What the daily loss limit is
The5ers caps your loss for a single trading day at 5% ($5,000 on the $100,000 account), measured on your balance plus open (floating) P&L, from the day's starting equity, so unrealised drawdown counts. Reach it and your trading day is over.
Because the measurement includes floating P&L, an open position deep underwater can cross the line for you: you do not get to hold a loser back to green once the day's equity is 5% down.
How it's measured and when it resets
The clock is the trading day: the limit re-arms at each daily rollover, measured from that day's starting equity. Yesterday's loss does not shrink today's allowance, but it has already eaten into the static maximum loss, which never resets.
Why it's the most-breached rule
The daily loss limit fails more evaluations than any other rule, because it only takes a short losing streak at the wrong size. The arithmetic is unforgiving: risking $2,500 per trade, two full stops end the day; at $1,250 per trade you can absorb four. On The5ers High Stakes that is the difference between a red day and a failed evaluation.
What happens if you breach it
On The5ers the daily loss is a hard breach: crossing it ends the evaluation, not just the session. The only defence is sizing that keeps a normal losing streak nowhere near 5%.
How to stay clear
Size so that two consecutive full-stop losses cannot reach 5%. Set the line in advance, and stop for the day the moment you are within one normal loss of it.
- →Treat 5% as a hard stop, not a soft guideline.
- →Size so two losers in a row can't reach it.
- →Stop for the day once you're one normal loss away from the limit.
Figures reflect a common The5ers account at the time of writing. Firms revise rules often, so verify against the The5ers site before relying on them.
Merlin's gauges derive from closed trades. Your firm watches live equity including open positions.
MerlinTrade is independent trading-journal software and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by The5ers. All trademarks belong to their owners.