$100k Account Challenge - Sharing My Journey Towards A Funded Account

[FernandoBorea]

Trade update: NZDCHF

Hey all!

Some new activity to report on the challenge! I decided to update the SL of the second half of the NZDCHF trade. As always, here are the notes from the journal, enjoy!

As the market reached the first profit target, I noticed a slowdown on the last bearish push. Given the strong bearish impulse the market made to reach the first profit target, I consider this a potential regular pull-back on the bearish trend. For this reason, I have decided to move the stop loss down to 1ATR above the last broken support area, which can potentially be where the pull-back will head.

H4

TradingView Posting: $100k Challenge - NZDCHF Short - E28 T1 - Trade Update for FX:NZDCHF by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

Trade review: NZDCHF Short

Hey all!

So, we officially have this trade completely closed out. The market started to struggle to maintain a strong bearish momentum and ended up being unable to break the last low. After a while, it seems the buyers won the upper hand for the time being and the trade stopped out. Overall I consider this trade a great one as I held to the trading plan and kept the trade open until one of the two exit plans was executed.

This time other than sharing my personal view on the position, we don’t have much more to add, so the good ol’ journal will just receive a status update for this trade.

D1

TradingView Posting: $100k Challenge - NZDCHF Short - Trade Review - E29 T1 for FX:NZDCHF by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

Trade update: GBPUSD Short

Hey all!

As we have an upcoming big news (interest rates), I decided to protect more the profits from this trade. As always, here are the notes from the journal, enjoy!

Even though the market seems to be retracing and conceding ground to the sellers, the overall structure remains bearish, for this reason, I decided to keep the trade running even though we have an upcoming interest rate announcement. For this, I moved the SL 1.5 ATR above the last high.

H4

TradingView Posting:$100k Challenge - GBPUSD Short - Trade Update - E30 T1 for FX:GBPUSD by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

Trade Review: GBPUSD Short

Hey all!

We are officially out of all trades! In this case, the GBPUSD one stopped out on the news release about the interest rates decision from the UK. I personally consider this another example of a good trade in which I stuck to the plan through the entire holding time (a few months), so I’ll update the status on the journal to a closed trade!

H4

'til the next trade!

TradingView Posting: $100k Challenge - GBPUSD Short - Trade Review - E31 T1 for FX:GBPUSD by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

New Trade: XAUUSD (Gold) Short

Hey all!

So, we do have a new trade going! Personally, I think a self-review is a good call for some time in the next few days to share more about psychology. For now, here are the notes from the journal, enjoy!

On a macro level, since the pandemic, Gold has struggled to make any significant long-term progress over the 2,000 mark, since then, it has been visited a total of 3 times, including the current one. A common characteristic is somewhat of a breakout followed by little to no continuation, returning below the area.

The last significant break above the 2,000 mark happened in early 2023, showing the same behavior, and recently the market has retraced to the same price range, showing initially strong bullish momentum which faded quickly as the market interacted with the resistance area.

From a shorter time frame (H4), we can see that the market failed to break highs and started to make some bearish progress, which I consider a good enough signal to enter the market.

Regarding targets, my first absolute profit target is down at 1,815, however, we do have the 1,900 range, which lines up with the 61.8% Fibonacci level, and it is a psychological price zone as well, so in case we see strong bullish behavior around that area, I’ll consider either a partial close (raising the TP1 there) or a complete exit of the position. On the stop loss side, I decided to place it about 1 ATR above the last swing high. As usual, the second take profit will remain open.

Daily:

H4:

TradingView Posting: $100k Challenge - XAUUSD (Gold) Short - E32 T1 for OANDA:XAUUSD by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

New Trade: EURNZD Short

Hey all!

Usually, I give a special introduction to the BabyPips thread about the challenge, however, for this trade, I’m so proud of the intro I gave on the TradingView posting that I will include the full text here, enjoy!

After some weeks of not that many set-ups to trade, we have a new position opened! Personally, this trade has taught me some lessons about questioning your charts and understanding that trading in general can be thought of as a mix between alchemy and science, at least in my opinion.

Anyways, as always, find the notes below from the trading journal, enjoy!

Overall, for the last several years, EURNZD has behaved more or less on a large range pattern with some exceptions on the last few major world events (yep, the pandemic and the inflation crisis). Since I consider the markets are slowly returning to “normal business”, I find this a compelling trade to take.

We see that the market has been approaching a major D1 resistance area (the one shown on the chart is limited to the recent market activity, it goes back many years, mostly as a resistance), and showing some clear signs of a break of structure in recent weeks.

I had a slightly different chart set-up that, on every daily check routine, I kept thinking something was off, I decided today to redraw the trade levels and the trading opportunity became clearer to me, as the market broke the ascending channel and retested the break, I saw a potential short opportunity in the making.

I consider this a slightly special case as we do have a recent low relatively close to the entry price, so in terms of trade management, I’ll consider a move-to-break-even play depending on price action. The rest is a traditional approach, SL about 0.5 ATR above the last high (I consider the entry price is far enough to shorten a bit the 1 ATR regular distance to trade on a better risk-reward), first profit target to the nearest relevant price area, and second profit target open to see how much we can squeeze.

As a side note, while I cannot fully discard that I made the chart make sense to take the trade on the redraw I previously mentioned, doing some self-reflection, I consider regardless of the trade execution, the chart makes way more sense to me after it, so I would consider a “wishful thinking” as a non-applicable in this particular trade.

Daily:

H4:

Feel free to drop a like as well on the TradingView posting shameless plug: $100k Challenge - EURNZD Short - E33 T1 for FX:EURNZD by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

New trade: USDCHF short

Hey everyone!

I had a rough weekend that extended a bit over to Monday (yesterday, as of writing this), which forced me to skip yesterday’s trading session. So today, Tuesday, I jump to the charts in the morning to make up for yesterday’s session, just to find out one of the trades I’ve been monitoring seems to be ready to take!

As we can see, the USDCHF pair was in a clear downtrend structure for several months, after which we had a breakout from the descending channel to test a daily resistance. The market seemed ready for a bullish continuation but ended up presenting a fake breakup of that level.

We retested the false breakout (as in, the resistance was revisited after the fake breakout), and since I couldn’t trade that test, I kept waiting until the minor H4 support below broke to enter the market.

Personally, I consider we are in the early phases of an accumulation phase; as we are on a daily time frame, this can last several months. Considering the false breakout of the daily resistance as a signal of a strong presence of supply, I think we can head to the last low made prior to the break of the bearish structure, the point on which it would make sense for strong demand to be waiting.

From that point, we will have more chart information to attempt to deduce if the demand interest in the area is enough to continue accumulating, or if it loses interest and we perhaps end up observing another bearish push.

As a side note, this position has some negative correlation with the Gold short trade we took some weeks ago. Currently, the short-term correlation of Gold and USDCHF seems to be around 60%, which means there are chances that both trades result in profits. However, the correlation between the two on a large time horizon is ~80%, which is also fine to me as it also means this position can work as a hedge to the Gold short in case it ends up hitting the SL.

D1:

H4:

TradingView posting: $100k Challenge - USDCHF Short - E34 T1 for FX:USDCHF by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

Trade Review: XAUUSD (Gold) Short

Hey all!

We have some news regarding the challenge! Unfortunately, the Gold short trade didn’t work out as expected. However, I’d consider this a normal stop loss within the set-ups I’m looking to take. We do have the short trade running on USDCHF, which has some negative correlation to Gold, so some of the losses are offset through it.

Daily:

TradingView posting: $100k Challenge - XAUUSD (Gold) Short - Trade Update - E35 T1 for OANDA:XAUUSD by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

Trade Update: EURNZD Short

Hey all!

I went radio silent on the challenge thread lately, got into an entrepreneurs competition, and presented my pitch yesterday! Wish me luck!

Anyways! Back to trading! We had a take-profit hit on the EURNZD trade! Here’s my plan going forward:

There’s also strong selling pressure hitting the daily support area. Given that we traded the breakdown of an ascending channel, I consider we can see a continuation to the downside. If the market proves that the sellers have the upper hand, we are set to have a great ride!

For now, given that the bearish move was strong with almost no pause, I’ll move the stop loss to break even as a precaution. I’m looking to give this trade enough breathing room for the time being so we can maximize profits. In case the market does start to show signs of a reversal around the support zone, I’ll consider bringing down the stop loss.

Daily:

TradingView Posting: $100k Challenge - EURNZD Short - Trade Update - E36 T1 for FX:EURNZD by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

Trade Update: USDCHF short

We also have more activity on the challenge for today! Considering we are heading up to an NFP Friday, I decided to take precaution measures on this trade. Since this trade has been relatively slow to react, I took the decision to move the stop-loss to essentially break even. I consider risking waking up to a stop-loss isn’t worth it, so the trade-off of leaving a tight breathing room for the trade is worth it.

Personally, I think if the forecast proves right, it can bring some bearish pressure to the USD, as it’d imply this last month the unemployment didn’t improve at all, so in this scenario, we could benefit from the news event. However, as an economistn’t , my best play is to move into capital preservation mode and let the market do whatever it wants haha.

H4:

TradingView Posting: https://www.tradingview.com/chart/TPtHdQQK/

[FernandoBorea]

Trade Review: USDCHF short

Hey all!

We have some more updates regarding the challenge! Our precaution on this trade triggered the stop-loss in profits, leaving a small gain, but a gain nonetheless. I consider this a good trade managed with proper risk mitigation techniques since the risk of having a full stop loss ahead of the news event we had coming our way didn’t justify the potential profits of the news working our way.

Also, we had this trade running for several days without any significant progress toward the direction we were expecting the market to head. Considering there are other pairs such as CHFJPY that show a potential short opportunity, I’d say by correlation, this trade had some signals around it to not go our way.

H4:

Anyways! Looking forward to the next setup to share it with everyone!

Until the next trade!

[FernandoBorea]

New trade: EURUSD Short

Hey all!

We have a new trade for the challenge!

In the daily timeframe, the markets have been in what seems like a distribution phase (Wyckoff method), we have seen a false breakup from the upper boundary of the distribution area, which can be labeled as an upthrust (a concept from the Wyckoff Method too) after which the market returned to the range.

In my opinion, this presents a good opportunity to enter a short trade. In the H4 time frame (shown in the chart) we can see that the markets have slowed down, and after rejecting the resistance, the price visited the area again showing signs of rejection as well.

The markets can head to the bottom of the range again in my opinion, however, if we continue analyzing the charts using the concepts taught by the Wyckoff Method, this is the initial phase of a potential bearish trend.

For this reason, the take profit shown on the chart is a reference point on which I’ll decide what is the best approach when the market gets to that zone, as we could see a break from that support area, opening the door to an even larger profit potential.

On the stop-loss side, I placed it about 1 ATR away from the previous high made on the visit to the resistance zone, and the risk management remains the same, 1% total risk split between two trades.

D1:

H4:

TradingView Posting: $100k Challenge - EURUSD Short - E39 T1 for FX:EURUSD by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

Trade review: EURUSD Short

Hey everyone!

Well, this trade didn’t work out as we expected. However, that’s the beauty of trading! Win some trades, lose some trades, but always learn something along the way! I think I could have done better on this one as even though big picture I consider we are due for a bearish swing, the timing on the entry could have been better managed.

Perhaps waiting for a stronger confirmation of a bearish push is a good idea for the next time. In terms of what I think of EURUSD, I’ll continue to monitor its behavior since, as I said before, I think we will see a bearish swing sooner rather than later.

I’m targeting the 1.1200 mark to consider new potential short entries depending on how the market reacts to that area, targeting again the bottom of the range and leaving the second half of the trade running to harvest a potential long-term bearish move.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed today’s update on the challenge!

Daily:

TradingView Posting: $100k Challenge - EURUSD Short - Trade Review - E40 T1 for FX:EURUSD by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

New trade: CADJPY Short

Hey everyone!

We do have a new setup for the challenge!

If we look at the daily chart, we can observe the market showed a bullish phase followed by a range phase, or distribution phase according to Wyckoff. In my opinion, this presents a great overall market condition for sell setups.

Then, while checking out the H4 chart we noticed a double top formation, followed by a recent strong bearish rejection, effectively breaking the bullish trendline that formed in this time-frame. Because of those reasons, I decided to enter into a short position here.

Regarding the trade management, I placed the stop loss about 1 ATR above the last high made on the double top formation, and the first take profit is located at the bottom of the daily range. As usual, the second target is open, as if the market ends up breaking the daily range we can be set for a nice bear ride.

I hope you enjoyed this new trade idea! Remember to like the thread to keep up to date with the challenge

[FernandoBorea]

Trade update: EURNZD Short

Hey everyone!

We have a new activity on the challenge! The EURNZD short trade has been running for a long while now. I consider this trade to have a large upside potential as the market hasn’t been able to make any significant bullish progress since it reached the support area several weeks ago.

In my opinion, this is a strong sign of seller pressure in the support area. However, we have a big news event coming up: inflation data for Europe. I see this category of news as one of the main 3 (inflation, unemployment, and interest rates).

When we have one of the main news events about to happen while having a trade running, I like to take strong defensive measures to prevent a turn-around in the position’s PL. In this case, I decided to move the SL to 1ATR above the closest H4 resistance area.

H4:

TradingView Posting: $100k Challenge - EURNZD Short - Trade Update - E42 T1 for FX:EURNZD by FernandoBorea — TradingView

Let’s see how this news event plays out!

Until the next trade!

[FernandoBorea]

Hey all!

We have a new activity on the challenge!

Unfortunately, on this occasion, it is about a stop loss. I consider this to be a normal stop loss from the strategy, as in hindsight, when executing the trade we had strong technicals signaling a potential bearish continuation.

However, as the trade developed, even though there was an initial bearish movement, the sellers didn’t have enough strength to keep the market making significant progress, to then start making a strong bullish impulse, ending up above the resistance area.

Now, speaking of where the market might head, I’m looking toward a potential upside continuation depending on how the price forms the retracement after the resistance break. If we end up seeing strong bullish signs, I consider entering into a buy trade can be a good call.

I hope everyone enjoyed today’s update!

Until the next trade!

TradingView Posting: $100k Challenge - CADJPY Short - Trade Review - E43 T1 for FX:CADJPY by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

Trade Update: USDJPY Short

Hey all!

We have a new trade for the challenge!

Let’s start with analyzing a bird’s eye view of the daily time frame. We can observe that the market was in a stable, bullish structure for almost all of 2023 until a few weeks ago, when the market started to experience strong bearish pressure.

This eventually broke the ascending channel and the previous relevant area that failed to act as support. Then, the market tested that area a few times, validating it as a resistance and presenting a short trade opportunity.

I am targeting the 138.00 area, which is the nearest support zone, coinciding with a round number area, which tends to act as a relevant psychological area. The stop loss is slightly above the last high on the most recent test in the resistance area.

The fact that the market presents strong bearish signs allows me to set the stop loss close to the last high, allowing for a 2:1 risk reward toward the initial target. Also, since the market has already started to progress downward, the stop loss is far enough from the current price to allow breathing room.

Regarding the second target, if the market breaks the 138.00 support, there is a strong profit potential. It might take months for this scenario to develop. However, the potential profit justifies the time the trade can take to develop fully.

That sums up today’s update for the challenge. I hope you enjoyed it!

Until the next trade!

TradingView Posting: $100k Challenge - USDJPY Short - E43 T1 for FX:USDJPY by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

Trade Review: USDJPY Short

Hey all!

A new update for the challenge!

This time, we have one of those frustrating stop losses; however, that’s just how trading goes sometimes, haha. Almost exactly after entering the trade, the market started to make bullish progress, peaking (at least now) just above the stop loss.

The price action reflects a bearish presence, so I still consider a short position an option depending on how the market evolves. On the other hand, if we see a bullish continuation, I would discard new positions for now.

Since there’s not much more to cover regarding this trade, this update for the challenge was brief. I hope you enjoyed it!

Until the next trade!

H4:

TradingView Posting: $100k Challenge - USDJPY Short - Trade Review E45 T1 for FX:USDJPY by FernandoBorea — TradingView

[FernandoBorea]

Trade Review: EURNZD Short… and big changes to the challenge journey!

Hey everyone!

There is some big news for the funded account challenge!

First things first, let’s talk about the trade review of the last open trade from Season One!

We’ve had the EURNZD short trade running for a while. After protecting some of the profits from the second half of the trade, I decided to keep it running as I suspected we could see a break from the support area, which implied a large potential.

Several weeks went by, and the market stuck to the support area, after which strong bullish pressure caused an impulse from the support, reaching the stop loss of this trade a few days ago, concluding the life-cycle of the position.

H4:

Great! Now, into the challenge update!

As we have seen, the challenge started several months ago, and the total PL is around -3%. After performing a deep self-review, I came to an interesting conclusion. The initial dip in the challenge experience, the product of trading mistakes, mainly over-trading, was around -8%.

After this unfortunate start for the challenge, there has been a recovery. Since the initial mistake was related to over-trading, the trading frequency has decreased, greatly improving the trades’ quality.

The downside to this is the feedback loop is considerably slower, which I’ve found to have a negative impact on constantly monitoring my performance as a trader so I can identify the areas of improvement I need to focus on since, all things considered, this is still the first approach to the charts after a few years focused in automated trading.

This raises the question… now what? Well, let me introduce you to the plan for 2024!

My day-to-day life prevents me from considering intraday trading, as my schedule allows for, at most, 1 hour of chart time per day. So, the new approach still needs to fit within my day-to-day life.

My approach to trading is to analyze the daily time frame and refine the entry in H4. So, the natural adjustment to make is to analyze the H4 time frame and refine the entries in H1, which will increase the trading frequency, allowing for a faster feedback loop while adjusting the trading plan to maintain the trade quality.

So, that is it! We have great and exciting news for the challenge so we can accelerate its progress!

Until the next trade!

[FernandoBorea]

Hey everyone!

After some time off the charts, we’re back with the funded account challenge!

TL; DR for those new to the series:

I started a funded account challenge in 2023, which had a bumpy start with an excellent recovery. We’re currently sitting at around -3% and the target is 10%.

I noticed my feedback cycle was too slow as I was trading from the daily/H4 timeframes, so, starting season two of the challenge, I’m trading out of the H4/H1 timeframes to increase the feedback loop so I can identify quicker any mistakes, as I’ve been away from manual trading for quite a while.

We started season two with a long trade. The market has found support after a long down-trend; we did have a break of a bearish trendline; however, the market kept pushing to the downside to fail to make new lows finally.

This is the opportunity I’m looking for, as we had a recent failed break in the support area, and the price action currently shows a solid bullish presence, leaving a morning star pattern right at the support zone.

Regarding targets, I’m aiming for the closest resistance at the 1.0700 area, and as usual, I’m leaving the second half of the trade open since I consider that if the market breaks that resistance, we’re in for quite a long bullish ride.

H4

H1

That’s it for today.

Until the next trade!

TradingView Posting: $100k Challenge - AUDNZD Long - E1 T2 for FX:AUDNZD by FernandoBorea — TradingView