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My Journey to Forex prop trading

  • #1
  • First Post: Edited Jun 15, 2020 3:48am May 16, 2020 9:14pm | Edited Jun 15, 2020 3:48am
Hello fellow traders,

I am starting this journal to track my progress as I try to get into the world of Forex Prop Trading.

My goal is to document me trying to get funded from FTMO, Psyquation and I will be tracking my progress on this thread. I will also try to document the emotional highs and lows that I will eventually face and hope that my future self and other aspiring traders might get some value from this.


As this is a journal to track my progress you guys are welcomed to post and share your thought. Constructive criticism is okay but any kind of negativity is not. There is enough negativity there already no need to add any more to my journal. I am adding my trade explorer to for my own reference.


Day trading and scalping are my bread and butter. When the market is at extremes I will also swing trade from those points but those trades are not very frequent. A big shoutout to PROFITFARMER who helped me turn the corner in my trading and helped me find consistency.

There are a few other threads I found immense value in and will be noting inspiring posts from other threads here as well so I can reference them in the future and may provide some value to other members as well.

So that's the introduction out of the way and the journey begins.....


UPDATE!!

I have finally passed the FTMO challenge and verification and am a funded trader now. Details is on #post11
Forward march...

UPDATE2!

For the sake of transparency, I am adding my Myfxbook link here. I had a trade explorer before but that shows all my trade and I want to keep that part private. So the only option was to use Myfxbook.
  • #2
  • Edited 11:23pm May 16, 2020 9:23pm | Edited 11:23pm
My current standing in Psyquation.

Since this is the start I am recording my current progress. The psyquation update I will record at the end of each month
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  • #3
  • May 17, 2020 9:40pm May 17, 2020 9:40pm
Gold is breaking out. Just an interesting observation on how history repeats itself

The chart on the left is USDTRY when it broke to multi year high.

The chart on the right is GOLD at the moment.

Just writing my thoughts down based on this and the huge money printing all the CBs are doing we might just see gold reach a new high

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  • #4
  • May 18, 2020 12:59am May 18, 2020 12:59am
Monday Trades Intraday.

GAP Fill setup lets see how this plays out.

Targetting 1.8850.

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  • #5
  • May 19, 2020 5:49am May 19, 2020 5:49am
So the gap trading didn't quite go according to plan.

Had some hiccups but came out with a profit overall

How the position looked at the end

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The peak drawdown during this trade

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No of trades that helped me get out this trade

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Other than this trade the other trades of the day went pretty smoothly.
  • #6
  • May 20, 2020 11:42pm May 20, 2020 11:42pm
AUD keeps going up. With the overall market sentiment is pretty good it might go up a bit more.

I have to be very strategic with my overall adds.

The key point to remember is being in the trade as long as the original reasons for entry are in place. Cut once that reason changes.

The theme, for now, is patience.

We get paid to wait so for the time being I wait to get paid
  • #7
  • May 21, 2020 11:05pm May 21, 2020 11:05pm
Like I said we get paid to wait. Although I would have loved to hold that GA trade for a bit longer I had to book in the profit. Since I didn't get the timing right this time I get out earlier and wait on the sideline. Overall it was an okay trade although it could have been much better. But that's hindsight.

If in the trade the first few entries are perfect it is easier to hold them for swing trades. But since this time the timing was off I took what I could and stand aside.

Although the market can easily rally couple of hundred pips from here since I am not in the right mindset its prudent to stand aside and not lose sleep over there. There are plenty of other trades to come !!!

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Now, I wait patiently for the next swing opportunity.

In the meantime would love to scalp the market as that is my main bread and butter strategy.
  • #8
  • May 30, 2020 10:00pm May 30, 2020 10:00pm
End of the week and end of the month. 3rd green month done. Next target to get 4 green months.

Lessons learned note to self: Have to improve patience a lot more and have to be more aggressive when the perfect setups come. And better having a no-trade day rather than a losing day.

My observations: The Corona situation will be moving the markets for a while. The overall sentiment is improving as the lockdown is getting lifted. Things to keep an eye out for the month of June is a sudden rise in infection, which could start the market to sell-off. On the flip side, any news of cure or vaccine should terminate any short bias that I might have.

Update on Psyquaiton. I am still hovering around the 75 thresholds and the goal for June will be to try to maintain it and hopefully improve it a bit. Profit factor came down a bit and I don't like it under 2 so goal for June will be to get it above 2.

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  • #9
  • Jun 4, 2020 5:01pm Jun 4, 2020 5:01pm
Quoting daytradrfx
So the gap trading didn't quite go according to plan. Had some hiccups but came out with a profit overall How the position looked at the end {image} The peak drawdown during this trade {image} No of trades that helped me get out this trade {image} Other than this trade the other trades of the day went pretty smoothly.
Hi there.

What is the reason for these multiple entries per position, are you cost averaging your entry price, or rather scaling-in losses and wait for retracements?
You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
  • #10
  • Jun 4, 2020 11:09pm Jun 4, 2020 11:09pm
Quoting Edorenta
{quote} Hi there. What is the reason for these multiple entries per position, are you cost averaging your entry price, or rather scaling-in losses and wait for retracements?
I am trying to cost average my entry price. If it goes beyond 72 will book some loss and then try to get entry from above 72. Since the price is extremely overstretched I am doing the cost average or else I would have taken the hit. Let's see how it plays out.
  • #11
  • Jun 4, 2020 11:15pm Jun 4, 2020 11:15pm
Today hit another personal milestone.

I have finally passed both the Challenge and Verification for FTMO am finally a funded trader.

The challenge took 13 days to complete. Below is a screenshot of that
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The verification was a different beast altogether. I suffered a few drawdowns but since I have a solid edge was able to complete it in the end. This phase took a bit longer around 33 days.

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Though its only a 10k account its a start.

The

My goal is to reach the 300k account from FTMO.
  • #12
  • Jun 4, 2020 11:33pm Jun 4, 2020 11:33pm
Quoting daytradrfx
Today hit another personal milestone. I have finally passed both the Challenge and Verification for FTMO am finally a funded trader. The challenge took 13 days to complete. Below is a screenshot of that {image} The verification was a different beast altogether. I suffered a few drawdowns but since I have a solid edge was able to complete it in the end. This phase took a bit longer around 33 days. {image} Though its only a 10k account its a start. The My goal is to reach the 300k account from FTMO.
Congratulations! That has to feel great!
  • #13
  • Jun 5, 2020 12:11am Jun 5, 2020 12:11am
Quoting CashBox
{quote} Congratulations! That has to feel great!
Thanks, man.

It does!!! The real work has only begun.
  • #14
  • Jun 5, 2020 5:40am Jun 5, 2020 5:40am
Quoting daytradrfx
Today hit another personal milestone. I have finally passed both the Challenge and Verification for FTMO am finally a funded trader. The challenge took 13 days to complete. Below is a screenshot of that {image} The verification was a different beast altogether. I suffered a few drawdowns but since I have a solid edge was able to complete it in the end. This phase took a bit longer around 33 days. {image} Though its only a 10k account its a start. The My goal is to reach the 300k account from FTMO.
Congrats. I had never heard of FTMO before coming across your journal. I can see there are now numerous similar platform offerings.. Interesting.
Did you get the $345 refunded after the test period? What exactly is this about? Have looked into Darwinex Darwins as well, and other ways to get funded?
You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
  • #15
  • Jun 5, 2020 7:10am Jun 5, 2020 7:10am
Quoting Edorenta
{quote} Congrats. I had never heard of FTMO before coming across your journal. I can see there are now numerous similar platform offerings.. Interesting. Did you get the $345 refunded after the test period? What exactly is this about? Have looked into Darwinex Darwins as well, and other ways to get funded?
No, I didn't get it refunded yet. They will refund it together with the first month's profit.

There are quite a few prop firms like FTMO. But after researching all of them I think this was the best fit for me. As I scalp a lot as well it's very hard for me to set stop loss individually on orders. That's why I couldn't trade at a lot of other prop firms as they are not a good fit.

I am also trying for Psyquation. They give you a max amount of 350k AUD. So let's see how it all goes.

After I get these two sorted FTMO and Psyquation I will try for Darwinex as you need a long track record there to get your Darwinex score up. its definitely on the radar.
  • #16
  • Jun 8, 2020 6:50am Jun 8, 2020 6:50am
What's your exit plan for this AUDUSD position? I see you got stuck in a trend. Still waiting for retracement?
You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
  • #17
  • Jun 8, 2020 7:14am Jun 8, 2020 7:14am
So basically you pay $345 to participate in the full evaluation process and if successful you are able to trade their funds, but if you are not, you donated $345 to their business, is that right?

Seems like they cover quite a few brokers.
Leverage is good unlike the one I'm interested, but for larger funds less leverage should be used anyways.
There is one prop firm in particular that I'd love to try if they say e.a's are welcomed I'm there faster, than any other.
I wish you success in your journey. 5% per month would work at the one I I'm interested in as minimum target, the only difference is the payout, i think you will be getting 70%, while for mine its once the minimum 5% is reached you can request withdrawals but you get half, so probably I'd do it the first time to cover the cost of monthly subscription, then go again for more while the subscription is available.

What i want to find out from your choice in prop firm, is it a subscription based one or once you are successful in being a trader with them at FTMO, you will not need to pay?

For my interest for prop firm it goes as follows:
There is 25k for £100 and £250 for 50k. The 50k comes with the ability to grow by double effect each time you reach 10%, which they will give you access up to 1mil which at that state, you get to really earn and call the shots.
R:R "Percentage Focus"
  • #18
  • Jun 8, 2020 9:40am Jun 8, 2020 9:40am
Quoting PrinceJ58
So basically you pay $345 to participate in the full evaluation process and if successful you are able to trade their funds, but if you are not, you donated $345 to their business, is that right? Seems like they cover quite a few brokers. Leverage is good unlike the one I'm interested, but for larger funds less leverage should be used anyways. There is one prop firm in particular that I'd love to try if they say e.a's are welcomed I'm there faster, than any other. I wish you success in your journey. 5% per month would work at the one I I'm interested...
The entry fee will suffice to drive away the not-so profitable traders, which on paper sounds legitimate.
The maximum daily drawdown of 5% is quite restrictive however, considering the profit target of the selection phase of 10%.
It sounds counter-intuitive to ask traders not to breach this limit but make 10% in such a short term to qualify.
(Unless you obtain the "aggressive" investor profile, doubling this drawdown allowance.)

Some transparency on how many applicants actually reach the funding stage and remain profitable over time, and how many % lose their application fee would be great. There is probably a reason why this is not disclosed...

By the way given daytradrfx current DD of 17%, wouldn't this mean disqualification?
You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
  • #19
  • Jun 8, 2020 7:12pm Jun 8, 2020 7:12pm
Quoting Edorenta
{quote} The entry fee will suffice to drive away the not-so profitable traders, which on paper sounds legitimate. The maximum daily drawdown of 5% is quite restrictive however, considering the profit target of the selection phase of 10%. It sounds counter-intuitive to ask traders not to breach this limit but make 10% in such a short term to qualify. (Unless you obtain the "aggressive" investor profile, doubling this drawdown allowance.) Some transparency on how many applicants actually reach the funding stage and remain profitable over time, and...

Well on an interview the team from FTMO did admit the success rate for the challenge is only 8%. But the challenge is not the end. Then you have to pass a verification stage and after that when you get the live account there is no guarantee you will make a profit and earn the money back. So you see only a few traders can actually pass the challenge and remain profitable. I am yet to see a consistently winning trader on FTMO, (i.e. making money after 6 months). and I plan to change that going forward.

Regarding my current drawdown, I don't use all the trades from my trade explorer on FTMO. On FTMO I only do scalp trades or short day trades. On my trade explorer, there are some swing trades on AUD which is increasing my drawdown.

This is the graph of the recent FTMO challenge I passed last week. It was a 50k Challenge. Now I am starting to do the verification on this.

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  • #20
  • Jun 8, 2020 7:28pm Jun 8, 2020 7:28pm
The recent move on the Aussie is causing a bit of a headache.

Today I booked a loss of -1.78% on a few trades of the set on AUDUSD.

The fundamental backdrop is slowly changing. When I entered the trade the world was going through the lockdown. What I failed to see is that when I was adding to this position all the major economies were gearing up to end the lockdown. This should have a big signal for me not to open any more trades on this pair and wait for a clear sign of exhaustion.

The current theme on the market is risk-off and everyone is piling on the risk. Add to this a blockbuster NFP data on last Friday. Although later on they came out and said the data might not reflect the true picture it still didn't have any effect on this pair.

But the long term theme still remains in place and is unchanged. The trade war didn't go away. Tourists are not going to Australia any time soon. There is a possibility of a second wave of infection. Plus the market is extremely stretched and a retracement is highly probable.

From my past experience, I have seen the Aussie can run without retracement for a while. Learning from that experience I did cut some part of the position. Also from past experience when the price starts falling it can be a very good time to add some more position and get back all the losses and make some profit on top.

Since this pair is still climbing I took out my aggressive shorts. The reason it can go another 200-300 pips higher. I have to be fluid and let the market do its things. When there is a clear sign of exhaustion I will get on the shorts again and cover the losses. My goal is never to be rigid on my trades. As rigidity kills.

So the plan of action right now is to try to whack the back end of the move when it appears. If not slowly cut my positions on the retracements. And will only add when the market sentiment and the technical levels align.
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