Forum Forexroasted

funded for 2.5 years now. biggest unexpected shift: i became more conservative not aggressive. the eval mindset of 'i need to make X%' got replaced by 'i need to NOT make any of the mistakes that would lose this funded account'. position sizes shrank, opportunity selection got pickier. P&L stabilized but ceiling lower than during eval push.

one addition that saved me time: dont try to learn everything before you start practising. learn risk and one simple strategy, then start a demo immediately and learn the rest against real charts. knowledge without screen time doesnt stick. the sequence is a starting order, not a syllabus you finish before touching a chart.

order that actually builds: first risk management and position sizing, because it keeps you alive long enough to learn everything else. second, how markets move at a basic level, trend, range, support and resistance. third, one simple strategy you can state in two sentences. fourth, psychology, which only really makes sense once you have real trades to be emotional about. indicators come last and lightly. most beginners do this exact list in reverse and wonder why they blow up.

consistency rules cut both ways. they prevent gambling but also penalize legitimate strategies that have natural lumpy returns (event-driven, news-based). depends on your style whether smartprop or a standard prop fits better.

octafx for 10 months of active intraday trading 2024-2025. execution during normal hours was fine, comparable to mid-tier brokers. during NFP and CPI releases their spreads widened more aggressively than ic markets or pepperstone (5-8 pip widening typical). withdrawals were slow - 3-5 business days for wire transfers consistently.

thats overly cynical. hotforex had legitimate operational history, profitable years, paid clients reliably for the most part. rebrand wasnt hiding skeletons, it was business modernization. judge them on current practices not name changes.

tracked my effective trading cost on markets.com vs pepperstone over 6 months. on identical volume markets.com was 28% more expensive when all fees and spread differences were summed. that was the data that pushed me out.