How I turned £3000 into £20,000 in 6 Weeks

[Aston1st]

It's funny as way back I went into my local library and saw a book on options. Read it and understood, I think. then never touch them. then back in 2005 when I studied for my Level III certificate in Derivatives ( Chartered Institutes of Securities and Investments) options was apart of the syllabus. Passed. Later upgraded to Level IV CISI Investment advice diploma (Derivatives) and once again Options was on the Syllabus. At the beginning of this thread you will see one day I lost £62,000 in an afternoon, that was for want of a put option ! I knew the market would be moving upwards but needed some down side protection in the short term. So after all this I have never traded an option ..........................Crazy.

Years back I worked for a Prop firm they had an Option department , which you could have applied for, they were treated like superstars while us Futures traders were the Grunts. When I was prop trading at STA we used to do Butterfly spreads but with Future contracts rather than options.

Are you a full time options trader and if so which strategies do you deploy?

I shall check ADM out thanks for the tip.

 

[Windlesham1]

It's funny as way back I went into my local library and saw a book on options. Read it and understood, I think. then never touch them. then back in 2005 when I studied for my Level III certificate in Derivatives ( Chartered Institutes of Securities and Investments) options was apart of the syllabus. Passed. Later upgraded to Level IV CISI Investment advice diploma (Derivatives) and once again Options was on the Syllabus. At the beginning of this thread you will see one day I lost £62,000 in an afternoon, that was for want of a put option ! I knew the market would be moving upwards but needed some down side protection in the short term. So after all this I have never traded an option ..........................Crazy.

Years back I worked for a Prop firm they had an Option department , which you could have applied for, they were treated like superstars while us Futures traders were the Grunts. When I was prop trading at STA we used to do Butterfly spreads but with Future contracts rather than options.

Are you a full time options trader and if so which strategies do you deploy?

I shall check ADM out thanks for the tip.

I've been full time since 2003 but I do a bit of part time work for a charity-my trading generates a good income,my strategies vary but in essence I sell more options than I buy. I trade near month FTSE -for my blog the recent trades were posted on the options board on Trade2win I think. As the blog has advertising I cannot send the link but if you Googled options investing uk it's about 5th on the list about myths busted etc

 

[Aston1st]

Hi Windlesham,

I thought that selling options was very risky, are they hedged by the underlying ?

Thanks for the link shall review it over the Break.

 

[Aston1st]

Hi Windlesham,

I thought that selling options was very risky, are they hedged by the underlying ?

Thanks for the link shall review it over the Break.

I am thinking of buying a put on the FTSE, as trading it outright futures is a bit stressful.

 

[Windlesham1]

I am thinking of buying a put on the FTSE, as trading it outright futures is a bit stressful.

naked buying is as bad as naked selling if you are able check out my blog- I generally advocate a strategy- would you buy an ice cube in a heat wave? Never buy naked when volatility is high-and it IS high. You can find me on Twitter too-forgot about that!

 

[Aston1st]

Thanks for the above Windlesham. I have have been sneaky trading over the Christmas break and made a 10 minute video of my trading to day, only to find out that the bloody microphone was not working on the clip!!!! Redone the clip with audio:

Money Never Sleeps - Trading over the Christmas Break

I shall take time to study your Blog which is very informative by the way.

 

[Windlesham1]

I try and keep much of the complexity out of it -but ultimately when we pull the trigger we are trading our opinion. I summarise my trading by saying that I trade relationships. The last few days have been interesting- I have Jan expiry trades running and try to chill but rweally should have added to positions in the madness-though I doubt I'd have got the fills I would have liked.

 

[alan5616]

naked buying is as bad as naked selling if you are able check out my blog- I generally advocate a strategy- would you buy an ice cube in a heat wave? Never buy naked when volatility is high-and it IS high. You can find me on Twitter too-forgot about that!

Sorry for joining the discussion rather late but, that thing called Christmas got in the way! I've caught up on the thread, within the last couple of days, and it makes good reading.

I traded options, successfully, several years ago, but never got the same buzz as I did from trading indices or forex.

One point that I disagree with Windlesham on is that "naked buying is as bad as "naked selling". Sorry Windlesham but, it just isn't. If you buy an option, your risk is limited to the premium which you pay to the writer of the option. You have no obligation to exercise that option. However, naked selling can result in unlimited losses.

Excuse the anecdote but it is relevant. Some years ago, I came close to a substantial loss on such a trade. The stock was trading at around £7.50 and I wrote a put option at a strike price of £7.30 with two weeks left to expiry. The price dropped down to 732 by expiry date so, I collected the premium and that was that. Had the expiry date been a week later, the price had dropped to 718 and I would have been required to buy £30,000 worth of shares. Those shares, approximately a year later, were trading @ 10p!!!. The company, eventually folded.

I don't pretend to be an expert but, my personal belief is that trading naked calls and/or puts is a very risky business.

 

[Windlesham1]

alan I allude to the mindset of the naked trader- risk is another issue altogether and risk isvirtually unlimited when you sell naked. I take exception to the 'Robin Hood' crowd who buy and sell naked options like lottery tickets, when they are a sophisticated means of making profits . Options are not for gamblers. I've been trading since the last century and have been through every scenario. I spent years with futures and forex and like most others never made any money with them.

 

[Aston1st]

A Losing Trade on the DAX

 

[Aston1st]

A way for aspiring Traders to get sufficiently Backed without the Desk Fees!

The FTMO " Challenge"Prop Trading Model.

I have been doing the FTMO Challenge and making a few Videos about it.

A Review on the FTMO " Challenge" Prop Trading Model
From Floor "Local" - Trading Arcade to 21st Century Prop Trading Model.

FTMO Challenge Fail - Lessons Learned
My failing the challenge

Passing the FTMO Challenge despite a major set back.

If you would like to follow me on my journey - a long one at that then by all means subscribe ( Only have 88 subscribers so it's not monitised only sharing information).

 

[Aston1st]

I basically trade on forex major pairs and follow scalping as my trading style. Scalping is quite interesting but only for experienced traders and not for newbies.

Scalping is tough but a great way to trade if you have decent trading platform to sustain it. Try Trading Technologies, Stellar, Ninja or even Prospreads ladders DMA.

 

[Aston1st]

The FTMO challenge - Overview

"The slight of hand"

My thoughts on the Objectives
The Trading Platform
Levels of Support

 

[Windlesham1]

The FTMO challenge - Overview

"The slight of hand"

My thoughts on the Objectives
The Trading Platform
Levels of Support

Sleight...... sorry to be a pedant!

 

[Aston1st]

No problem.

 

[Aston1st]

 

[trendie]

hi Aston,

Is this FTMO thing legit?
Have you been able to withdraw money of winnings yet?

 

[counter_violent]

hi Aston,

Is this FTMO thing legit?
Have you been able to withdraw money of winnings yet?

Aston's videos were of the challenge stage. After this stage there is a verification stage. After the verification stage is passed, then they may offer a funded account, subject to signing an agreement as I understand it.

So in the challenge stage, i assume this is done on a demo account, therefore you are doing the challenge for free. Similarly on the verification stage.

Profit split is 70/30 on the funded accounts at the end of the month. Assuming a profit is made and strict adherence to their trading parameters.

 

[Aston1st]

hi Aston,

Is this FTMO thing legit?
Have you been able to withdraw money of winnings yet?

1. I am currently on the Verification stage

2. Challenge stage - Demo Account

- You have to pay for the challenge and that depends on what size account you wish to trade

3. Verification stage - Demo Account
- Once Passed an account is given.

4. Trading Account: - Demo Account ( Always a Demo)
- Trade within their rules
- No trading over major Economic Events
- No profit targets
- If in profit after 10 active trading day's then return of Challenge Fee and 70% share of profits

NB: The Account size is misleading.
$100,000 is really a $10,000 account with leverage of which you need to make 100% during the Challenge Stage
then 50% in the Verification Stage

Your Main Question : Is FTMO Legit?

Many traders online say that they are legit. However , I am not sure.

They have paid out to successfully funded Traders but it is noticed that not many seem to post their P&L after three payouts. They also seem to have around 25K+ subscribers.

The Most important point to note is that they are NOT regulated.

Hence the Demo account which I presume is connected to a Trade Copier account ( since only 8% pass the challenge) so for them a wise trading strategy would be to set the Trade copier to take the reverse trade and therefore achieve a 92% success rate, then switch the trade copier for the successfully funded traders.

By using a Demo they get round the regulated element by not holding clients funds but saying that the Traders are providing them a service ( the provision of trading data upon which to utilize for profit).

Points Of Concern:

* They have many server issues , and inaccuracies in their MatriX which tells you your P&L and other stats. This means you can be trading off inaccurate information or even worse ; frozen trades.

* There has been times when the Matrix stated I had failed the Challenge but this was at odds with the Broker Platform and only when shown screenshots via email and a few calls the account restored.
Had I not done this the Challenge fee would be lost.

* Often times if you send an email it is not replied to for a few day's, or when you call during the day one gets an answer phone.

That said when they do actually pick up the phone they do address the issue.

It's useful to be accountable for one's trading , such as daily stops and maximum draw downs. Also less risky than trading live when working out different strategies.

 

[AC007]

WOW. I am paying £1000 to learn how to achieve 20% a year. You guys are kicking A***.