Expert blank daily, Starter 40%, both 3% EOD
$100K Expert: daily limit none, EOD trail $3,000, target $6,000, min days 1, consistency 0, lock at start+$100. $100K Starter: same trail family, 40% consistency ($2,400 max day on a $6,000 target before extra work), 5 winning days to payout. $50K and $150K scale trails to about $1,500-$2,000 and $4,500. Clock: 4:10 PM ET region, 5:00 PM ET session. Not 3:10 PM CT. Not 4:59 PM ET Apex unless you like extra caution.
Because Expert daily is blank, remaining air is the EOD trail minus closed-day loss, with intraday float not crawling the floor (EOD product). You can be -$2,800 open at 10:00 AM and still be alive if you close -$1,500. You can also be -$2,800 open and freeze into the 4:10 PM print at -$3,100. The blank daily is not a cushion. It is a missing airbag.
One-candle pass math versus one-candle fail math
$6,000 / NQ point value depends on micros versus minis. Oversimplified: if 10 MNQ give about $20 per point, you need 300 points of combined progress to pass, or far less with minis you should not be using at this trail. Against you, 150 points is $3,000 and the EOD fail if you still hold it at the close (or if you close it). Expert allows the attempt. The calculator says the fail distance is half the pass distance at that size. That 2:1 fail/pass dollar geometry is why personal daily exists.
Starter 40%: a $3,000 Expert-style hero day is 50% of $6,000 and breaks Starter consistency. Same candle, opposite product. You can start a free Venasri account and refuse to share a lot-size preset between Expert and Starter logins.
ET close versus the NY open dare
NY cash open 9:30 AM ET is where Expert dies, not at 4:10 PM, because that is when oversized traders print -$3,000 closed before lunch. If you still want a one-day pass, wait until the open wick settles, then size for a $1,500 worst-case, not a $6,000 best-case. EOD trail kindness (no tick crawl) only helps if you survive to the close. Apex refugees may flatten good Expert trades at 10:15 because they still feel the tick trail. They leave $2,000 of target on the table and then shove at 3:55 PM ET. Pick one personality per day.
Friday CME close is non-negotiable. A Thursday Expert pass still needs a Friday flatten habit once funded. Funded Starter news windows can spend the trail even if evaluation Expert traded CPI.
Invent the daily Guard Expert will not give you
Expert $100K: Venasri Equity Guard at about $2,200 to $2,400 closed-day loss, flatten 16:05 ET, optional 09:45 ET size lock so NY open cannot arm 12 micros. Starter: same plus $2,200 green cap. Do not use Apex peak-equity crawl. Do not use Topstep 15:10 CT unless you like leaving 55 minutes on the table.
Keep 24/7 MT5 Bot Control off unattended MFFU. Use the ZeroMQ MT5 Bridge for FX only. Expert's missing daily cell is the product. Filling it yourself is the profession. The $150 fee and the 14-day payout are for people who filled it.
