2 weeks ago I was on a training webinar with Empire Trading.  The education services within our iX Global platform.  The trainer was talking about challenges and mentioned a platform called FTMO.  A platform where qualified traders can trade higher capital accounts and earn 70% of the profits.  

I've always traded small accounts as its my capital and I only trade with 'what I can afford to lose'. So the idea of trading with more capital was very interesting.  My trading mindset and my strategy is getting better and after 18 months I thought a challenge like this could be really valuable to my own confidence with trading.

I researched their website, listened to their testimonial videos, read reviews, joined FTMO communities on FB and basically did my background work on this platform to check out their credentials.    

I then thought, why not.  Ill take the free 14 day challenge they have and see how I got on!!  Very excited to report that in line with their rules and statistics I passed the free challenge.  

My strategy was simple.  I kept to a incremental lot size structure where I would set 3 take profit areas to work towards with risk increasing at higher take profit areas but I would off set that with moving my stop loss to protect profits.

I kept my margin level % at around 900% to allow trades set to move and create drawdown comfortably.  As we know markets move all the time and we need to allow for that.

As you will see below from my results - my first week wasn't great but I put this down to figuring out what was right to help me win the challenge as their rules to be met.

So delighted with my first success, I've started a new challenge yesterday to see how I get on.  I think I'll do another one after this and then Ill do a proper challenge with the goal of becoming a funded trader.   I'm very excited about this opportunity.  I'd never heard of this until a few weeks back and its just really opened up my trading mindset and the possibilities it could bring.

This is a question I get asked often because it does puzzles people in the beginning.  The new starter sees a large blue profit number and they are thinking ‘why isn’t this trade being closed’?  It is very frustrating for the beginner especially when they are eager to make profit and start to see the results they know others have benefited from.   So Why does this happen?

1.  The first point to note is your trades you have open on MT4 are a ‘copy’ of the Master account for the automated trading service you are using.   The Master account is running the trades and doing all the activities. Your account is copying all that activity.  So as the Master account sets new trades, your account will copy that. When the Master account closes a trade, your account will close a trader. 
2. The second point is when you first start trading you will inherit all existing trades that are open on the Master account but you will get the current entry price for that trade which will be different to the opening price of the Master account.  This can mean that when this trade starts to trend in a profitable direction, you start to see large profits and wonder why the trade doesn’t close.  This is because that even though you might see the trade as a profit on your account. On the Master account this could be a current loss and it needs to get back to its initial entry price in order to breakeven and start earning a profit. 

So for example.  I have two EURUSD trades that were opened on my account back in August 2020 at a price of 1.17978.  Back at the end of March 2021 these trades went into profit for me and naturally you think, these should close.  However, these EURUSD’s were opened on the master account on a different date and a different price.  Eg.  maybe 1.1300 as the Take Profit target is 1.1200.  So for the Master account a currency price of 1.1798 means this trade is in loss and if it closed on the Master account it would be a large loss so the trade remains open until the initial entry price is reached or the target profit is reached. This means as your account is mirror a master account, trades will not close they will remain open. 
 
What can you do?
The primary note here is always happens at the beginning of a new trader's journey and once into the swing of daily trading, this activity is gone.  It only applies at the beginning.  

1.  You can leave the automation to do its job and if the master account reaches its target the trades will close and you will receive a nice profit for having that trade at a better entry price which is just great for your account.
2. Ask your trading support person what trade are old and could any of them be closed as soon as they go into profit because they are old.  You can close trades like this and take the profit.  Its just knowing which ones are the old ones which you can close yourself.

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If you need anymore guidance on this then let me know!
​The commentary I write is not financial advice, it is meant to help others with their self knowledge and growth.

Forex trading has one of largest market share in the world.  It earns about $3 trillion every year worldwide.  But Forex trading is mainly speculative, the profits and losses are based on the currency movement.  The big turn-out in profits attracts a lot of investors.  Even those who are still beginning in this field are interested in joining, to make it easier, there is an automated Forex trading system that could help them make the transition easier. 

With an automated Forex trading system you would have a programmed system that could monitor the progress of the Forex trading real time.  It utilizes an expert advisor and a set of indicators that interprets the Forex trade and can even show you an opportunity to trade. 

What is good about utilizing an automated Forex trading system is the quick way of picking things up.  If you are a newcomer in trading, this would minimize the lengthy process of learning the market and its rules.  You do not have to stay glued with the Forex market 24 hours to understand the Forex trading market.  The software would keep tabs on the trade 24 hours a day. 

This would keep you abreast with what is happening real time.  This would enable you to make changes to your account real time based on changes happening in the market.  Major trading changes could happen in a matter of just a few seconds.  

Aside from that, the automated Forex trading system gets rid of the emotional and psychological aspect of trading.  There would be times when series of losses can affect your way of thinking and analyzing the market. This could result to bad and rash decisions in the market.  But the automated Forex trading system and software would help you deal with it.  

The software is also easy to use and simple to install.  It can be allowed to run into autopilot.  Configuring the software would only last for a few minutes and then it can be allowed to do its work and its magic.   You can be successful in automated Forex trading especially, if you are using a system that is suitable for you and at the same time, you are familiar with.  

This would also enable you to be flexible and have diverse Forex trade.  The automated Forex trading system can work with different types of brokers and different types of currencies.  You would be able to trade with different markets and currencies.  You can trade while on travel.  

But the automated Forex trading system is not perfect.  If it is, then a lot of people would be winning the trade.  Money management is still important. You have to know how much you are willing to risk.  To be successful, most traders would always have a fixed percentage of their equity at risk.  They could increase the size of their trade in winning or decrease if losing.   

If you already have an automated Forex trading system, then it would be better not to make any changes on the settings or the configurations.  Having an automated  Forex trading system does not guarantee success.  Nor, is it the only thing that you should rely on to be successful in trading.  

There are some factors that could influence trade.  Forex market changes very fast depending on different factors and situations. 

Having an automated Forex trading system can give you an edge in Forex trading, but having a Forex strategy can give an upper hand.  If you want to reap long term profits, then you just do not trade using your instinct or just because a particular trade excites you. You need a trading system or a strategy to make sure that you are getting solid trades and transactions. 

A Forex strategy or system consists of rules that guide you on how to make trades in the Forex market.  A Forex strategy or system provides information on when to enter a trade and how to exit the trade. It would also enable you to apply and use risk management rules.  

There are ways to know if your Forex trading strategy is really successful or good.  

• Start knowing how successful it has been in the past.  It pays to know how much previous or existing users of the system have earned so far by using the strategy.  Aside from that, also obtain some information on how much is the maximum drawdown of the system in its previous trading.

• There is a win-loss ratio which you can also check.  It is about how much you have won compared with much you have lost.  Aside from that, there is also a profit-loss ratio.  This s about the average winning trade compared to the losing trade. 

• You would also have to know how consistent the system is in delivering profits.

When choosing a Forex strategy, you do not only have to factor-in the success rate and profit percentage.  You would also need to consider your lifestyle and what system can be used to fit or suit it. You would have to know what Forex trading system can be used appropriately in your time zone. 

A useful strategy used in Forex trade is what is called leverage.  With the leverage strategy, you would earn about a hundred times the amount of the money that you are trading in your account. A lot of traders have testified that they were able to win a lot of profit by using this kind of strategy.  So if you have a funded Forex account, you can use this strategy to get more profits. 

Another strategy is the stop-loss order.  This strategy works by identifying a point where you will not trade.  This trading point is identified and determined before the trading begins.  When using this kind of strategy, you would have to be able to analyze trading signals  so you would not be mistaken with your prediction. If your predicted trade did not go on as you expected, the stop loss system could be very disadvantageous. 

The automated Forex trading is anther kind f system or strategy.  Entering and exiting an order will be determined by your automated system.  Again, the price and the point where the program would enter or exit a trade is predetermined.  

These Forex trading strategies would help you have better trade opportunities in the Forex market.  Whether you are using the leverage, stop loss or automated Forex trading system and strategies, 100 % success is not guaranteed.  These strategies do not aim to give your perfect trades, because that is impossible. These trading strategies are here to help us minimize the risk of losing in the trade.