Maybe I have just been out of the loop, but over the last couple months, I’ve been hearing more and more about trading futures via prop firms. There are quite a few out there: Uprofit, Topstep, Apex, etc…but I recently decided to give Bulenox a try thanks to a hookup from a fellow trader. I got a discounted rate for their $50k Option 1 account:
(I highly advise waiting for a sale…I’m def not paying $175)
If you’re not familiar with prop firms/performance accounts: basically, you have to pass an evaluation phase in order to get funded by the prop firm and trade their money. The prop firm then takes a commission from your profits, and you have to maintain a certain balance moving forward. (You can read all about the parameters here.)
I figure that if the next 90+ trades are meant for learning, I might as well cut my teeth with a simulation account/other people’s money. The worst that can happen: I fail the evaluation ($2,500 max trailing drawdown) or fail after getting funded — but I’m not out any of my personal money (aside from any subscription fees/activation fees/reset fees). The best that can happen: I get consistent and earn money.
When I first began the 100 FBD trades challenge, I had considered trading the entire 100 trades on a paper trading account. But I knew that I would not trade the same way with a paper account; there’s no real money at stake, so mentally it’s completely different. By trading via a prop firm, even though the evaluation phase is a paper account, there is still a target to meet and rules to follow, and you’re working towards proving yourself…so there’s skin in the game. I think this will be a good path for me to try out.
With all this in mind, I did take a paper trade FBD today on NinjaTrader’s paper trading account. (I’m sim trading this week and next as I try to figure out all the ins and outs of this platform.) I think it’s still worthwhile to review, so here we go:
Here’s the breakdown:
Low: 4182.50
Low of Undercut: 4178
Entry trigger: 4188
First target: 4193
Second target: 4200
Stop Loss: 4177.5
Factors in favor:
- wick on 30 min chart
- room for RSI to move up
- bulls technically in control
Factors against:
- none that I could think of
The executions weren’t great because I apparently used Stop Market orders rather than Limit Orders, and I thought I had set a trailing stop for the runner but apparently it just went to breakeven-ish instead. (See, still learning the platform.) For context, I had 4 contracts total; sold 3 at 4193 and the runner stopped out at 4186.75.
Result: +5ish points on the 3 contracts (I can’t remember the precise execution, but it wasn’t exactly 4188 because of the stop market orders), -1.25 on the runner. So about +13.75 points net total.
But the FBD definitely worked today, and price ended up rippppping. Oddly enough, I felt no FOMO; I attribute this entirely to the fact I knew I was papertrading. There was no fomo because it was never real to begin with.
I’ll count this trade as part of the 100, though, because it is a setup that I would have taken in my real account, too. So 10 down, 90 to go!