Apex Trader Funding

General Trading Practices

• Transparency: 
  • Apex is committed to maintaining transparency by actively monitoring trading activity for compliance.
  • Traders will have access to detailed PA Charts showing their trading practices, ensuring they can track their performance and adherence to rules. This approach promotes clarity and accountability for both the trader and Apex.
• Risk Management Priority: 
  • The primary focus is on encouraging responsible and sustainable trading practices that closely mimic real-world market conditions. By adhering to these practices, traders can develop strategies that are viable for live trading scenarios.

Example: 

• Traders can utilize their PA Charts to validate their compliance with Apex's rules and guidelines.
• We recommend traders to journal their trades using an online tool so that if a payout request is denied, they can refer back to their journal to review adherence to the consistency rules. 

Trading Requirements

• Genuine Strategy: Traders must use a consistent, real-world trading strategy or system that reflects practices suitable for live trading.
• No Market Manipulation: 
  • Manipulation of the simulated trading environment, including HFT or using strategies to exploit the sim, is strictly prohibited. 
  • Traders must trade their own accounts and not share logins or allow others to trade on their behalf.

Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA)

Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) involves entering additional trades in the same direction as the original order, even if the market moves against the trader’s position. As the market continues to move contrary to the trade, the trader adds more entries in the same direction.

Key Points:

• DCA is allowed under this agreement, with no restrictions on contract size for additional entries.
• There are no specific rules for determining entry points, timeframes, or distances from the original order.
• Traders must maintain responsible risk-to-reward ratios when using DCA.
• DCA is permitted as long as it does not violate any other consistency rules (e.g., 30% profit in a day, 30% negative P&L).

Traders are expected to apply DCA consistently and responsibly to adhere to the rules.

Contract Size Consistency

• Consistent Strategy: 
  • Contract sizes should reflect a consistent trading approach, allowing flexibility to adjust based on factors such as risk, market conditions, and volatility.
  • However, erratic spikes or inconsistent changes, like trading 10 contracts one day and then 2 contracts the next solely to secure a payout, are not permitted. Adjustments made to respond to market conditions (e.g., trading fewer contracts during periods of high volatility) are acceptable.
• Adjustable Based on Strategy: 
  • As the account balance grows, contract sizes can be increased to reflect a scaling strategy.
  • However, decreasing contract sizes should be done with a clear, strategic rationale and not in a manner that suggests inconsistency.
  • Occasional adjustments based on market conditions (e.g., reducing contract size during increased volatility) are permitted, provided they align with the overall trading plan.

Scaling (Adding Positions Into Trades)

• Half Contracts Until Threshold: Traders are limited to trading half of the available contracts until they meet the trailing threshold stop.
• Full Contracts After Threshold: Once the trailing threshold is met, traders are allowed to utilize the full number of contracts permitted by their account.

Example: 

• On a $50,000 account, a trader can initially trade up to 5 contracts (half the normal limit of 10). Once the account balance reaches $52,600 and the trailing stop no longer applies, they can trade the full 10 contracts.
• Single Violation Penalty: If more than half of the maximum allowed contracts are accidentally traded, traders are expected to close out the excessive contracts immediately. Failure to do so may result in the payout request being denied and the account being reset to the End-of-Day balance from the day prior to the first scaling rule violation. The trader would then need to complete 8 additional compliant trading days before becoming eligible to request another payout.
• Consistent Violation Penalty: Blatant or repeated violations of the scaling rule will result in account closure and forfeiture of all balances.

Risk Management

• 5:1 Risk-Reward Ratio: A maximum 5:1 risk-to-reward ratio applies to all trades.
  • Example: If the profit target is 10 ticks, the stop loss should not exceed 50 ticks.
• Enforcement: Violations of risk management rules may result in probation, account removal, or a warning, depending on the severity and frequency.
  • Example: A trader aiming for 10 ticks of profit should not set a stop loss exceeding 50 ticks. Setting a stop loss at 100 ticks would violate the rule.

30% Negative P&L Rule

• Limit on Losses: Open trades should not exceed a 30% negative drawdown from the account’s profit balance.
  • Example: For a $50,000 account, if the profit balance is $4,000, a trader should not allow a drawdown exceeding $1,200.
• New/Low Profit Accounts: For accounts that are new or have low profits, the 30% rule is based on the trailing threshold (e.g., 30% of $2,500 on a $50,000 account would be $750).
• Adjustment Based on Growth: If the account balance doubles the safety net, traders may use a 50% drawdown limit instead of 30%.

Example: 

• For a $50,000 account, if you accumulate $2,600 in profit and pass the safety net, your risk is calculated based on 30% of that $2,600. If your profits rise to $5,200, your drawdown allowance can increase to $2,600 (50% of $5,200).

30% Consistency Rule

• Definition: When requesting a payout, no single trading day should account for more than 30% of the total profit balance accumulated since the last approved payout or since the start of trading if no payouts have been made.
• Forward-Looking: This rule applies going forward and does not look back after payout approval. Once a payout is made, the 30% rule resets based on the new balance.

Easy Calculation Method:

• Formula: Highest Profit Day / 0.3 = Total Profit Needed
  • Example: On a $50,000 PA account, if the highest profit day was $1,500, you would calculate:
    • $1,500 / 0.3 = $5,000
    • This means you need a total profit of $5,000 in your account to stay compliant with the 30% consistency rule.
    • If your total profit is below $5,000, you must continue trading until you reach that level to ensure compliance.

Flipping Trades

• Flipping is Allowed: 
  • Traders are permitted to engage in flipping, which means opening and closing trades quickly within the same day. This practice can count towards a trading day as long as it aligns with Apex's requirements.
• Conditions for Flipping:
• Traders must achieve a minimum profit of $50 per day.
• This must be done for at least 5 trading days to meet the eligibility criteria.

Examples:

• • A trader opens and closes a few quick trades during a day, earning a $60 profit. Since this exceeds the $50 minimum profit requirement, the day counts toward the 5-day trading goal. If this pattern is repeated over the next 4 days, the trader will meet the criteria for consistent trading performance.