You pass a CMC Funded challenge by reaching the profit target and trading on the minimum number of days, without reaching the daily loss limit or the maximum loss at any point. Passing moves you to the reward stage, a simulated account where rewards are based on your performance under the reward split.
What you will learn
- The conditions for passing Classic and Direct, worked out in dollars.
- How each route's target compares with the losses the account allows.
- How the 80% reward split works, and what the add-on changes.
- Which habits from this course to keep once you pass.
What passing requires
You need all of these at once:
- Reach the profit target. Classic has two phases: 8% in Phase 1, then 5% in Phase 2. Direct has one phase with a 10% target.
- Trade on at least 3 days. On Classic that applies to each phase.
- Never reach the daily loss limit or the maximum loss.
On a $10,000 account, the targets are $800 for Classic Phase 1, $500 for Classic Phase 2 and $1,000 for Direct. On a $50,000 account they are $4,000, $2,500 and $5,000. There is no time limit, so a phase can take as many trading days as your plan needs.
The minimum days matter if you trade well early. Say you reach $800 on a $10,000 Classic account on your second trading day. The phase is not complete until you have also traded on a third day, and the daily loss limit and maximum loss apply on that day like any other. Keep to your normal risk per trade. The how a challenge works lesson covers the phases in more detail.
Classic or Direct: the target against your room
Compare how much each route asks you to make with how much it lets you lose, and count both in R, the amount you risk per trade.
On a $10,000 Classic account in Phase 1, the target is $800, the room above the $9,000 floor is $1,000 and the first day's daily loss limit is $500. At $50 a trade, that is a 16R target, 20R of room and 10R a day.
On a $10,000 Direct account, the target is $1,000, the room above the $9,400 floor is $600 and the first day's daily loss limit is $400. At $50 a trade, that is a 20R target, 12R of room and 8R a day. At $40 a trade it becomes a 25R target, 15R of room and 10R a day.
Direct asks for more in gains than it allows in losses, all in one phase. Classic's Phase 1 room is larger than its target, but you have two phases to pass. Which suits you depends on whether your plan works inside the tighter Direct limits.
The maximum loss floor never moves, so your room grows as the account grows. At $10,600 of equity on that Classic account, you have $1,600 above the $9,000 floor. The daily loss limit moves with the account too: a day that starts at $10,600 has a limit of $530, 5% of that day's starting equity, and an unused allowance does not carry over.
Near the target, keep the plan
It is tempting to change what was working in the last part of a phase. Suppose you are at $10,700 in Classic Phase 1, $100 short of the $800 target. Raising your risk to $200 to finish in one trade means a single loss costs as much as four normal ones. At your usual $50 a trade, one 2R win covers the last $100, and a loss costs only $50.
Keep journaling through the finish as well. Trades near a target are easy to rush, and the trading journal lesson shows how to spot them.
What the reward stage is
After you pass, you trade a simulated reward-stage account. Rewards there are based on performance, using the reward split: you receive 80% of the simulated gains, or 90% with the add-on. Optional extras, such as a higher reward split, are offered at checkout before you pay.
If your reward-stage account shows $600 of simulated gains when a reward is worked out, an 80% split gives you $480. With the 90% add-on, it gives you $540.
Read the rules page before your first reward-stage trade. The reward-stage account keeps the same loss limits as the challenge: a daily loss limit of 5% of each day's starting equity and a 10% maximum loss on Classic, and 4% and 6% on Direct. It has no profit target and no minimum number of trading days.
Your plan, circuit breakers and journal stay as they were. A pass is evidence from a limited number of trades, so keep your risk per trade where it was until your journal holds many more trades at that size. To compare the routes and account sizes, see the challenges page.
Check your understanding
1. What are the Classic targets on a $25,000 account, and how many trading days does each phase need?
Phase 1 is 8%, which is $2,000. Phase 2 is 5%, which is $1,250. Each phase needs at least 3 trading days.
2. You reach the Direct target on your second trading day. Have you passed?
Not yet. Direct needs at least 3 trading days, and the daily loss limit and maximum loss still apply on the third.
3. Your reward-stage account shows $1,000 of simulated gains. What is your reward with and without the add-on?
At 80% it is $800. With the 90% add-on it is $900.
Key points
- Passing needs the profit target, at least 3 trading days per phase, and no breach of the daily loss limit or maximum loss.
- On a $10,000 account, Classic asks for $800 then $500, and Direct asks for $1,000 with $600 of room above the floor.
- The floor never moves, so your room grows with the account. The daily limit is a share of each day's starting equity, so it moves with the account.
- The reward split is 80%, or 90% with the add-on, applied to simulated gains at the reward stage.
Next: take the risk management course quiz
All trading is simulated. Rewards are based on performance and are not guaranteed.