Challenge tips
Trading style
in the evaluations, a trailing drawdown usually applies, which is also trailed in realtime within the trading day.
In order not to fail here intraday at the rules of the provider, some trading approaches are to be questioned. If you have bought into a movement, then you must always tighten the stop so that you do not tear the trailing drawdown. Wide ranges with high vola can then lead to a downfall. This also applies to scaling of positions.
Very short-term traders and scalpers definitely have an advantage here.
All providers work with R Trader. In this you can follow the current trailingdrawdown. If you use NT8, ATAS, SierraChart or others, you should not rely on the amounts shown there. Decisive is the statistic in RTrader.
Position size
Depending on the account, several contracts can be traded. Basically starts with 1 to a maximum of 2 contracts, even if 6, 8 or 10 would be allowed. Depending on the provider, a multiple of the minis is also offered for micros. Even with micros you can pass a challenge, so keep your greed in check.
Consistency Rule
TopStep and OneUp have a so-called Consistency Rule. The trading result of a day should not tear a complete challenge, but as a trader you should provide evidence of a constant profitable trading over a longer period. I personally think this is perfectly fine, even if some providers do without it.
News and Time Rule
Trade in the Challenge as the rules would allow in the funded account. Trading in market-moving news such as NFP, ADP, Oil Inventories, Fed, Fed Minutes etc. is allowed in the evaluation for many, but not in the funded account. Also, some have a 10 Second Rule, i.e. prohibition of ultra-short term trading. This is also understandable and logical, since the trades are routed via the propsoftware of the providers and latencies and slippage are possible here. Pure self-protection of the companies. So avoids this also already in the evaluation.
Retail or Professional
CME data feed is a stumbling block. Make sure not to use more than 2 live accounts.
Excerpt:
Der Zugang des nichtprofessionellen Teilnehmers zu Informationen
darf nur:
h) über maximal zwei Handelsterminals pro Vertriebsstelle, die für Echtzeit-Informationen zugelassen sind und die in der Lage sind, Aufträge an die CME Globex Plattform weiterzuleiten (ein "Order Routing Device")
Jeder Abonnent, der die Qualifikationen eines nicht-professionellen Abonnenten nicht erfüllt, gilt als Professioneller Abonnent.Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Own experience
Balancing one-time and ongoing costs
If you're sure of what you're getting, you should ask providers about one-time and ongoing costs.
Mein Favorit für die einmaligen Kosten ist LEELOO mit der Option LEELOO Express (100k). Hier ist das Profitziel 6.000 $ bei 10 aufeinanderfolgenden Handelstagen. Die einmalige Gebühr von 77 $ verlängert sich nicht. und wird bei Bestehen der Challenge zurück erstattet. Fill oder kill....
Can this be done? Yes, certainly. Here is a screenshot of an Express from summer 2021
From my point of view, OneUp is ahead in terms of running costs in the funded account. There are no data feed costs here, as these are paid by the funding partner. With Leeloo, Apex, TopStep, Earn2Trade you have to bear these yourself, whereby with TopStep and Earn2Trade this is an expensive matter. With both of them you pay as a professional for the feed, so $105 per exchange.
Multiaccounts
Almost all providers allow multiple accounts in parallel in the evaluation. In the Funded Account, however, only Leeloo, Apex and UProfit.
So if you want to trade multiple accounts in parallel in the funded account with the help of a copying software like Replikanto or Apex Trade Copier, then Leeloo, Apex and UProfit offer themselves. The tool costs $149 in the lifetime for one machine.
However, when using it, you must always keep an eye on all accounts to be able to fix any copying errors immediately. It can happen that orders in the follower account are not filled and you have open positions.
Is it reasonable and possible to run a Challenge with multiple providers at the same time?
Die Frage ist sicher, hast Du die Zeit und die Konzentration dafür. Frei nach dem Motto, nicht alle Eier in einen Korb zu legen, habe ich im Juni 2022 drei Evaluierungen parallel bei Apex Trader Funding, Leeloo und TickTickTrader absolviert. Als Accountgröße dabei bewusst das 50.000 $ "Konto" mit den Profitzielen von 3.000 $ genommen. Da ich alle drei in einem Monat durchziehen wollte, war dies für mich die realistische Größenordnung.
Im folgenden Screenshot siehst Du die kumulierte Performance der drei Konten von Anfang Juni bis Anfang Juli 2022. Alle drei Accounts sind inzwischen gefunded. Da ich bei den Anbietern jeweils unterschiedliche Rithmic ID's nutzen musste, war der Einsatz eines Copytools für Ninjatrader nicht möglich. Die Accounts wurden also abwechselnd einzeln gehandelt.
Eine Besonderheit gibt es bei TickTickTrader. Hier wird Dir alternativ zu Ninjatrader 8 eine Lizenz für Jigsaw daytradr und jounalytix zur Verfügung gestellt. Aus dieser Plattform ist auch der nachfolgende Screenshot generiert. Die Zertifikate der Anbieter kann man sich zwar übers Klo nageln, aber zumindest hast Du damit auch eine Bestätigung der Handelsleistung für Dein Ego...
