What an amazing time to be in forex trading! Yet another funded trader has made it through CTI’s prop trading scheme. What was this Zachary Bodasci’s, our newest funded trader, secret? Discipline. If you were expecting some shortcut, then sorry to disappoint. Forex trading, well prop trading in general, requires a disciplined approach if you are going to be in it for the long haul.
For those of you that have followed our blog for a while, you will notice that discipline is one of the core tenants that is preached constantly. In fact, you will notice that many traders that have passed the evaluation before Zachary have also demonstrated discipline.
Yet, it seems many people, despite the Forex Trading industry being around for a while, still want a quick answer. In fact, the prop trading industry has been around even longer and it was quite frankly a “kill what you eat” approach, so discipline was paramount.
Though, perhaps with the emergence of the so-called funded trader industry, which has become even more popularized with the pandemic, which has a warmer approach has made people more keen on quick, instant results with no discipline. Especially since we are currently in bullish markets, coming out of the COVID-contraction, whereby people think price can only go up.
Classic bullish-phase in the bull-bear cycle. This is where the discipline aspect comes in. When prices go down – and they will – the economic and market gravity will hit. Those with the appropriate discipline will be the ones who prosper and the ones without will caught up in the market torrents.
Why CTI Traders Succeed in Prop Trading
We are proud to say that those who tend to embark on our funded trader scheme tend to benefit well because they are cognizant of these dynamics and like Zachary rightly explains in his interview, stress the importance of discipline in their processes.
One reason they tend to benefit is because like all other prop trading houses, they benefit from profit split payments. However, unlike traditional prop trading houses they get more generous splits.
Not that you need it, but sometimes we have to break it to readers that a small trading account will not bring you models and bottles. A small forex trading account, however, is great for proof of concept and giving you a taste of how your psychology will be with a larger account (which is defined as a 5-figure account, in this case).
Do I need prior experience with prop trading to be succeed as a funded trader
How you start does not necessarily matter, take Zachary, for instance. He did not start his trading experience with forex. He started with cryptocurrency, then migrated to FX! What matters most is the core theme of the article: discipline.
Each market has some differing rules and dynamics, but the rules for discipline tends to stay constant. In fact, many come to forex because it tends to be opened virtually all the time.
In fact, if you check out another article in our blog, the Hierarchy of the Markets, you will see how the capital markets (including forex) are connected.
Tips to Boost and Maintain Your Trading Discipline
We continually hammer over, and over, and over, and over how discipline is important for funded trader, forex trading and prop trading, in general. But, because this is such a major topic, let us briefly go through some tips.
1] I would like to mention what our newest funded trader mentioned as it is a very good point. That is to leave emotions, and the idea of “good feelings” out the door. Whatever keeps you in the zone, can help. However, as the times have gone by, we have noted that machines do objectively make better traders than humans, more times than not.
Many of us are looking to consider opting to have some algorithmic component to our trading or tend to be open to it either now or overtime. Why is that? They trade without emotion. If you can somehow do this, great. However, the closest you can do is try to avoid trading with heavy bias.
A tip from the fundamental analysis is to find a pair that aligns with your views. While forex trading, if you are adamant that the EUR is a long, then find a pair that resonates with that rather than long any odd EUR pair.
If you are prop trading, it would not be worth losing out on a profit share, especially one as generous as CTI’s, if you could not overcome emotional bias. Even worse if made losing trades because you had “good vibes” on a pair despite many contrary signals.
The takeaway here is that emotional intelligence can save your prop trading.
2] Continually document your habits. This could include anything you feel is important, from your mood when trading, diet, lifestyle, what pairs you trade and the scenarios you traded. Then analyze the data to spot any recurring patterns.
Once you spot correlations, correct them and see if you spot any positive changes, if you do, stick to them. For instance, if you find you always lose a trade when you trade right after profiting/losing 3 trades in a row, then stop. Or if you find you never profit from Yen trades, then stop.
If you find you might have to stop using an indicator, or modify your use of a stop loss, or adapt your strategy to certain markets. That is the purpose of this level of documentation.
3] Recognize if you need further help, if you still need further help then consider finding out how you can do this. The HPT Mentoring Program is an excellent option to consider to help with options #1 and #2 and the HPT Psychology Program is an excellent options to consider if you feel everything is right, but it is your psychology that sabotages your efforts.
Naturally if you have been reading for a while, or if you have been trading for a while, then you obviously know the importance of having an important sticking to your plan and regulating your emotions while trading.
Without further ado here is Zachary’s interview: