Prop scalpers: challenge time limits vs patience

[LondonScalper]

Many evaluations have dropped strict time limits in the last couple of years, but some still have them, and even without one there's a self-imposed clock: the monthly fee, or the sense that you should be done by now. For a scalper, this time pressure works directly against the most important skill, which is waiting.

On my own account, there are days when I take no trades at all. On a typical week I might skip one day completely, because nothing set up cleanly. That's part of the edge.

During my second evaluation, which had a 30-day limit, I took trades on every single trading day. When I reviewed it later, about a quarter of those trades were ones I wouldn't have taken on my own money. They were taken because the calendar said I had 14 days left and was only 4% towards a 10% target.

What helped on my third attempt:

I picked an evaluation without a time limit. I accept that's not always possible.

I kept my normal "no setup, no trade" rule and logged every day I didn't trade as a positive entry, not a wasted day.

Patience is part of the strategy. Any rule that punishes it changes the strategy, whether you notice or not.

[Shadow Trader]

The 14 days left and 4% done detail is the exact moment the strategy changes. At that point you need about 0.43% a day, and if your normal pace is more like 0.3%, the clock is asking you to trade a different system.

I did the sum once on my own log. My median week was about 1.5%, so a 10% target needed close to seven weeks at my real pace. Any limit under that meant I had to either get lucky or force trades.

That's why I treat time limited evaluations as a maths check before I buy one. If target divided by my median weekly return is longer than the time limit, I don't take it, no matter how cheap.

Logging no trade days as positive is a good idea. I'd also log the setups you skipped and their outcome, so you can see the patience paid.

Did the forced trades in your second evaluation lose money, or just add variance?

[Shadow Trader]

Another way the clock hurts, even with no limit: the fee resets. On a monthly subscription the day before renewal feels like a deadline, and I've seen people, me included, size up on the last two days to finish before paying again.

What I do now is decide at purchase how many months I'm willing to pay for. Three, for example. That turns the fee into a fixed budget and the renewal date stops feeling like a cliff.

The edge case is the evaluation that's going well but slowly. If I'm at 7% after six weeks with clean trades, I'd rather pay one more month than push for the last 3% in a week.

The other thing worth tracking is how many days you traded per week during the evaluation versus your own account. If those numbers differ by more than one day, the evaluation is shaping your trading.

How many months do you budget for an evaluation before calling it?