What is the Minimum Amount of Trades?
You need to take at least 10 trades during your Evaluation. This makes sure your results reflect your strategy, not one or two lucky trades.
You don't need to pass in 10 trades. It's a minimum, and you can take as many trades as you need.
There's no minimum number of trades on a Performance Account.
What Counts as One Trade?
A trade is opening and then fully closing a position in one options contract. A contract is defined by its symbol, strike and expiration date.
Example | Trades counted | Why |
Buy 2 SPY 575 calls expiring today, then sell both | 1 | One contract, opened and closed |
Buy 1 SPY 575 call, buy 2 more of the same call, then sell all 3 | 1 | Adding contracts doesn't create a new trade |
Buy 2 SPY 575 calls, sell 1, then sell the other later | 1 | Partial closes don't create a new trade |
Buy 1 SPY 575 call and 1 SPY 585 call, then sell both | 2 | Different strikes are different contracts |
Buy 1 SPY 575 call, sell it, then buy the same call again later | 2 | Once a position is fully closed, reopening it is a new trade |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to pass my Evaluation in exactly 10 trades?
No. 10 is the minimum. Take as many trades as you need.
Do calls and puts on the same stock count as one trade?
No. A call and a put are different contracts, so they count as separate trades.
How does this affect my consistency?
Because scaling in and out counts as one trade, all the profit from that position counts as one trade in your consistency calculation. See Consistency Rule.