This article is for the Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit on TopstepX™. To learn more about the Fixed Personal Daily Loss Limit on the TopstepX™ platform, click here.
It's important to note that this update is for the TopstepX™ Trading Platform only. All other trading platforms, including but not limited to, NinjaTrader, Quantower, Tradovate, and TradingView still have the Daily Loss Limit Objective in place.
TopstepX now offers the option to switch from a Fixed Personal Daily Loss Limit to a Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit. This feature is designed to adjust your loss limit as your balance grows throughout the day. The Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit locks in profits by moving up as your balance increases while holding steady if your balance declines.
How does this benefit traders?
Protect Profits: By trailing the highest balance of the day, the feature allows traders lock in gains while staying committed to a loss limit.
Dynamic Loss Limit: This limit adjusts as your balance grows, allowing traders to capitalize on their good days without taking on more risk.
How does it work?
Initial Setup: Select your Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit and choose a liquidation action—either "liquidate" (closes open positions and orders) or "liquidate & block" (closes trades and blocks the account for the rest of the day).
Trailing Losses: If you set a $500 Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit with a starting balance of $50,000 and immediately starts losing money, your liquidation action will trigger if your balance drops to $49,500.
Trailing Profits: If your balance increases to $51,200 (realized or unrealized), your new liquidation threshold moves up to $50,700—locking in gains while managing risk.
Reset After Liquidation: If liquidation occurs at $50,700, the system resets the action to "Do Nothing." You must manually re-enable the Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit if this occurs.
How to set your Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit
To set your Personal Loss Limit, click the Settings gear, then click "Risk Settings". This is where you'll set the dollar amount of your Personal Daily Loss Limit, select a Personal Daily Loss Limit (PDLL) action, and click the box to Enable Trailing.
Make sure to click "Lock Out Risk Settings For Day" to save your changes!
Once you've saved your changes, you'll see that you can no longer make changes to your Risk Settings. The timer lets you know when the lockout will end.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit?
The Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit (Trailing PDLL) is a dynamic loss limit that moves up as your balance grows throughout the day. It helps lock in profits while maintaining risk control.
How is the Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit different from the Fixed Personal Daily Loss Limit?
A Fixed Personal Daily Loss Limit stays at the same loss limit throughout the day, while a Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit moves up as your balance increases, allowing you to protect gains without increasing risk.
Can my Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit go down?
No, the Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit only moves up when your balance increases and does not trail downward if your balance declines.
Does the Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit apply to both realized and unrealized gains?
Yes, it adjusts based on your highest balance of the day, whether from realized or unrealized profits.
What happens if my balance hits the Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit limit?
If your balance reaches the Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit, the system will follow your requested action: Do Nothing, Liquidate, Liquidate, and Block. As long as you don’t choose to block yourself the rest of the day, the system resets the action to "Do Nothing." You must manually reactivate the feature.
Can I change my Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit settings during the trading day?
Yes, as long as you don’t hit your Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit with Liquidate and Block active, you can adjust your Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit.
Can I set up my Personal Daily Loss Limit while in a trade?
Yes, the limit will be based on your account balance at the time you save your Trailing Personal Daily Loss Limit settings.