My FTMO Challenge

[hayseed]

before last week i could not even spell ftmo......

several guys over on another forum started out discussing it's pros and cons, which of course turned into kicking up some dust..... seems their time could be better spent.....

made me wonder what all the fuss was about...... the more i looked the more interesting it became..... to the point where i decided to roll the dice.....

lets don't kid ourselves, making the required 10% in 30 days is a high wire for most of us..... still, all in all it offers a unique opportunity.....

will add some of the specific points that interest me the most, if this does not blow up in my hands first...... and i fully expect some disagreements on my thoughts...... i see that as a good thing.....

after all, it's disagreements that move the markets......h
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[hayseed]

even if someone passes the challenge and verification, a big if in my case, they never will have access to a real money live account like we have now with oanda and others......

once fully passed , your account will still never be a true typical live account...... it will always be a demo..... it's more like a hybrid demo.....

i see the benefit in that..... for both them and me.....

they replicate your demo trades on their live accounts...... so the effect is the same..... maybe better.....

have downloaded watched all of their videos several times, with the exception of the interviews ...... printed out and studied every page on their site.....

would do that no matter how confident i felt....h

 

[Enivid]

The great advantage of the funded account being demo is the fact that they can offer higher leverage than is possible with regulatory restrictions and that slippage/delay conditions are also demo-like.

 

[TradeChaser]

The great advantage of the funded account being demo is the fact that they can offer higher leverage than is possible with regulatory restrictions and that slippage/delay conditions are also demo-like.

I agree. When you look at some of their responses as to “why demo” they allude to a proprietary algorithm that helps them trade all sides.

Do you think that means even if you’re funded and place trades, their algo simply decides not to take/copy the trade. It sounds silly, but their comments about using a trade copy in order to have that oversight, it stands to reason that’s how they would utilize that oversight.

 

[TradeChaser]

even if someone passes the challenge and verification, a big if in my case, they never will have access to a real money live account like we have now with oanda and others......

once fully passed , your account will still never be a true typical live account...... it will always be a demo..... it's more like a hybrid demo.....

i see the benefit in that..... for both them and me.....

they replicate your demo trades on their live accounts...... so the effect is the same..... maybe better.....

have downloaded watched all of their videos several times, with the exception of the interviews ...... printed out and studied every page on their site.....

would do that no matter how confident i felt....h

Do you mind sharing your order entry tactics as they’ve adapted for the challenge?

I noticed in your video that you talked about cutting losers real tight. As I was following your “Next Weeks Trades” and “Minimum Wage”, you mentioned that trades that go against you aren’t a huge concern due to trade size. I believe you even said “some trades just take their time”.

Because you’re cutting trades tighter, have you adjusted your entry style accordingly?

 

[Enivid]

I agree. When you look at some of their responses as to “why demo” they allude to a proprietary algorithm that helps them trade all sides.

Do you think that means even if you’re funded and place trades, their algo simply decides not to take/copy the trade. It sounds silly, but their comments about using a trade copy in order to have that oversight, it stands to reason that’s how they would utilize that oversight.

Why? Their algo would gladly use your trades if they are profitable. The reason they use demo is that, it is much easier and cheaper to run and doesn't require any regulation.

 

[TradeChaser]

Why? Their algo would gladly use your trades if they are profitable. The reason they use demo is that, it is much easier and cheaper to run and doesn't require any regulation.

That’s a fair point. They went at length explaining the algo in one of their responses on FF. I guess the reason I am asking is if it was literally “it’s cheaper, easier, and more legal”, then why wouldn’t they say just that.

I’m not arguing whatsoever to your logic. Just tickled my brain is all

 

[hayseed]

The great advantage of the funded account being demo is the fact that they can offer higher leverage than is possible with regulatory restrictions and that slippage/delay conditions are also demo-like.

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hey enivid..... it seems the best of both worlds..... they win and so do we.....

if i succeed here, and that's a very big if, the ability to trade without fifo and the ability to have opposing trades will be a dream come true....

and then the ability to make money on virtual funds with 0 risk to me..... dang.... that might have me cleaning out my desk at work.....

on second thought, i'll let them clean it out......h

 

[hayseed]

Do you mind sharing your order entry tactics as they’ve adapted for the challenge?

I noticed in your video that you talked about cutting losers real tight. As I was following your “Next Weeks Trades” and “Minimum Wage”, you mentioned that trades that go against you aren’t a huge concern due to trade size. I believe you even said “some trades just take their time”.

Because you’re cutting trades tighter, have you adjusted your entry style accordingly?

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hey tc..... ftmo might want to trade with me or against me, either way is fine..... i just want to trade with them..... hopefully they will eventually feel the same.....

in a challenge, your goal is to pass..... fast but not to fast and with a wise few curves..... taking a few losses here and there alludes to the thought you are risk management savvy.... small losses are easy to overcome and forget.... large losses effect more than the account balance..... the mental price can exceed the losses dollar value....

that's why ftmo hired nelly ....

pretty much all my ea's have to be rewritten to allow for no fifo and opposing trades..... that will take some time......

yes i have adjusted my entry style as in fewer trades that are much more precise.... so i am drawing in tight on the counts......

this will change, but for the next few weeks i will be using trailing stop and limit orders riding on psar, bbandstops, moving averages and such....... along with fractal orders.....

this will change if i become demo funded,,,,,h
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[TradeChaser]

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hey tc..... ftmo might want to trade with me or against me, either way is fine..... i just want to trade with them..... hopefully they will eventually feel the same.....

in a challenge, your goal is to pass..... fast but not to fast and with a wise few curves..... taking a few losses here and there alludes to the thought you are risk management savvy.... small losses are easy to overcome and forget.... large losses effect more than the account balance..... the mental price can exceed the losses dollar value....

that's why ftmo hired nelly ....

pretty much all my ea's have to be rewritten to allow for no fifo and opposing trades..... that will take some time......

yes i have adjusted my entry style as in fewer trades that are much more precise.... so i am drawing in tight on the counts......

this will change, but for the next few weeks i will be using trailing stop and limit orders riding on psar, bbandstops, moving averages and such....... along with fractal orders.....

this will change if i become demo funded,,,,,h
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Are you trading your time frames differently? Like are you preferring to live in smaller TF’s due to the challenge?

Are you picking a standard target as well?

 

[hayseed]

Are you trading your time frames differently? Like are you preferring to live in smaller TF’s due to the challenge?

Are you picking a standard target as well?

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most everything will have a 100 pip profit target this week..... timeframes won't matter..... some might not hit..... need forty 100$ trades.....

charts are out of sync after last weeks moves..... below are some examples...... i'm riding every psar available...... and have pending orders sitting on most fractals......

once charts line out i'll move in with others..... there is no rush.... it's a 10 day minimum..... best to use all 10.....

right now it's slim pickins......h
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[hayseed]

Are you trading your time frames differently? Like are you preferring to live in smaller TF’s due to the challenge?

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daily signals work best if you can hold them for several weeks...... when you plan on closing everything on friday, the smaller timeframes work best.....

so yes, i'm all the way down to 5 minutes......

arrange your pairs by currency and watch the counts...... sum the values..... pay particular interest when a currencys indicator values are at extremes......

such as, sum the daily and weekly macd values on all currency groups.... the yellow box below is the jpy macd values on the 1440 and 10080 timeframes.....

gravity is universal......h

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[TradeChaser]

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most everything will have a 100 pip profit target this week..... timeframes won't matter..... some might not hit..... need forty 100$ trades.....

charts are out of sync after last weeks moves..... below are some examples...... i'm riding every psar available...... and have pending orders sitting on most fractals......

once charts line out i'll move in with others..... there is no rush.... it's a 10 day minimum..... best to use all 10.....

right now it's slim pickins......h
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What are your PSAR values? I thought I was using default, but your charts are looking a bit different than mine. Curious if you have settled on different settings. Your SAR seem much more calm where mine look like they may be too tight:

Post automatically merged: Jul 4, 2022

My break seems to happen a bit sooner. With my settings, you'd be in the trade with that stop order... not that means it would be a good thing.

 

[hayseed]

What are your PSAR values? I thought I was using default, but your charts are looking a bit different than mine. Curious if you have settled on different settings. Your SAR seem much more calm where mine look like they may be too tight:

My break seems to happen a bit sooner. With my settings, you'd be in the trade with that stop order... not that means it would be a good thing.

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i almost always use 0.01, 0.2 ..... and that goes for all counts , scripts and ea's......

the reason is exactly as you mentioned..... much more calm.....

country mouse vs city mouse thing......h
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[hayseed]

most everything will have a 100 pip profit target this week..... timeframes won't matter..... some might not hit..... need forty 100$ trades.....

scratch that...... not a good start this week....

pulling back to 25 and 50 pip targets as before...... those values should roughly equate to the 240 atr and 50% of the 240 atr.....

avoiding the aud altogether today because of the aud cash rate tonite being a restricted event...... you can trade during the news on the challenge..... but later if you pass , harsh restrictions that you don't want to break.....

no point delaying a diet.....h

 

[TradeChaser]

most everything will have a 100 pip profit target this week..... timeframes won't matter..... some might not hit..... need forty 100$ trades.....

scratch that...... not a good start this week....

pulling back to 25 and 50 pip targets as before...... those values should roughly equate to the 240 atr and 50% of the 240 atr.....

avoiding the aud altogether today because of the aud cash rate tonite being a restricted event...... you can trade during the news on the challenge..... but later if you pass , harsh restrictions that you don't want to break.....

no point delaying a diet.....h

I’m in some drawdown also. I’m curious if it’s a fade due to low liquidity. I feel like the AUD will continue to show weakness

 

[hayseed]

I’m in some drawdown also. I’m curious if it’s a fade due to low liquidity. I feel like the AUD will continue to show weakness

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good chance the holiday had things running slow.... kinda picked up quick though didn't it.....

down to the last 700..... after todays movement it will probably the hardest of it all,,,,,

in any event, those chickens haven't hatched yet......h

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[TradeChaser]

what is going into your decision to trade the EURJPY on the Daily, the GBPJPY on the H4, and the GBPUSD on the M30?

And why are you choosing to use the PSAR as a limit in some cases but a stop on others?

 

[hayseed]

what is going into your decision to trade the EURJPY on the Daily, the GBPJPY on the H4, and the GBPUSD on the M30?

And why are you choosing to use the PSAR as a limit in some cases but a stop on others?

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i'm not sure which trades your referring to because there have been dozens on each of those pairs.....

can probably generalize though...... psar is stop and reverse very similar to the bbands stop where once it's hit the idea is to close any opposing trade and trade in the direction of the break.....

those are easy indicators for orders to trail up...... a psar break follow thru is fairly predictable in length..... so it's a high % success trade...... as is a trade +/- 10 pips from it.....

i choose the timeframe by the proximity to the psar...... i don't want to trail a psar that is 400 pips from the price...... so i move down the timeframes till i find one near it.....

the decision on which pairs to trade are like almost always, based on counts......

look at the audjpy 240 on the dashboard...... the lime 6 is the zigzag, the lime 7 is the psar...... that's how the trades are chosen.....

imagine a sell stop riding up the chfjpy daily psar......

what do you think will have when the price breaks thru......h
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[hayseed]

what is going into your decision to trade the EURJPY on the Daily, the GBPJPY on the H4, and the GBPUSD on the M30?

And why are you choosing to use the PSAR as a limit in some cases but a stop on others?

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in the dashboard check the eurnzd 1440...... the left arrow is the zigzag, the right arrow is the psar......

notice the rest of the eur pairs....... without even looking at the eurnzd chart itself, would you be a buyer or seller.....

again, without even looking at the eurnzd chart, imagine a trailing sell stop riding the 1440 psar....

time is on my side.......h
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