How to Pass FTMO Challenge

[Samuel Jackson]

Hi,

I thought I’d share some results that might be useful. I trade my own live accounts but occasionally do an free trial with FTMO for a bit of fun (Also they have good metrix).

I just did my first one for a few months and the trading results can be viewed below:

https://trader.ftmo.com/metrix?share=437be753c284&lang=en

In a nutshell two weeks is nearly up but the account is up nicely currently sitting at 1700 equity on a 10k account. So 17% in two weeks.

These results are twice as aggressive in terms of position sizing that I would usually use but usually when doing a challenge I double up and then reduce my sizing afterwards.

For those unfamiliar FTMO offer a free trail which is exactly the same as the full evaluation but only lasts two weeks. It is however a great free way to test yourself and get some quick metrix.

[Petko Aleksandrov]

Hey Samuel,

Thanks for sharing your results with everyone.

I’ve heard much about the FTMO challenge but never got into details.

So what happens after the two weeks free trial if you fulfill their criteria?

PS: You did a great job! 🙂

[Samuel Jackson]

Hey Petko,

Basically the FTMO challenge is that you can pay an entry free (depended on size of account but is about 150 dollars for a 10k account).

The to pass the challenge you must meet the profit target in 30 days while respecting the drawdown rules.

IF you pass the challenge then there is a verification phase that basically gives you twice the length of time to achieve the same target again.

At this point you are awarded the 10 account to trade on and will be able to withdraw real profits each month (20% of the profits go to FTMO though)

But they have a free trial that allows traders to try half the challenge period for free and provide the same metrix so it’s a really good free way of testing yourself :-).

I used to try the free trial loads and failed almost everytime when I was getting started, but now I just take it occasionally for a bit of fun  and do pretty well most of the time 🙂

It is certainly challenging to pass such targets while avoiding drawdowns for the full challenge and verification period though so gotta know what you are doing for sure. I prefer to just trade my own money without the rules although they are very good rules to follow but at least a small breach doesn’t result in losing an account.

[Alan Northam]

How often can you do the free trial?

[Alan Northam]

Did you manual trade or did you use a portfolio of EA’s?

[Samuel Jackson]

Hey Alan, well that’s the great thing. You can do the free trial as many times as you want but can only do one at a time.

I don’t manual trade at all anymore, I just traded a portfolio of 10 EAs on various symbols

[Petko Aleksandrov]

Hey Samuel,

I got the point complitely. Thanks!

I guess it is suitable for traders that have no risk capital and would pay a small fee to get a bigger account.

Interesting. I will be looking for more information about it. We may create a course to help people pass such challanges. 🙂

[Alan Northam]

Hi Petko,

A course and an EA Studio portfolio could be a solution for traders in the States in order to get around the FIFO rule!

[Petko Aleksandrov]

Hey Alan,

But when you trade with Portfolio EA it would still open many trades, right? Isn’t that against the FIFO rule?

 

[Alan Northam]

Hi Petko,
I was referring to your comment on creating a course to pass FTMO challenge.  This way traders in the States could use EA’s that contain multiple strategies as the FIFO rule would not apply.

[Samuel Jackson]

Hi Petko,

I thought exactly the same when I read that comment as a portfolio EA trades the same symbol and timeframe so would not change anything with regards to FIFO.

I am guessing what Alan means isn’t a Portfolio EA but a portfolio OF EAs for different assets, right Alan?

Although this is pretty much what’s offered in the 12 expert advisor course. Although in this course there are 2 EAs per symbol which would affect the FIFO.

It sounds like what you are looking for is something like 12 strategies each on different symbols Alan?

Of course you could use 6 from the top 12 and put those together and supplement any others you have from different courses on symbols not included in the 12 expert advisor course too.

[Samuel Jackson]

Although it does sound like you are getting confused maybe Alan?

If you think an EA containing multiple strategies would help with FIFO such as a portfolio EA, it won’t.

A portfolio EA can only open trades on a single asset and timeframe and so would try to open multiple positions and FIFO would apply in same way as if trading 10 separate EAs on same symbol and timeframe.

[Alan Northam]

Petko and Samuel,

I think you are misunderstanding what I was saying.  Petko made a comment about creating a course to help traders pass the FTMO challenge.  I just thought it was a good idea especially to those traders in the States.  The reason I said this is because if such a course were to include a portfolio of strategies it would help traders in the states to be able to use such a portfolio of strategies which we cannot do now because of the FIFO rule.

 

[Samuel Jackson]

Hey Alan,

Yeah I think I am a little confused. Can I ask what you would like this portfolio to look like that would be unaffected by the FIFO rules.

Presumably something like 10-20 separate EAs each for different Symbols so that they cannot interfere with each other? As opposed to many strategies that I myself trade that includes several different strategies for the same symbol that could be affected by FIFO rules (which I am lucky not to be affected by).

Is this correct?

I am sure many are affected by the FIFO rule and so clarify is useful. Pretty sure I understand your point now though.

[Alan Northam]

Hi Samuel,

A portfolio of strategies used in the FTMO challenge would be exempt from the FiFO rules for traders in the U.S. taking part in the challenge.

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