How to Trade Day Trading on TopStep
Day Trading on TopStep is rated good fit with minor caveats. There is 1 rule conflict to be aware of. TopStep offers 2 rules that actively support this strategy. Recommended timeframes: 5m, 15m, 1H.
About Day Trading
All positions opened and closed within the same trading session. No overnight exposure. Traders capitalize on intraday volatility using technical analysis, momentum, and mean reversion strategies.
Rule Conflicts (1)
TopStep enforces: "No single day > 50% of total profit". With day trading, it is easy to have one outsized winning day that exceeds the threshold, especially on high-volatility sessions. You must consciously cap your daily P&L or spread profits across multiple days.
Rules That Support This Strategy (2)
TopStep has no minimum trading day requirement. You can pass the evaluation whenever your day trading setups present themselves -- no need to force trades on slow days.
TopStep offers futures markets, which align well with Day Trading's typical instruments.
Recommended Timeframes
Since TopStep requires same-day closes, use shorter timeframes for entries and exits. Higher timeframes can still inform directional bias.
Position Sizing
For day trading on TopStep, risk 0.5-1% per trade. On a $100,000 account, that is $500-$1,000 per trade. With a 2% daily loss limit, you can take 2-4 setups per day without excessive risk.
Common Rule Violations When Trading Day Trading on TopStep
- Exceeding the 2% daily loss limit by revenge trading. After 2-3 losing day trading trades, the emotional urge to "make it back" leads to oversized positions that breach the daily cap.
- Ignoring how EOD trailing drawdown affects multi-day P&L. Day Trading traders often focus on per-trade risk but forget that closing green today raises tomorrow's floor.
- Violating the consistency rule ("No single day > 50% of total profit"). A single large day trading winner on a high-volatility day can trigger this rule, even though the trade was well-managed.
- Oversizing positions to hit the profit target faster. Day Trading has defined risk parameters -- increasing size beyond your plan to speed up the evaluation is the fastest path to blowing the account.
- Over-trading on slow market days. When day trading setups are not presenting clearly, forcing trades leads to death by a thousand cuts against the daily loss limit.
TopStep Rules Quick Reference
| evaluation | funded | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily Loss | 2% | 2% |
| DD Type | Trailing EOD | Trailing EOD |
| Overnight | No | No |
| News | allowed | allowed |
| Weekend | No | No |
| Consistency | No single day > 50% of total profit | No single day > 50% of total profit |