | end of day |
| Stream | intraday, or end of day as a paid option | intraday |
| Direct | no evaluation | end of day |

Funded [Stream accounts](https://startrading.io/accounts/stream) are the only funded accounts with an intraday trail, and it is part of the deal that gives them daily payouts with no cap per request. A Stream evaluation trails intraday by default; the end-of-day option is chosen at checkout and carries a surcharge. Once the Stream account is funded the trail is intraday whatever the evaluation option was.

## A worked day, both ways

Take a funded 100K Stream account. After a good first week the highest close is $101,500, so both versions of the limit start the day at $98,500: the $3,000 distance from the highest value. Assume the Daily Loss Limit was kept on at checkout: $1,800. The same three trades, in ES, with the limit recomputed after each event:

| Event | Equity | Intraday limit | End-of-day limit | Status |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Session open | $101,500 | $98,500 | $98,500 | room $3,000 both |
| Trade 1 peaks at +$1,400 open | $102,900 | $99,900 | $98,500 | intraday limit moved |
| Trade 1 closes at −$400 | $101,100 | $99,900 | $98,500 | room $1,200 vs $2,600 |
| Trade 2 closes at −$700 | $100,400 | $99,900 | $98,500 | room $500 vs $1,900 |
| Trade 3 reaches −$600 open | $99,800 | $99,900 | $98,500 | intraday: failed |
| Close (end-of-day version) | $99,800 |  | $98,500 | end of day: room $1,300 |

The day lost $1,700, under the $1,800 Daily Loss Limit, so the daily limit never triggered. On the end-of-day version the account closes with $1,300 of room and trades tomorrow. On the intraday version it was failed in the middle of the third trade, and the reason is the first trade: a runner that went to +$1,400 and closed at −$400 raised the limit by $1,400 without adding a dollar to the balance. The second and third trades were ordinary losses; they became fatal only because the room had already been spent by a peak.

Put it into practice on a Stream account

$288One-time fee, no subscription, no time limit.

Profit target

$6,000

Max Loss Limit

$3,000

[Start the 100K Stream evaluation](https://startrading.io/pricing?f=stream&s=100k&p=rithmic)[About Stream accounts](https://startrading.io/accounts/stream)

## Why does the runner matter more than the loss?

Because under an intraday trail, open profit is a liability the moment it exists. Every dollar of peak equity moves the floor up by a dollar, and the floor never comes back down. A trader on an end-of-day account can let a trade run to its target and accept that it may return to break-even; the account is only measured at the close. A trader on an intraday account is measured at the peak. This changes the correct behaviour in three ways:

1.  **Scale out.** Booking part of the runner turns some of the peak into closed balance, which is what the end-of-day version would have counted anyway.
2.  **Recompute the room after every trade, not every morning.** The room on the intraday account in the table went from $3,000 to $1,200 during one trade that closed at a small loss.
3.  **Size from the intraday room.** After trade 1, a 10% rule allows $120 of risk, not $300. Trade 2 in the example risked $700; on an intraday account that was already too large.

## When does the choice matter on a Stream evaluation?

A Stream evaluation with the intraday option is harder to pass than the same evaluation with end of day, for the reasons above, and cheaper. The end-of-day option removes the peak problem during the evaluation only; the funded Stream account is intraday regardless. A trader who buys end of day for the evaluation and then trades the funded account with the same habits will meet the peak problem on the account that pays. The [one-phase evaluation article](https://startrading.io/blog/pass-a-one-phase-futures-evaluation) has the planning arithmetic; the price of each option is shown live on the [pricing page](https://startrading.io/pricing).

## Which version should you trade?

The one that matches how you exit. Fixed targets and partial exits suit an intraday trail; letting winners run suits an end-of-day trail. If you do not know how you exit, an end-of-day account, [Cycle](https://startrading.io/accounts/cycle), Clear or Direct, gives you the time to find out without a peak deciding for you. Evaluation and funded accounts are simulated until the Live stage, and futures trading carries a substantial risk of loss; the [comparison page](https://startrading.io/accounts/compare) shows the drawdown mode of all sixteen products side by side.

## Sources

-   CME Group, [E-mini S&P 500 contract specifications](https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/equities/sp/e-mini-sp500.contractSpecs.html): tick size and value used to express the worked day in ES ticks.
-   CME Group, [Micro E-mini S&P 500 contract specifications](https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/equities/sp/micro-e-mini-sp-500.contractSpecs.html): the one-tenth multiplier behind the sizing notes.

## Questions on this topic

### Which StarTrading accounts trail intraday?

Funded Stream accounts, always. A Stream evaluation trails intraday by default and end of day if you take the end-of-day option at checkout. Cycle, Clear and Direct accounts and their evaluations trail end of day only.

### Does an intraday drawdown count open profit?

Yes. The limit follows the highest account value including unrealised profit, so a trade that reaches a peak and comes back has moved the limit up even if it closes at a loss. An end-of-day limit only looks at the closed balance after the session.

### Why does Stream use an intraday drawdown?

Because Stream pays out every day. A firm that lets you withdraw daily cannot wait for the close to know where your account stands, so the limit follows the account in real time. The one-minute news window on funded Stream exists for the same reason.