Going offshore to escape the CFTC

[SmallPaul]

you are allowed to have 3 100k accounts or 6 50k accounts but you must do the challenge for each new funded account.

btw im thinking with all the publicity this firm is getting i bet they are making a boat load of money from fail challenges

[grandpipmaster]

True, but those folks would probably be losing more trading their own capital anyway. The fact still remains, most people have no idea how to trade.

[_METHOS]

@grandpipmaster

you can go from challenge to funded in as little as 20 days.

Exactly right.

@grandpipmaster

I wouldn’t feel comfortable having 300K of my own funds with offshore brokers even following my risk model of mitigating the risk over 5 brokers. So to me, it’s a win/win.

Exactly right, again. And traders can use a trade copier to continue trading their personal accounts if they want. But, I do see that this option may not be suitable for some traders, especially if they struggle with their trading.

@MrInvisible

Where did you get 300K?

As SmallPaul mentioned, this is with (3) accounts. They give you the option to combine accounts, allowing you to trade with 300K. You can also scale up the account(s) at 25% every 4 months with no ceiling, if you manage to meet the requirements for that…but it is not mandatory.

@SmallPaul

they are making a boat load of money from fail challenges

Indeed.

@grandpipmaster

The fact still remains, most people have no idea how to trade.

Exactly right, again.

[grandpipmaster]

With that being said, I do believe that those of us jumping through the hoops to trade offshore are doing so because we make money.

[_METHOS]

@grandpipmaster

On the trial, I completed the challenge in 3 days.

@grandpipmaster

However, there is the must trade 10 day rule

Right. I’ve seen many people do 0.01 lot trades for the remaining days, once they reach their target.

@grandpipmaster

I do believe that those of us jumping through the hoops to trade offshore are doing so because we make money.

One would hope so. As I say, making money is the easy part. The hard part is learning how not to give it all back. Most new traders fail in the long-run, even if they are reasonably consistent, because they lack proper capital and risk management skills and eventually use too much leverage in an effort to expedite account growth.

[greenflash808]

Just to add my couple cents into the discussion:

1. I don’t mind the FTMO talk because it’s an offshore prop trading account, which in essence is what this thread is all about. But too much FTMO discussion would definitely need a new thread - perhaps even linked into post #1 up top if everyone agrees?

2. My issue with prop firms in general is that it’s almost like having a job. You have rules and regulations you need to follow to keep your job - and that’s one of the main reasons I started trading 5 years ago - to never have a job ever again. LOL

3. Prop firms (and FTMO) is 100% not for everyone. One of those dreaded rules is the mandatory 10 days of new trades. What if I want to take a break and go sit on a beach for a month? I’m sure they let you take vacations - but it’s a valid point. And if you trade specific instruments only on the D1 chart - you’ll have a hard time getting 10 new trades in a month, unless you stack positions, or add .01 positions every day just to reach your goal - which means you would need to change and adapt your trading style just to fit the prop firm, which some people might not want or be capable of doing.

4. but on the Pro side - for those who hate dealing with all the crappy USA rules about trading - it is a viable alternative to having a personal offshore account. And yes, getting a trade copier is also an option so you can have your cake and eat it too.

5. Also, just because you sign with a prop firm, doesn’t mean you can’t leave. It’s your choice. You could treat the 100k prop account like a business loan of sorts, and if you are capable of trading successfully, use your 70% to build your own accounts and go off on your own later on - once maybe the USA trading rules change some day. Maybe. Or not.

[SmallPaul]

great post

[_METHOS]

I agree. Some good points being made, especially about wanting to take time off. As a scalper, it is a non-issue for me to get trades in, and for sure, 20 days each month should be enough to take off, but it would still be nice to be able to not have to worry about getting trades in.

In truth, a decent trader would likely be able to acquire enough capital from the funded account fairly quickly, to have a decent-sized personal account, and be able to break away whenever he/she wanted to. Even so, you can always go back to getting a funded account if you wanted, also.

[MrInvisible]

They mentioned there are broker limits for US traders, does anyone know if LMAX is available to US traders?

[_METHOS]

LMAX is what they offer for US traders.

We offer all US clients the best trading solution in the form of our MT4 accounts powered by data-feed directly from LMAX liquidity provider. We give you, our trader, the best account conditions with super-raw spreads, no markup and a very low commission.
–What brokers do you offer? - FTMO.com

[MrInvisible]

ok thanks! After reviewing the details… since there’s no out of pocket costs besides the evaluation fee, it seems like an interesting option for some.

[greenflash808]

@_METHOS

As a scalper, it is a non-issue for me to get trades in, and for sure, 20 days each month should be enough to take off, but it would still be nice to be able to not have to worry about getting trades in.

But a typical month contains 4 weeks, and so a typical trading week contains 5 days, especially for me in trading mostly US indices.

So that’s basically 2 weeks of required trading, and 2 weeks off. Love the 2 week vacation every month, and I mainly daytrade so 10 days of new trades is for the most part OK too - but if I ever decide to swing trade on the daily chart - not a chance I make my trading days quota unless I stack .01 positions just for the numbers game part (which if I’m doing my job right, I’ll get a 10 day swing trend once a month at the minimum)

But I’m quite some time away from trading indices on the D1, so I could definitely treat this like a temp job trading for a prop firm (which it actually is), deal with the time quota and use their 100k to build my own account with Interactive Brokers if I wanted to, then leave if I wanted, and come back if needed.

Still doing my research. Lots of good info.

[grandpipmaster]

Yes, I confirmed in chat last night. I believe the US restriction is LMAX is your only choice. That’s good as LMAX is one of the best options globally, IMO

[_METHOS]

@greenflash808

unless I stack .01 positions just for the numbers

I have seen other traders comment about this, and do just that. I might say that for long-term trades, you might consider doing that with your personal account, but I believe that the swaps for LMAX are a lot better. I personally do not pay much attention to that, though, since I am in and out of the market very quickly.

[Clint]

@SmallPaul

maybe FTMO needs it’s own thread?

@_METHOS

I personally do not see why, unless the majority are against such discussion. This thread gets a lot of traffic/exposure and FTMO and similar programs could be quite helpful to US traders that are looking for solutions.

@SmallPaul

my reason is because FTMO is a prop firm and not an offshore broker and you can’t make deposits with them. either way i have no problem with us discussion it here like who am i to complain

@_METHOS

Well, if we are getting technical about it, this thread is about going offshore to escape the CFTC, so whether trading with an offshore broker by proxy or going direct, seems irrelevant to me. Just my opinion.

I agree with the last quote above. The prop trading option being discussed here is a viable way of escaping the CFTC’s stranglehold on retail forex trading. As such, in my view, it conforms to the focus and objective of this thread.

[SmallPaul]

ok the thread is alive and kicking so who’s gonna be the first to dive in with FTMO

[MrInvisible]

sounds like grandpipmaster has already started the process.

[_METHOS]

Unless something changes, I also plan on doing the challenge. I just do not know when that will be because I am just so busy with other things at the moment.

A few things that I wanted to mention about FTMO:

1. I was originally looking at the 50K Aggressive plan, but determined that it does not actually provide any benefit over the 100K Normal plan. Maybe someone can prove me wrong on that.

2. My plan is to eventually combine (3) 100K accounts, just for the additional padding, allowing me to have 15K daily max loss. This would allow more breathing room and heavily-reduce any chances of losing the account.

[SmallPaul]

Correct me if i’m wrong if one of those 3 account exceed 5k drawdown at 5pm close you lose that account so how will that give you 15k max daily lost

[MrInvisible]

14999.97