Hi ridgeback,
I`m starting in Darwinex so small sample size. Since September I started the `phase 2` in my transition to live from trading and I`m testing brokers that can leverage my trading without increasing my dollar risk.
I trade with FTMO since November and I can tell you that they are a bucket shop. Apart from one trader that I know that is also withdrawing profits everymonth, FTMO looks good only for those that didn`t pass the challenge or those that look at the acc sizes and dream with leveraging that to infinity.
First, it`s not a prop shop. It`s a closed market making system, meaning that your payment comes from those that fail (no difference from any cfd broker here ). They need the fees and that`s what it`s all about. As a trader, you know that it all depends on ppl taking the challenge. But there`s nothing like a real prop shop (education, development.. think about SMB)
Secondly, execution is crap.
And third and most important, the challenges. Everytime you want to increase the acc, or just get started, you will need 2-3 months trading for free and having to reach a profit goal in 1 month. Now, everybody that trades knows that this is a big scam, you cannot predict when profits will come, but you need to do it quickly, or you will need to try again.
You basically need to double your account [Remember, max DD is 10%, so that`s your real acc] in 1 month, and then make 5%. Ok, fair enough, but after that, you end up with an account that is not that big, and if you either want to increase size, or you take a hit and go do DD, you will need to do it all over again.
I can tell you that those are not good trading conditions for good traders. That`s why you only see ppl taking too much risk and try to get one or 2 payouts to max this before they blow.
I hope this explains a bit why FTMO is not a good option, unless you are willing to gain some discipline and show to your self that its possible, and you are willing to trade 10% of the account as your whole acc and slowly build from there. In that case, you are getting more capital (10% of size o the account / fee you payed, that is between 8 to 10 times bigger than what you payed for the challenge ) than what you are risking.
Now for Darwin, let`s see. I`m here for DarwinIA. Maybe I discover that it`s not that worth, but still it`s a track record, nice Risk Tools, and I`m trading my live account that I have much more control (increasing, decreasing size, taking more or less risk etc) . It`s not my main broker though (TradeStation)