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How Amir Samih Got a $120,000 Trading Allocation

October 21, 2016 by Shaun Overton 2 Comments

What is the basic distinction between a professional trader and an amateur? Money!

It’s tempting to make the professional-amateur distinction more complicated than it needs to be. Professional brings to mind ideas like sophisticated strategies, hedge funds and private jets. When you boil the essence of a pro to its core, it’s really about the amount of money that you have available to trade.

The average retail forex trader has $5,000 in his account. But even that is misleading. The median account size is only $2,000. For every 15 traders with $1,000 in their accounts, there’s maybe 1 guy with more than $25,000 in his account. Barring miraculous returns, there’s almost no chance of the typical retail forex trader to get to a professional level only through profits in the market.

The fastest way to trade at a professional level is to trade for other people. Even that can be very complicated. There’s licensing. There’s regulation. There’s the hassle of dealing with customers.

Unless…. You trade with TopTradr. Here’s the deal:

  • Trade your live forex account with at least $1,000
  • Earn a smooth, steady return
  • Get funded by TopTradr

It costs nothing to sign up. Just do your thing. When you’re successful, you’re eligible to receive an allocation from TopTradr.

How much money can I manage?

 

Egypt
Everything at Top Tradr is a meritocracy. Do a great job trading and you’ll get an allocation in line with your talent.

Amir Samih lives in Egypt where the average annual income is less than $6,000. Unemployment among men is a major social problem and runs at 8.5%. But it’s even worse when you consider the types of jobs available. Many work in limited opportunity sectors like agriculture or tourism. There aren’t many jobs. The jobs that are available generally suck.

Amir Samih received a $120,000 allocation from Top TradrAmir overcame these challenges to earn himself an allocation of $120,000 from TopTradr.

As a trader with a 25% profit share, how far do you think that goes to giving him a great quality of life?

How TopTradr Can Make You A Professional Trader

Your one and only job is to make a profit in the forex market. Your trading style isn’t important to TopTradr.

Amir Samih is a professional traderManual traders are welcome. EA traders are welcome. Scalpers are welcome. Style isn’t what gets you points.

Profits gets you points at TopTradr. And, more to the point, how you profit gets you points.

TopTradr is looking for traders who are consistently profitable and utilize a low amount of leverage. Use stop losses on every trade. Avoid high-risk strategies like Martingale (i.e., you need to have an opinion on the market). It’s all common sense to anyone that’s traded for a few months.

toptradr

After you earn a profit, you get paid 25% of the profits on a quarterly basis. There are no fees to sign up and no hidden charges.

Amir overcame these challenges to earn himself an allocation of $120,000 from TopTradr.

Interested? Follow these three easy steps:

  1. Click HERE now and create a TopTradr profile.
  2. Then click HERE and create a STO broker account. Take advantage of their 30% deposit welcome bonus today.
  3. Then return to your TopTradr profile and link your account.

Once your profits start accruing in your STO account, you’ll automatically earn points with TopTradr. Points and consistent profits will lead to an automatic allocation from TopTradr of at least $10,000.

How often will TopTradr pay out a profit share?

A 25% performance fee will be paid to you quarterly when you receive an allocation

What’s the minimum allocation that you will assign me?

$10,000 is the minimum allocation that you will receive.

Am I guaranteed to receive an allocation?

TopTradr is a meritocracy. Only the best, profitable traders receive allocations.

What do I have to do to receive an allocation?

You need to have a TopTradr account and live trading account at STO. After that, all you need to do is trade the forex market profitably. Trading allocations at STO occur automatically and are paid out automatically.

How are TopTradr points awarded?

The exact formula is not publicly shared to avoid traders trying to game the system. That said, the allocation rules are very straight forward. You need to be profitable. You need to be consistent. Would you want to invest in you? If the answer is yes, then there’s a good chance the TopTradr ranking system will award you points in proportion to your talent.

Here are some specifics on how to maximize your chances of winning an allocation.

  1. You need to be positive on the period to have a score above 100.
  2. For each trade you get points based on the % returns of the trade and the risk / reward of that trade. If the drawdown is 10pts and you get 100pts out of the trade, you get a lot of points. If you get 100pts but have 500pts of drawdown, the trade will score much lower.
  3. The sum of your points is then factored by the consistency of your daily equity growth. If you are up one day 10% then down 20% then up 30% and are not consistent, this factor will be low. If you do 2% everyday, then this factor will be high

Click here to register for a TopTradr account right now. It’s completely free to enter and you’ll automatically be graded for a possible allocation.

Filed Under: How does the forex market work? Tagged With: forex broker, professional, proprietary trading, STO, TopTradr

Did your broker go bankrupt this morning?

January 16, 2015 by Shaun Overton 6 Comments

It’s an absolute bloodbath in the FX markets. The tide’s gone out and it’s now very apparent who has good risk management systems in place and who was reckless safeguarding your deposits.

Is your broker on this list?

  • Alpari – bankrupt! 
  • FXCM – took an enormous $225,000,000 loss on clients with negative balances. It’s desperately seeking a bailout.
  • EXCEL Markets – bankrupt!
FX brokers get slaughtered

FX brokers are led to the slaughterhouse.

One of first articles that I send traders on the free EAs list is how to protect yourself from a forex broker bankruptcy. It’s absolutely, critically important where you decide to trade.

I trade at Peppertsone and I strongly recommend that you trade at Pepperstone, too. They made it through this crisis unscathed. They’re well regulated. They’re in a safe and stable banking jurisdiction. And… they’re still running a thriving business.

PS: QB Pro made it through the CHF chaos unscathed. We closed out with a nice profit yesterday.

Filed Under: What's happening in the current markets? Tagged With: Alpari, bankrupt, EXCEL Markets, forex, forex broker, FXCM, Pepperstone

3 Steps to Protect Against a Forex Broker Bankruptcy

April 4, 2013 by Shaun Overton 41 Comments

Forex Magnates posted an article on FXGM, a Cyprus based forex broker caught up in that country’s banking debacle. I don’t know any specifics, but it seems likely that FXGM might be forced into bankruptcy. Bankruptcy scenarios usually result in traders receiving pennies on the dollar for their accounts.

My mission – the entire reason that this company exists – is to help traders find an automated edge to exploit around the clock. It’s an extremely challenging goal. It requires my 7 years of education in the school of hard knocks. I might be the world’s leading expert in what doesn’t work in trading.

That goal is so consuming and challenging that we often lose sight of the big picture. When you deposit funds with a broker, everything happens with the pretense that the funds are your money. You believe that you reserve the right to withdraw those funds at will, and that legally, those funds are your money.

I hate to be the Bad News Bear, but that understanding is emphatically incorrect. Deposits at most brokers are unsecured loans to the broker.

I hope you’re aware of this, because it’s the exact same situation with your bank account. The account is “yours” in the sense that it’s “your loan” to the bank. If the bank/forex broker goes belly up, depositors are among the first parties hit with losses (after the deposit insurance ceiling is breached).

A bank run can cause your forex broker to go bankrupt.

A bank run can cause your forex broker to go bankrupt. Image credit: www.thecomingdepression.net.

That generally means that equity takes the first hit, followed by depositors, followed by the bond holders. If you apply that to a forex brokerage, it means that the owners of the brokerage are first in line to lose the value of their holdings. Once those losses exceed the amount of customer funds on deposit, you the Trader take the loss.

Trading is hard enough. Taking losses because a broker went belly up is sickening.

How to protect your trading account from a forex broker bankruptcy

Protecting your initial capital by choosing the right broker(s) is every bit as critical as choosing the right trading strategy to protect and grow the account.

Before we dive into specifics, I want to highlight that there is no fail-safe method to avoid getting caught up in a broker bankruptcy. The best that you can do is to mitigate the risks.

Choose multiple brokers – Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

The simplest tactic involves spreading your funds across multiple forex brokers. If you’re trading a $50,000 account, consider splitting that money between 2-3 different brokers. That may have been inconvenient in the past when everyone traded manually. Most of you use expert advisors today. Is it really that hard to open two copies of MetaTrader and let them run simultaneously?

Even without safety of funds, I encourage you to open multiple forex accounts. Different forex brokers use different liquidity providers.

Most traders get caught in the trap of thinking that the forex market is unified and that there is only one price for the EURUSD. There are hundreds of different prices for the most liquid instrument, EURUSD, around the world. The prices are generally very, very close together, but they are different.

The small differences between forex brokers really adds up for certain strategies. I remember visiting a private fund in Dubai back in 2009. The trader showed me account statements from different brokers running the same expert advisor. Losses of 10% at one broker compared to 50% profits at another broker.

Jurisdiction

Running to the alleged safety of the United States doesn’t make sense anymore. The US government, represented by the not-so-fine folks at the NFA and CFTC, have been asleep at the wheel for decades. Take note of their recent epic failures:

  • Refco
  • MF Global
  • PFG Best

I know several customers that lost six figure accounts dealing with these brokers. The government claims that through its enforcement and regulation, it performs the due diligence that the trader would normally conduct.

The discovery of multiple accounting frauds, all in the hundreds of millions of dollars (MF Global was over 1 billion), exposes the situation for what it is: a farce. The CFTC and NFA are grossly incompetent at evaluating which forex brokerages are safe places to put your money.

That doesn’t mean to run off and put your money with some shoebox broker in Belize, either. The goal is to strike a balance between selecting a location where the rule of law still matters and where the banking system isn’t on the verge of collapse.

The events in Cyprus had absolutely nothing to do with the forex brokerage. The company got caught up in banking events that put the entire system at risk. The bank account (and its location) of your broker is a critical factor in your decision.

Here are some of the jurisdictions that I like for banking and forex brokers:

  • Singapore – no history of banking failures. It probably has something to do with its severe criminal penalties. It’s harsh, but there’s no disputing that the rule of law governs the country. I would be inclined to take Singaporean claims of safety of funds at face value
  • Chile. I’m a huge fan of Sovereign Man. Otherwise, I never would have considered the country were it not for their newsletter. Every report that I’ve read supports the idea of a stable banking system and a government that serves justice blindly.
  • Australia – The government’s debt to GDP ratio is heavy but not impossible to service. Regulation also means something here, even if it’s heavy and burdensome. Pepperstone and Go Markets are two brokers that OneStepRemoved has done work for in the past. AxiTrader also sends us referrals on a consistent basis. ILQ is a true ECN that offers very low spreads to retail traders.

I trade my live accounts at Pepperstone, which I believe is the best endorsement that I can give. My personal money is on deposit with the company. They’re also on my list of recommended forex brokers.

Jurisdictions that I’m ambivalent towards:

  • Switzerland – Yes, there are good banks in Switzerland. There is also the UBS and Credit Suisse crowd that required government bailouts and emergency capital. The Swiss brand is heavily tarnished
  • Finland – the only EU country bent on kicking out the PIIGS from the euro. I wouldn’t want my personal money in any EU bank, but I suppose it’s the best of the worst if you want to trade in Europe. FinFX, a Finnish forex broker, also accepts US customers.
  • New Zealand – a similar case to Australia. New Zealand seems to position itself as a Western safe haven for assets. The Cook Islands, which are known for its trusts, are a protectorate of New Zealand. I don’t know much about the regulatory effectiveness or the stability of its banks.
  • United Kingdom – I honestly don’t like this option very much. The only reason that it makes the list is that the FSA appears to do a good job policing fraud and enforcing segregated accounts. The indebtedness of their banking system makes me extremely wary.

Jurisdictions where you’re nuts to put your money (assuming that you don’t live there). All of them have indebted banking systems up to their eyeballs. You risk getting Cyprused working with a broker here:

  • Cyprus
  • Ireland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Spain
  • Italy
  • Portugal
  • Greece
  • Malta
  • Japan
  • US

Trade on a line of credit

A line of credit is my favorite option. It eliminates most of the risk in a forex broker bankruptcy. Unfortunately, it’s also out of my league.

Starting a line of credit involves selecting a banking partner acceptable to both yourself and your broker. A number of legal agreements go back and forth, requiring time and effort from the broker’s legal team (i.e., it’s expensive).

Most brokers require a starting balance above one million dollars to consider accepting a line of credit from a bank. The time and effort involved with setting up credit lines under that threshold don’t make sense.

A line of credit is secured through a deposit at the bank of your choice. Say that you’re trading 5 million dollars and you believe that HSBC Singapore is a wonderful place to hold your money. You do just that. You open an account directly with the bank and inquire about establishing a line of credit secured through the cash deposit.

HSBC Singapore

HSBC Singapore

When you’re ready to open a new forex account, the broker may require that you deposit 10% with them. The remaining 90% stays at the bank via the line of credit. The bank and its capital assures the broker that any losses you suffer are covered by the bank. The bank then deducts the losses from your available balance.

Profits accrue at the broker. If you want to withdraw them, you simply pull the profits back into your bank account.

The 10/90 ratio is flexible and completely open to negotiation. These things don’t get set up all that often. 10/90 is more of a starting point for the discussion.

If you’re in the admirable situation of trading a million+ dollar account, then you have a tremendous opportunity to safeguard your funds at the bank of your choice anywhere around the world. The country of business where your broker operates becomes largely irrelevant. Contact me directly at info@onestepremoved.com if you would like to arrange a line of credit between yourself and your forex broker.

Conclusion

The rules for safe guarding your forex deposits are simple. There are countless forex brokers to choose from. Instead of risking all of your money in one spot, it’s best to spread it around in countries with strong banks. You might also consider using one of our recommended forex brokers.

You are legally lending money to the forex broker when you open an account. The broker then legally lends your deposit to the bank. You can want to ensure that you’re lending your capital to businesses – the broker and its bank – that are extremely likely to pay you back.

The line of credit is the best option available. Instead of facing two counterparty risks, you largely remove the broker from the equation. You can then focus on your trading and let your broker focus on its primary service of providing excellent execution on your trades.

My live account is at Pepperstone. If you’re interested in trading with them, I’m happy to share my experiences and why I chose them.

Filed Under: What's happening in the current markets? Tagged With: bank, bankrupt, Cyprus, forex broker, jurisdiction, line of credit

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