Prop Trading
FAQs.
Questions?
We know you have a lot of questions, so we have compiled nearly all the questions we have experienced over the years. Even if you do not have any questions then it is always a good idea to run through these before starting the assessment.
If you still have questions and wish to contact us directly please feel free to do so by contacting us at Trader Support.
Table of Contents
New to trading or prop trading.
How do you get started?
If you are an experienced trader you can start straightaway with our virtual trading assessment. The virtual trading assessment is a demo account with particular industry standard rules, limit and prohibited trading practices in play. The objective of the virtual trading assessment is for us to determine your ability to trade consistently, profitably and manage the risk protocols.Â
If you have never traded before and have previously invested in stocks and other instruments we advise you to take a course and learn how to trade before taking the assessment.
Why trust us?
Yes we are a startup!
So why trust us when so many prop firms are folding. When you sign up to a prop trading firm you don’t want to pass your assessment and start making money when the firm you have signed up with collapses because it is incorrectly managed.
The team at Alpha Tradrz have been in the prop trading operations with other companies since the inception of the industry. The industry has gone through many changes and challenges and we have been monitoring the problems all the way through. We have waited for over a year to launch and identify solutions to all the challenges.Â
Most of us have grey hair, and have been around the block a number of times. Trading is not easy and nor is running a modern prop firm, however it is the challenge of overcoming the problems that inevitably arise, that is one of our drivers.
We have structured the company in such a way that successful traders become owners of the business so they can share in its success.
It is the objective of the management to reinvest the profits into the company to increase the share price to increase the value of the shareholders. We will not be taking money out to buy speedboats, fast cars and property.
Transparency lies at the heart of the company as you will find out as time goes on. We look forward to onboarding you into the company and reaping the rewards.
Why join Alpha Tradrz?
Our objective is to create a sustainable profitable business by solving many of the problems faced by retail traders and investors.
Three of the biggest problems are:
1. Undercapitalization
2. Lack of Risk Management
3. Trading Alone
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Who can trade with us?
You must be 18 years or older to participate.
Although we are a US company, the current regulatory climate does not allow US traders. US traders include, citizens, and residents. This also includes US citizens residing outside of the US. However we are starting a futures prop firm to cater for US traders.
As a US company we cannot accept traders from the following OFAC countries:
Republic of Cuba.
Iran
Lebanon
Syria
North Korea
Libya
Sudan
Somalia
Trading Rules.
“There are 2 Soft Breach Rules”
What is a Soft Breach?
A Soft Breach does NOT close your Virtual Trading Account. It simply closes the trade that you have opened that has breached one of the two rules.
Please note that if you open a trade that breaches one of the two rules, when it is closed there will be a small loss on the account. This is caused by the spread at the time. If the spread is large at the time there will be a bigger loss and visa versa.
Stop Loss
In the institutional trading, the Industry Standard is to always have a Stop Loss attached to every trade albeit a Market Order or Pending Order.
All traders that work for us are required to have a Stop Loss.
We do not charge extra for a ‘No Stop Loss’ facility.
Maximum Position Size
The Maximum Position Size is the Maximum amount of risk you may place on any combination of trades. This is expressed in Lots. Here are some examples.
$5,000 Account = 0.5 Lots
$10,000 Account = 1 LotÂ
$25,000 Account = 2.5 Lots
$50,000 Account = 5 Lots
$100,000 Account = 10 Lots
$250,000 Account = 25 Lots
It is a combined amount. so for example all your trades cannot add up to more than the Maximum Position Size.
Our server will pick this up at the time of the trade and will return an error of ‘Not Enough Money’,Â
Trading Limits.
“There are 2 Hard Breach Rules”
What is a Hard Breach?
A Hard Breach does close your account and that is the end of your Virtual Trading Assessment. You will have the opportunity to reset the account and start again.
It should go without saying that there is no refund if this happens.
Daily Loss Limit
This is the maximum loss you can incur in one day. The day is defined as starting at 5pm USA EST. This is also know as the rollover time when all trading accounts are settled, and a new trading starts. Please note at this time the spreads can widen out dramatically.
The Daily Loss Limit is dependent upon the type of assessment you are taking. It is based upon the Equity Balance NOT the Account Balance.Â
You should always know what level your Daily Loss Limit is, so you can monitor it on either your trader dashboard or on your trading platform.
If you break this limit your account is closed and you will need to reset your account which can be found in your Trader Dashboard.
Maximum Trailing Drawdown
The Maximum Trailing Drawdown is a critical part of Risk Management.
Prohibited Practices.
Ensure you understand these before you start your Virtual Trading Assessment, to avoid disappointment.
Prohibited Trading Practices.
Unlike many of the Prop Trading Firms that hide these prohibited practices in the terms and conditions, we want to make it clear before you start, that if you use any of these prohibited practices and they are discovered during the review of your account, you will not pass the assessment.
Engaging in simulated trades that mimic another trader or group of traders across multiple accounts. Using market-purchased Expert Advisors (EAs) that facilitate copy trading. To mitigate possibly violating this rule, we recommend using different set files or adjusting settings.
Simulated Hedging or executing simulated reverse trades within a single demo account is permissible.
– However, executing a simulated buy trade on one demo account and a simulated sell trade on another demo account is prohibited. This violates the rule against simulated reverse trading or simulated hedging across multiple demo accounts.
– Simulated Group hedging involves individuals coordinating opposing positions across one or multiple prop firms or simulated prop firms to reduce/eliminate risk and exploit prop firm or simulated prop firm rules. This practice is also prohibited.
Purchasing or providing live account or demo account management services or engaging in prop firm or simulated prop firm passing services is strictly forbidden.
Sharing your demo account information or allowing someone else to pass a challenge on your behalf is prohibited. Violation of this rule will result in the loss of all involved demo accounts.
Simulated High-frequency trading (HFT) is strictly prohibited at our firm.
Engaging in simulated HFT methods will be considered a violation, and demo accounts associated with such practices will be terminated.
Whilst we love different strategies, thats what provides diversified risk in aour accounts, the Martingale strategy goes completely against any risk good risk management protocols. We do not allow this strategy in the Incubator (Live Accounts) so we do not allow it in the assessemnt.
You cannot utilize non-public and/or insider information.
Holding a Single Share Equity CFD position into an earnings release pertaining to that underlying equity.  To avoid being in breach of this rule, you must close all such Single Share Equity CFD positions by 3:50 pm Eastern Time on the day of the release, if an aftermarket release, or on the preceding day, if a before market open release.  Violation of this rule will constitute an immediate, hard breach of your account and any gain or loss on said position will be removed from any profit calculations.Â
Attempting to arbitrage an Audition account with another account with the Company or any third-party company, as determined by the Company in its sole and absolute discretion.Â
You may not use any third-party strategy, off-the-shelf strategy or one marketed to pass Assessment accounts. We are looking for skilled traders in their own right.
Trading in any way that jeopardizes the relationship that Alpha Tradrz has with their broker or may result in the canceling of trades.
Trading in any way that creates regulatory issues for the Broker.
TIP
Beware of other Prop Firms that do not display this information as nearly all of them have these rules in play.
Explainers.
Below we list explanations, to help clarify any confusion you may have.Â
Below are the maximum open lots across all pairs that a trader can have at any given time.
- $25K =2.5 Lots Max
- $50K = 5 Lots Max
- $100K = 10 Lots Max
- $250K = 25 Lots Max
- $500K = 50 Lots Max
- $1M = 100Lots Max
For example, if you are on the $100k plan you will have 10 open lots with risk available. If you buy 5 lots of EURUSD at 1.20 and your stop loss is at 1.18, you will have 5 lots at risk, so you will still have 5 still available. If the EURUSD moves up to 1.25, and you update your stop loss to be at 1.20, which would be your open price, you no longer have risk on that trade. So, you would again have 10 lots available, even though you currently have 5 lots open.
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If you put too many trades at risk, then our system will liquidate all trades that currently have risk.
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Please note, margin and leverage requirements still apply. So, even though these are the maximum lots that can be traded, it is possible, based on the leverage of the account, that you may not be able to trade up the maximum.
Probably one of the most important metrics in profession and institutional trading. You can learn more here about the High Water Mark.
Simply the HWM is the highest account balance (not equity balance) that your account has achieved. It is important to always know this amount whilst trading, as your Maximum Trailing Drawdown is calculated from this.
New To Prop Trading or Trading.
What does a Funded Trader do?
A funded trader is a professional trader who operates with capital provided by a trading firm or company. The primary role of a funded trader is to generate profits for the firm using the allocated funds while adhering to specific trading guidelines and risk management parameters set by the firm.
Can I Just Take The Virtual Trading Assessment
Yes you can, if you have traded before.
If you have never traded before then we recommend taking a course and we always recommend The Day Trading Masterclass.
Can anyone become a Funded Trader?
Yes in short, however you must be over 18 years old. Currently US traders are unable to participate, in addition to residents of OFAC countries, these include:
Cuba
Iran
Syria
North Korea
Belarus
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Lebanon
Russia
Somalia
Sudan
Burma
Why become a Funded Trader?
Trading your own capital may often not be enough to make sustainable profits each year. Trading a larger account provides the opportunity to realize bigger profits with the added advantage of not risking your own capital. In return for this opportunity AlphaT retains 10% of your profits which is returned to the Incubator Fund.
Assessment Process.
Decide which account size suits you best and get started straightaway. Get Started Here.
You can take your time there is no time limit. Nothing worse than being set a time limit, which forces you to trade. However if your account is dormant and has not been traded for 23 months we will assume you have stopped taking the assessment and your trading account will be closed. If you wish to restart the process after your account is closed you will need to open a new assessment.
You simply have to achieve an 8% profit target. As soon as you have achieved that you will now have become an Alpha Trader and will be allocated a trading account with real money in the incubator.
This will normally be on the same day unless it occurs late on Friday when it will be on the next Monday.
The Incubator.
When you take the trader assessment your Daily Loss Limit and Trailing Max Drawdown is greater than when you trade the live Incubator Fund giving a bigger leaway giving you a better chance of passing the assessment.
When you pass the assessment you will have demonstrated that you can trade within the limits. It is the ability to trade within set limits that is the important metric.
Its is 90% in your favor whilst 10% is retained in the Incubator Fund, providing more capital for fellow Alpha Traders.
It is 3%, with a warning at 1.5%.Â
This is to remind you to take a break and not chase your losses.
Live to fight another day.
If you breach a hard limit your account will be closed and you will have to retake the assessment.
Any profits you have made will be returned to you using the Profit Share schedule.
No you can relax now, you have proven your trading skills and risk management in the assessment, now its time to settle in and either build your account capital and/or withdraw monthly profits
You may withdraw profits on the last day of the month, you should advise us of the amount of profit you would like to withdraw, we will then apply the Profit Share Schedule and you will be advised of that amount. You will then provide us with an invoice for that amount and you will be paid on the next business day, or in the case of the last day falling on the Friday, you will be paid on the Monday.
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No, you are trading our accounts.
Orders & Billing.
Once your payment has been processed you will receive your account details by email within a few minutes. You may then start trading the account, of course always check your email spam box. If you have any problems please contact us immediately so we can resolve any issues.
We accept all major credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, and Cryptocurrency. Fiat currencies are handled by PayPal and Cryptocurrencies are handled by Coinbase.
This is a common question. We are looking for professional skilled traders. We put a lot of effort into finding those traders. As a business we have multiple expenses involved in providing the platform for the assessment including marketing, trading platforms, trader support to name but a few. The fee is competitive with other Prop Trading Firms.
You have heard the phrase ‘having skin in the game’, the fee for the assessment ensures that each trader is committed to passing the assessment, and not using the account as a demo account.
Trader Support.
We know how important trader support is to you.
We encourage you to contact us in the many different communication channels.
We can help you.