My Prop Challenge Adventure

[StebaTrade]

My last trade of last week was not a good one. Not just because it was a loss: mainly, because I took it while feeling the pressure to trade to cover my recent losses. And, of course, I made my loss worse.
I took a long position in EUR/USD while it was in a bearish trend. I was aware that the support level was a weak one and could have generated only a small reaction. That's why I used narrow stop and take profit levels. Yet, I took the trade in a situation where I should have selected only the best possible setups.

On Thursday, 14th May:
EUR/USD
Entry long @1.1670
S/L @1.1660, 10 pips
Target @1.1682, 12 pips, RRR 1.2
Stopped out @1.1660 for a 10 pip loss

 

[StebaTrade]

Wrap up of the week ending on 15.5.2026

The screenshot shows the entity of the loss incurred during the week. It does hurt, and it brings the balance to -1.8% since the beginning of the challenge. I had to reflect on the reasons that brought me to this point:

1. My trading strategy works relatively well in choppy/range-bound markets, and poorly in trends. That's my deliberate choice of strategy, and I took it knowing that markets are in a range for more time than in a trend. However, when a market starts trending, I should simply sit out and wait.
2. After my initial losses, I felt pressured to recoup them and took trades when I should have just waited.

That's a lesson learned the hard way.

I need to mention that on 20th April, I started an additional challenge with a futures prop firm. On this account, I trade the EUR/USD currency (the 6E contract) exclusively. So far, that challenge is going well, but I now realise that it has taken away focus and attention from my main FTMO FX challenge, and this might have contributed to the poor results of the last two weeks.

For this week, I am sitting out of the challenge. I plan to resume next week, after a much needed break.

 

[StebaTrade]

Time to resume this journal after a week-long break and a week trading again in the challenge.
Before logging my week's trades, I need to make a brief digression to explain the changes that I've applied to my trading plan and why.
As I mentioned in my last post, by the end of April, I opened a parallel challenge, this time trading futures with Tradeify.

I intended to translate the strategies I was using for Forex to the futures domain. To do so, I applied some changes:

• I restricted my trading to EUR/USD only (the 6E and M6E contacts).
• I had to aim at closing the trades by the end of the day.
• I had to take only trades that had a maximum 16-pip stop, using 10 pip most of the time.

In addition, I tested additional strategies based on VWAP - futures have an actual volume that allows for computing this indicator more accurately.

Quite interestingly, while my FTMO challenge account was slipping into a drawdown, my futures challenge was registering positive results.
The conclusion to take was obvious: I had to trade my FTMO account with the same approach I used on futures.

 

[StebaTrade]

Continuing on my digression, I want to add a few details on the strategy I used for the whole week.

• This has been tested only on the 6E futures contract. For the FX trade, I translate the entry price into its spot equivalent.
• The blue dotted line in the picture is the day's VWAP, starting when the FX market reopens (11 pm UK time).
• During the day, between 6am and 6pm, I look for price departures from the VWAP line. Those departures must start with a candle taller than the previous ones, and there must be a candle that leaves a gap between its low (or high) and the VWAP.
• If the price is above the VWAP, I buy at the first touch (or lower if I can monitor the price). Stop loss is 10 pips, target 20 pips.
• I take one or two trades max per day. If the first one is a loss, the second tends to be a win.

The aspect that I like most about this simple strategy is that it has a 2:1 RRR (1.85:1 once commissions are factored in). This makes me confident to trade even if the win/loss rate is not exceptionally high (60% on backtest). I used this strategy exclusively for the rest of the week, and I will keep using it at least until I am out of the drawdown.

There are two entries in this picture (trades of Thursday, 28th May). The first short is a loss, the second (long) a win.

 

[StebaTrade]

Wrap-up of the week ending 29.05.2026

• Monday, 25th May.
  This was Memorial Day in the US and a bank holiday in the UK. I should have expected a thin and illiquid market. I took my trade anyway, which resulted in a loss. On such a day, I should have better kept away from the market. Instead, I was lured by a visible gap below the opening price that could be filled during the day. I must admit this was a case of FOMO.
  Result: 1 loss (-10 pips)
• Tuesday, 26th May
  Again, a day with limited liquidity. I took two trades: after the first loss, I took the signal in the opposite direction, according to my plan. That was a loss too. At this stage, my drawdown went deeper. Yet, I felt comforted by the validity of my plan and knew that by sticking to it I would get results.
  Result: 2 losses (-20 pips)
• Wednesday, 27 May
  One trade taken according to plan.
  Result: 1 win (+20 pips)
• Thursday, 28th May
  Two trades taken. After the first loss, I took the reversal signal.
  Result: 1 loss and 1 win (+10 pips)
• Friday, 29th of May
  One trade taken according to plan.
  Result: 1 win (+20 pips)

To sum up, this was not an easy week. Holidays in different countries limited the liquidity on the first two days. Anyway, sticking to my plan allowed me to end with a positive result, as in the table below. Hopefully, this will help me to get out of the drawdown soon.