In my strategy to passing the FTMO challenge I use Petko’s robots and robots I create. I also use 10K challenges. I will start a new challenge every two weeks. There are periods when the markets trend upward, move sideways, and trend downwards. By opening a new challenge every few weeks I spread the risk caused by these different market conditions. Also, if I fail a challenge the replacement cost is not so high. Right now I have six 10K challenges running all with different strategies. This spreads the risk. I also test the EAs using a live 10K challenge for one month using small lot sizes so as not blow the account. During a typical month the market will go through periods of drawdowns. Testing for one month then allows to determine maximum account drawdown. I then increase the lot size for the account to a more appropriate size based upon the drawdown during the test to complete the challenge. My trading strategy is not to try and complete the challenge quickly but to control risk.
Some Observations:
I tested FTMO v4.1 in a demo account where I had to restart it every 14 days. It took 3 months to pass the challenge. I then moved it to a 10K challenge but it is currently going through a drawdown period.
I currently have v4.3 in two challenges. One challenge uses all the EAs and the other challenge uses the top 3. What I am currently observing is that the challenge with all the EAs is doing better than the challenge with the top 3. I find that interesting.
I also started v5.0 this week. One 10K challenge has all 8 EAs running with a small loss for the week. A second 10K challenge with the Top 3 EAs has a small profit for the week.
I also have my own portfolio of 10 EAs trading in a challenge that is up 2% for the month.
Alan,