Consistency Rules & Hidden Restrictions

Passing the evaluation is only step one. Keeping the funded account and successfully requesting a payout requires navigating a minefield of hidden rules known as "Consistency Rules."

1. The Consistency Rule (The 30% Rule) Many prop firms enforce a rule stating that **no single trade can account for more than 30% of your total profit**. * **The Trap**: If you make $10,000 in profit, but one lucky trade made you $4,000 of it (40%), your payout will be denied. The firm will deduct that trade from your balance, arguing you are gambling rather than trading consistently. * **The Solution**: Maintain uniform lot sizes and avoid "full-porting" or swinging for home runs.

2. High-Impact News Restrictions Many firms forbid executing trades 2 minutes before and 2 minutes after high-impact macroeconomic news (e.g., NFP, CPI, FOMC). * **Why?**: Firms use B-Book models (demo environments). In the real market, massive slippage occurs during news. If they let you trade news on a demo account without slippage, they absorb massive risk when replicating your trades in the real market. * **The Penalty**: Immediate account termination or profit confiscation.

3. Minimum Trading Days Some firms require you to trade for a minimum of 5 or 10 days before passing a phase, even if you hit the profit target on Day 1. * **How to handle it**: If you hit the target early, simply open a 0.01 micro-lot trade on a low-volatility pair and close it a few seconds later. Do this once a day until you meet the minimum day requirement.