# What is Trailing drawdown?

> Also called: Intraday trailing drawdown, Max trailing drawdown, MLL, Trailing threshold

**In short.** A trailing drawdown is a loss limit that follows the account's highest balance: it rises as the account makes new highs and never comes back down. Intraday trailing means it moves with the unrealised peak of open trades, so a trade that goes +$800 then closes flat has lifted the limit by $800 for good.

**On today's board.** 4 of the 14 firms on the board sell at least one account with a intraday trailing drawdown. Data checked October 15, 2026.

Example: 50K account, $2,500 trailing drawdown. Start: balance $50,000, limit $47,500. A trade peaks at $51,000 unrealised and closes at $50,200: the limit is now $48,500, not $47,500. The room for loss has shrunk from $2,500 to $1,700 after a winning trade.

This is why intraday trailing accounts punish letting winners run and then giving back: the peak counts, not the close. Most firms stop trailing once the limit reaches the starting balance (it 'locks' at $50,000 plus a buffer on some accounts). End-of-day and static drawdowns are the two kinder variants.

Size from the drawdown that remains today, not from the account size. The position-size calculator does that for any account of the board.

## Questions traders ask

### Does the trailing drawdown stop moving?

On most futures prop firms it stops once it reaches the initial balance, sometimes plus a small buffer. Until then every new peak, including unrealised peaks on intraday trailing accounts, raises it permanently.

- Guides on this term: [Trailing drawdown, explained without the fine print](https://fillprint.io/en/journal/trailing-drawdown-explained)
- Guides on this term: [How many contracts to trade on a prop firm account](https://fillprint.io/en/journal/position-sizing-for-prop-firm-drawdown)
- Calculators: [Position size calculator for prop firm accounts](https://fillprint.io/en/tools/position-size)
- Shortlists: [Prop firms with an end-of-day drawdown](https://fillprint.io/en/prop-firms/best/end-of-day-drawdown)
- Shortlists: [Prop firms with a static drawdown](https://fillprint.io/en/prop-firms/best/static-drawdown)
- Read next: [End-of-day drawdown](https://fillprint.io/en/glossary/end-of-day-drawdown)
- Read next: [Static drawdown](https://fillprint.io/en/glossary/static-drawdown)
- Read next: [Daily loss limit](https://fillprint.io/en/glossary/daily-loss-limit)

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