Are You Ready To Trade In Real Time? Find Out With A Free Trial
You might be wondering if you’ve got what it takes to be a professional forex trader. You have some knowledge and skills, but what you don’t have is a way to test them out in real time, or a lot of spare personal capital to play with.
Here’s how you can use our free trial to test your trading skills in simulated market conditions, so you can find out if you are the real deal without any personal cost.
Why a free trial is a window of opportunity
A free trial is not merely a fun feature to let curious bystanders have a play around in the markets: it’s designed to help would-be traders gain experience of using a professional trading platform and of making decisions in real time. This is an exciting and valuable opportunity, so to make the most of it, planning and preparation are required.
The forex markets can be volatile and many an overconfident or underprepared trader has been caught out by poor decisions. It’s true that there is the opportunity to make substantial profits, but the flip side of this is that there is the risk of incurring heavy losses.
Therefore, while forex trading is not as impossibly tricky as some people make it out to be, it does take some practice and experience to become a good trader. But not many people are prepared to risk frittering away their own money while they learn on the job. It’s the frustrating classic jobseekers conundrum: no experience, no job; no job, no experience.
What happens during the free trial?
During your free trial, you’ll be working with simulated live market conditions and any profits or losses you make will be virtual. There’s no risk involved, only the opportunity to learn.
If you perform well on your free trial you’ll feel confident and well prepared enough to begin the evaluation program. After passing this phase, you’ll gain access to a live funded account with a prop firm. Any losses you make will be covered by the firm, and you’ll get to keep between 50 to 80 per cent of your profits.
However, prop firms naturally want to work with good traders who can make consistent profits rather than lose all their money…so how do you get to this skill level and prove your worth? By starting with a free trial!
How to ace your free trial
So, you’ve got the memo: a free trial is a gift if you are serious about being a forex trader, and is not to be taken lightly. Here’s how to make the most of it.
Define your goals
Think about what you want to achieve before you dive in. What is your current level of skill and knowledge of forex? If you genuinely know little or nothing about it, your best bet is to go away for a while and do some research. There are loads of free online resources where you can learn to your heart’s content about the rules of the game.
If you already have some idea of what it’s all about and have a shiny new strategy ready to roll, then your goal might simply be to roadtest this strategy. If you already have some experience under your belt, you might want to work on improving your risk management or your trading mindset, or just get used to the interface of a particular trading platform.
Test different strategies
One of the great advantages of a free trial is that you can stress-test a few different trading strategies to find out what works best for you, without the pressure of losing real money. This means that you can also gain experience of a few different trading styles, such as day trading, swing trading, or scalping.
When you have the opportunity to trade in live conditions, you’ll feel more confident and will be more able to handle those situations where a trade isn’t going your way.
Be proactive about risk management
One of the key skills prop firms are looking for in traders is the ability to manage risk well. You’ll need to prove that you can operate within the firm’s risk management rules and draw down limits. This is understandable when you consider that the business model of the prop firm relies heavily on traders who can make consistent profits rather than losses.
Although you won’t be personally liable for any losses you incur when trading with a prop firm account, your account may be closed if you do not actively manage risk and are making persistent heavy losses. Therefore, during your trial, you should practice using stop loss orders to set a limit on the potential loss of each trade.
You should also practice calculating risk-reward ratios for optimum position sizing, so that you are neither being too over-cautious or taking unjustified risks.
Playing the mind game
Forex trading is not just about interpreting bar charts and tracking economic data: it’s also a mind game. You’ll need to have the mental resilience to bounce back from mistakes and stay calm under pressure. You’ll also need to have the emotional discipline to avoid impulsive decisions that are driven by fear or greed.
During your free trial, you’ll be able to practise making objective decisions even when the heat is on, so you’ll be more confident in live trading situations.
Track your trades
During your trial, get into the habit of keeping a separate journal of your trades, which you can look over during and the trial is over. You can use a physical notebook for easy access, or a digital spreadsheet if you prefer. This is not just another piece of admin, but a valuable record and learning tool.
Write down the factual information, such as entry and exit points and the outcome of the trade. Also expand on your reasoning for making the trade, and why you chose the currency pairs, exit point, and so on. This will help you to identify patterns in your trading behaviour, so you can see if there are any areas that require improvement.
So you’ve smashed your trial: what next?
Let’s assume for now that your trial was a walk in the park and you’ve smashed your profit targets. The next step on the ladder is to take the evaluation program. This is technically similar to the free trial: it lasts for 14 days and you’ll be trading in simulated market conditions.
One-step/ two-step
Depending on whether you opt for the one-step or two-step evaluation, you’ll be taking one or two tests during the program and will need to hit your profit targets. This is designed to make sure that you are at the necessary level of skill and experience to let loose with a fully funded account.
The one-step program is ideal if you already have some experience of forex trading and are reasonably comfortable with the process. You’ll take one test only during the two week evaluation. If you are a more inexperienced trader, the two-step program can be more valuable, because you’ll have the opportunity to consolidate what you’ve learned.
If you are successful, you’ll have the confidence of knowing that you didn’t just wing it through, but have really proved you’ve got what it takes to be a competent forex trader. Traders who pass either the one or two-step evaluation program will have their fees fully refunded.
Instant access
Another option might be to pay an upfront non-refundable fee for instant funding. This is not advisable if you have no previous experience of trading. However, if you’ve got a proven track record and are attracted by the prop firm’s scaling plans or trading tools, then this could be the way to go.
The real deal: a funded trading account
The options we offer for free trials include Matchtrader, DXTrades and Tradelocker.
If you are successful on the evaluation program with FTUK, you’ll be rewarded with a full fee refund, and given the opportunity to open a funded account to trade with your choice of platform. You are now a proper forex trader with access to an account funded by the prop firm with high leverage, no personal financial risk, and a scaling profit share plan.
If you continue to perform well and prove you are capable of managing risk, you’ll be able to scale up to a larger account size of $100k + with a maximum profit share of 80 per cent and bi-weekly payouts.
This can provide you with a very comfortable second income stream to supplement your lifestyle, whether you enjoy frequent holidays, fine dining or designer clothes. Maybe you want to invest your gains to maximise them further, or to build up a nest egg for the future.
All this is really much more possible than you think, and it all starts with taking the first step