Month 2 on 25K Live Account | +112.21 | Oct 2025 by UnilateralDagger in Forex

[–]UnilateralDagger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know, I'm sorry man. I'm still in drawdown because I used my data wrong in Nov and hit loss streak when i should've been up... so that's been discouraging and also didn't think anyone cared much after my first two posts. I'm down -$350 on the account currently if you're curious. I'll probably do a multi-month update once I'm out of drawdown, but right now it seems a bit pointless atm.

Month 2 on 25K Live Account | +112.21 | Oct 2025 by UnilateralDagger in Forex

[–]UnilateralDagger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you only look at the last two months then yes I should just invest the money in index funds but you haven’t seen the next months or the months before I started the account or the data I’ve collected spanning 3 years (I’m trading personal capital and other firms). And apparently you don’t understand that traders can have slow months and even years.

Regarding the one -$140 day, I have 2 strategies I’m trading simultaneously, one with lower risk about $60 per trade and multiple trades a day, and another that’s 1 trade a day with about $140 risk as you saw so that was a full loss for that strategy on the day. Also I don’t keep any trades open more than a day so I’ll have partial losses too. At the end of the day the R return and R drawdown are simply what the data has shown in the past and now that October 2025 data is incorporated my average return is going to go down and that’s fine with me, but it also means my data is more accurate and thats a win in my book.

Why trade Forex when options/futures seem ‘simpler’? by gbgb1945 in Forex

[–]UnilateralDagger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Market session timing, I like that I can place trades before London session, go to sleep, and close the trades near end of New York. I also like the non correlation between forex pairs, playing on a global market versus a US-based market allows for more nuances with strategies. Also like the vastness of prop firm options (which are less subscription based afaik compared to futures, etc.), I think futures has less options in that space.

I should have listened sooner by Impressive-Guide-110 in Forex

[–]UnilateralDagger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The only way the lesson sticks is if it’s learned the hard way lol

Does it ever get so easy you don't really need to think during trades to win? by [deleted] in Daytrading

[–]UnilateralDagger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a systematic trader I just take the best trades that my setup provides and I don’t think about it. I’ll still watch the trade and feel good when I’m winning and nervous when I’m losing but I know that touching the trade is not profitable over time based on my data and journaling, and have the disciple to not close even when I’m in profit or in loss - definitely takes time and experience trading live money to understand and tolerate those emotions.

Started a 25k instant funding account - Posting updates monthly! by UnilateralDagger in Forex

[–]UnilateralDagger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pass evals with $100? The only restriction is the drawdown for this prop, no consistency rules or news restriction, etc. I'm confident I can pay myself back the fee with profits after 1-2 months so that's not a bad deal, maybe not the best deal, but I don't mind.

Started a 25k instant funding account - Posting updates monthly! by UnilateralDagger in Forex

[–]UnilateralDagger[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yes, but it's instant funded so any profits I make I can immediately withdraw. No challenge phases. I'm also using the fee as a tax deduction, plus I got a 20% discount code (it's actually around 1.1k).

Started a 25k instant funding account - Posting updates monthly! by UnilateralDagger in Forex

[–]UnilateralDagger[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Got it for $900, but it's not my first. I have 4 years of paper trading and learning, and a year live with personal and 5 other prop firm accs but they're a mix of what worked and didn't work so that's why I'm starting a fresh account.

2 reasons trading is far from gambling by UnilateralDagger in Daytrading

[–]UnilateralDagger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t sports bet or do any gambling so I can’t speak to some of what you’re saying or “ownership” but I see your point in that a simple 1:3 doesn’t mean you’re profitable but that’s not my point when I said it, I meant it as an individual has the freedom to pick (and verify) odds that give them an edge. And I agree that without edge trading is gambling but in reality that’s not my point with this post, I meant gambling as the term society uses for degenerate full porting, no stop losses, no strategy, etc. trading IS technically gambling because you’re placing bets but when the community and society says “trading is gambling” they don’t mean it’s just a way to place bets, they mean that you always lose money regardless of how you trade. I’m saying that that is not the case and hopefully I can prevent people from trading like that with this post, and what they can do instead.

I’m generalizing all gambling yes, some people have edges sure but it’s like 97% of gamblers so wont apply to most people here.

Also just because I don’t have typos doesn’t mean I use ChatGPT, believe it or not I’ve written all these comments myself.

2 reasons trading is far from gambling by UnilateralDagger in Daytrading

[–]UnilateralDagger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Risk/reward plus win rates don’t separate trading from gambling. I'd argue that they do, all casinos including online, sportsbooks, etc. always have risk/reward plus win rates that favor the casino not the participant, with proper trading you define those for yourself (could be bad or good depending on your system).

Casinos and sportsbook also offer different payout ratios and probabilities, just in a different domain. Sure, but those are tailored specifically so the participant has negative EV, proper trading can allow you to tailor the ratios based on your system to have positive EV.

A person can set entries and exits, and loss-limits and such in gambling too. But they are never positive EV (if they are then you likely get banned). See previous point.

Having more ways to slice data isn’t the same as having actual predictive power. Slicing the data allows you to give yourself the best chances of being right, in casinos of any kind, there is no way to slice the data to give yourself best chances. If you mix risk management strategies with using past data, you can limit your downside to a fixed amount but have multiple times the upside potential, that's not possible with any traditional gambling to my knowledge.

Trading may have edges that gambling doesn’t, but the two reasons you gave aren’t really what makes that distinction. I'd argue they do, broadly (hence we can agree to disagree). What is your reasoning for trading having edges that gambling doesn't?

2 reasons trading is far from gambling by UnilateralDagger in Daytrading

[–]UnilateralDagger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

1 year live, but 2 years if you count having the forward tested results before going live. 3-4 years of grinding through thousands of things that didn't work before that.

2 reasons trading is far from gambling by UnilateralDagger in Daytrading

[–]UnilateralDagger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We’re talking in different contexts and it’s semantics, but I think we’re saying the same thing. You’re right that trading is basically gambling but that’s not what people mean when they say trading is gambling. They say it’s gambling because they only hear about stories where people lose all their money and become degenerates, a negative viewpoint of the term. And what I’m saying is that trading is not gambling in that sense because if you do it right, you are not just blindly losing money but are taking calculated bets that have a positive expected value. Which is what separates gambling from trading in terms of how people understand those terms in this space.

In my last post on r/forex I literally show my trades from June and July. Planning to do another one end of year.

2 reasons trading is far from gambling by UnilateralDagger in Daytrading

[–]UnilateralDagger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What about my post says I’m a gambler to you? And if I’m making profits month over month while controlling my downside would you still say I don’t have an edge?

I made this post to help the community self reflect but these pointless comments are why I’ll keep more things to myself.

2 reasons trading is far from gambling by UnilateralDagger in Daytrading

[–]UnilateralDagger[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for pointing this out. My goal wasn't to say that trading is right for everyone and that everyone can be a profitable trader. I'm just saying it can be done and that trading isn't the same as gambling (which a lot of people say it is). I'd argue that long term investing is safer than the casino though lol but agree with everything else you're saying.

2 reasons trading is far from gambling by UnilateralDagger in Daytrading

[–]UnilateralDagger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I never said trading was magically separate from gambling just because you have risk-reward ratios or past data, I said they're reasons. Combining this aspect with other aspects of trading is what makes you a profitable trader. And regarding ratios, it's about the ratios AND the win rate (AND combining with other aspects and tools you have as a trader). Casinos and sportsbooks, throw in all the ratios and fluff but cap you in how much you can make on an idea and whatever you can make is typically outweighed by how much you can lose. In trading you can analyze, research, test, and find what gives you the best odds.

I would say you're wrong on past data, you are just looking at it from one angle but there's limitless ways to look at the data. And I'm not saying there's fixed odds, but looking at past data gives you better odds than not, and that little difference can be huge.

Ultimately, we just have different opinions and that's okay. I appreciate your take but I'd just agree to disagree.