Short answers to the questions traders ask about prop firm evaluations: drawdown rules, consistency, sizing and passing. Each page ends with a way to practice it.
Futures basics
NQ vs MNQ: Point Value, Tick Value, Which to Trade: NQ vs MNQ side by side: $20 vs $2 a point, $5 vs $0.50 a tick, same chart and hours. What a stop costs on each, and which one fits a small or prop firm account.
Micro Futures Tick Values: MNQ, MES, MYM, M2K, MCL: Tick size, tick value and point value for MNQ, MES, MYM, M2K, MCL and MGC next to their full size contracts, and what a stop costs on each. A sizing reference.
Getting started
How to Practice Day Trading Stocks Without Real Money: How to practice day trading stocks for free: paper trading vs replay, a simple routine, what to measure, which stocks to start on, and when you might be ready.
Day Trading for Beginners: A Step by Step Start: Day trading for beginners, step by step: the honest odds, choosing a market, costs, risk rules, one setup, practicing on replay and when to use real money.
Markets and sessions
ICT Kill Zones: Times in New York, London and UTC: The ICT kill zone times in New York time, what each session is known for, why volume matters more than the name, and how to test whether they help your trading.
How to Trade Gold (XAUUSD): A Beginner's Guide: How gold trading works: what XAUUSD is, lots and pips on gold, what moves the price, the best hours, how to size a trade, and how to practice for free.
FOMC Day Trading: How Fed Days Move NQ and ES: What happens on FOMC days: the 2:00 p.m. rate decision, the 2:30 press conference, why index futures whipsaw, prop firm news rules and how to handle it.
London Session Forex Hours: GMT, New York, CST, PST: When the London forex session opens and closes in GMT, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles time, how daylight saving shifts it, and when London overlaps New York.
Practice and backtesting
Manual vs Automated Backtesting: Which to Use First: Manual and automated backtesting compared: what each one is good at, where each misleads you, which to start with, and a simple way to use both on one strategy.
How Many Trades Do You Need to Backtest a Strategy?: How many trades a backtest needs before you can trust it, with the math behind the margin of error, a simple table, and what to do if a strategy trades rarely.
Paper Trading Futures for Free: Simulator vs Demo: Paper trading futures for free: broker demo accounts vs replay simulators, what makes practice realistic, and a plan that turns paper trades into real skill.
Free Chart Replay: Practice Past Charts, No Spoilers: How chart replay (bar replay) works, what to look for in a free chart replay website, and a routine for practicing entries, exits and risk on past sessions.
How to Backtest a Trading Strategy Manually: A step by step method for backtesting a strategy by hand with bar replay: write the rules, pick a sample, step candle by candle, log trades in R, read results.
Trailing Drawdown Explained: End of Day vs Intraday: How a prop firm trailing drawdown works, with numbers: end of day vs intraday trailing, static drawdown, when the floor stops trailing and how to trade with it.
Prop Firm Daily Loss Limit: How It Works: How a prop firm daily loss limit works: what counts toward it, hard vs soft breaches, why it can fail you when no stop was hit and how to size your day.
Prop Firm Consistency Rule: Formula and Examples: What the prop firm consistency rule is, the formula behind it, worked examples at 30%, 40% and 50%, why one big day can block a payout and how to plan for it.
How to Pass a Prop Firm Evaluation: A Practice Plan: A practical plan for passing a futures prop firm evaluation: read the rules as numbers, size from the drawdown, cap your days, rehearse it all before you pay.
Funded Account Payouts: The Rules That Decide It: How prop firm funded account payouts work: profit splits, payout rules like minimum days, buffers and consistency, how withdrawals affect drawdown, and taxes.
Risk management
Profit Factor: Formula and What Counts as Good: What profit factor means, how to calculate it after costs, what counts as a good number, how it relates to win rate and expectancy, and why samples matter.
Forex Lot Size Explained: Standard, Mini and Micro: What a forex lot is, the difference between standard, mini and micro lots, what a pip is worth on each, and how to work out the right lot size for your account.
Drawdown Recovery: Why a 50% Loss Needs a 100% Gain: Why getting back from a loss takes a bigger gain than the loss itself, the recovery table and formula, how risk per trade changes it, and what to do about it.
Stop Loss Types: Stop Market, Stop Limit, Trailing: Stop loss orders explained: stop market vs stop limit, trailing stops and brackets, where to place a stop, slippage and the stop mistakes that cost the most.
Risk Reward Ratio and Win Rate: Break Even Table: Why a 70% win rate can still lose money: the break even win rate for every risk reward ratio, expectancy in R with worked examples and how fees change the math.
How Much to Risk per Trade: Start From Your Worst Day: How much to risk per trade, worked out from the losing streak you must survive: streak odds for 35% to 50% win rates and rules for personal and prop accounts.
Futures Position Sizing: How Many Contracts to Trade: The futures position sizing formula: dollar risk divided by stop distance times point value, plus fees. Worked NQ, MNQ, ES and MES examples, prop firm limits.
Moving Stop Loss to Breakeven: Helps or Hurts?: Moving a stop to breakeven feels safe, but it changes your win rate and average win. The trade off in numbers, the too early mistake and rules to use instead.
Strategies
Order Block Trading: What It Is and How to Test It: What an order block is, how to mark a bullish or bearish one, how traders use them for entries and stops, common mistakes, and how to test the idea properly.
Liquidity Sweep: What It Is and How to Trade It: What a liquidity sweep is, how it differs from a breakout, how to spot one at the previous day high or low, the usual entry plan, and how to test it honestly.
False Breakout: How to Spot and Trade a Fakeout: What a false breakout is, why breakouts fail, the signs of a fakeout, and two ways to trade it: wait for confirmation or trade the failure.
What Is a Fair Value Gap? Rules and How to Test It: What a fair value gap is, how to mark one in three candles, why traders watch them, the common entry rules, and how to test whether the idea works for you.
Choppy Market Trading: How to Spot It and What to Do: How to recognise a choppy, range bound market, why it drains accounts with small losses, and what to do instead: trade less, trade the edges, or stand aside.
Opening Range Breakout Strategy: Rules and a Test: The opening range breakout (ORB) strategy explained: the rules, common versions, and how a 15 minute ORB did on 7 years of NQ under prop firm drawdown rules.
Trading psychology
Trading Journal: What to Track and How to Review: What to record in a trading journal, a free template to copy, the numbers that matter, and a 20 minute weekly review that turns your trades into fixes.