An evaluation is a rules test with a fee, a loss floor and a fail condition. Passing means staying inside the rules long enough to reach a target, so the rules are the first thing to read. One rule matters more than most for anyone planning to automate: Apex prohibits automated or algorithmic preset bots that place, modify or cancel trades without your personal real-time review. The sources are Apex's prohibited activities page and user agreement. This guide is therefore about manual, personally supervised trading on NinjaTrader 8. YMI bots aren't Apex compatible and aren't a way to pass an evaluation.
1. Build a rule comparison sheet
Targets, drawdown amounts, fees and contract limits differ by account size, product and when the account was opened, so I won't quote current figures. Copy these from the live rules into a sheet instead.
- Profit target and any minimum trading days.
- Drawdown type: trailing or end of day, whether open profit counts, and where the trailing stops.
- Any daily loss rule and any consistency rule.
- Maximum contracts for your account size, and limits on news, overnight or weekend holding.
- All costs: evaluation, activation, resets, monthly fees and data.
- Payout conditions, and what funded actually means for that account.
Save a dated copy. If a rule changes mid-evaluation, you'll want proof of what you read.
2. Work the trailing drawdown by hand
Your next step
Review the setup before you automate it.
Read the NinjaTrader setup and strategy limits, then test in SIM. YMI bot access belongs to Pro. Check your broker or prop firm's rules before enabling automation.
This is a hypothetical $50,000 account with a $2,500 trailing drawdown that counts open profit. It's an illustration, not Apex's current terms.
| Point in time | High-water mark | Loss floor | Account | Buffer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | $50,000 | $47,500 | $50,000 | $2,500 |
| Day 1 close | $51,000 | $48,500 | $51,000 | $2,500 |
| Day 2 intraday peak | $52,000 | $49,500 | $52,000 | $2,500 |
| Day 2 close | $52,000 | $49,500 | $50,000 | $500 |
The trader finished day 2 at $50,000, and the buffer went from $2,500 to $500 because a winner was allowed to reverse. Plans that define where you take profit protect the buffer better than plans that hope.
3. Size from stop distance, not from margin
Margin is collateral. It isn't a cap on losses. Contracts = risk dollars divided by stop points times the dollar value of a point. ES is $50 per point (a tick of 0.25 is $12.50), MES is $5 per point ($1.25 per tick), NQ is $20 per point ($5 per tick) and MNQ is $2 per point ($0.50 per tick).
As a hypothetical plan, set a personal daily loss limit at 40% of the drawdown, which is $1,000 on a $2,500 drawdown, and a per-trade risk of $250. A 10-point MES stop is $50 per contract, so 5 MES. A 5-point ES stop is $250 per contract, so 1 ES. Stop orders can slip, especially around scheduled news, so leave room. Also check the firm's contract limit for your account size.
4. Plan the pace
If a hypothetical target is $3,000, a 10-day pace is about $300 a day, while a 2-day pace needs $1,500 a day. The faster pace forces larger size or longer holds, and both push toward the loss floor. Check the minimum days rule too. Reaching the target early doesn't mean you should keep trading, so decide in advance what you do when you're ahead.
5. Practice in SIM first
NinjaTrader's SIM account and its Playback connection are different things. SIM is the account you select for order entry. Playback is a historical data connection that replays past market data, and you still trade against a simulated account while it runs. Use both on purpose and label which you used. Review sessions with the Trade Performance report, and follow the NinjaTrader 8 help guide for the exact steps in your version.
Treat SIM as a rehearsal. Fifty SIM trades aren't live proof, a simulated fill doesn't reflect exchange queue position or real slippage, and a demo account doesn't recreate how you feel with a loss floor close by.
6. Know your infrastructure
A stable connection matters. Some traders run the platform on a VPS, but check the firm's rules on remote machines first, compare the monthly cost against the evaluation budget, and know what happens to working orders and open positions if your platform disconnects. Keep a phone number for your broker's desk handy.
Common ways evaluations fail
Trading through scheduled releases like CPI or FOMC, where a stop can fill many ticks worse than planned. Changing size or setups halfway through. Ignoring the minimum days rule. Not reading the rule set until after a breach. And using automation the firm prohibits, which can end the account regardless of the P&L.
YMI's daily KPLs are fixed reference prices anchored to the regular-session opening print, and you can plan around them manually. They aren't a pass method either. If you want the context, see the KPL trading overview.
About the Author
Founder, Young Money Investments · Quant Trader
Cameron trades ES, NQ, and futures across multiple market cycles. He founded Young Money Investments to teach systematic, data-driven trading and manages Magnum Opus Capital. His work emphasizes documented rules, risk controls, and review over outcome promises.
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Educational Purposes Only: The content provided in this blog is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice. Young Money Investments is not a registered investment advisor, broker-dealer, or financial analyst.
Risk Warning: Trading futures, forex, stocks, and cryptocurrencies involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. The valuation of futures, stocks, and options may fluctuate, and as a result, clients may lose more than their original investment.
CFTC Rule 4.41 - Hypothetical or Simulated Performance Results: Certain results (including backtests mentioned in these articles) are hypothetical. Hypothetical performance results have many inherent limitations. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those shown. In fact, there are frequently sharp differences between hypothetical performance results and the actual results subsequently achieved by any particular trading program.
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