Trading Approach
For the Apex evaluation accounts, I trade the micros such as MNQ, MES, and MGC, but most of the time just MNQ. I mentioned before that I just started learning to trade futures when joining Apex, and so far, I really like trading futures because in a way, I think it’s simpler (but not necessarily easier) than equities and options, but I have a lot to learn about it. In general, I trade based on key levels or zones that are mapped out on charts and wait for confirmation of pivotal areas and get in long or short. But I tend to go long more than short most of the time. I do layer in other tools and use a few private indicators to help me decide if I want to get in or not. I mostly trade intra-day (and scalping as needed) using mostly 1 and 5 minute timeframes and using 1 hour and daily for context. I may trade aftermarket, premarket, at the open, and shortly after the open depending on the setups that fit my intended plan for the day and what I see is happening in the markets. I try not to trade after 10am or 11am EST.
I’ve been asked why I have so many evaluation accounts and with different account sizes, and would it be confusing to keep track and trade them all? Everyone’s different with what works for them and what their goals are. For me, my intermediate to longer term goal is build up as much capital as I can. I feel that with large capital, low-end single digit % returns can make a big impact and will give me less pressure. This particular prop firm is unique in that you can trade up to 20 accounts. With 20 accounts and the ability to replicate trades from one account to many accounts, think about it. Personally, I think this is one of the very few opportunities available to retail traders to get access to big capital in a relatively shorter amount of time.
But of course, this method comes with its own downsides and risks. One of the downsides is that the evaluation fees can become very costly (they often offer discounts). I blew up my first set of 20 eval. accounts relatively faster than I thought by copy trading to all the accounts - when it goes in your favor it’s really good and when it doesn’t it’s really bad. But then I was also learning and experimenting with futures and the trading platform I was using. With my second set of 20 accounts, I had to change and learn to become more conservative, organized and strategic about how I use the 20 eval accounts. I am a big spreadsheet user, so this helps keep things in order with tracking and metrics. Otherwise, having a lot of accounts can hurt more than help.
I ended up going with a “portfolio” approach and assign different group of accounts different size allocations and setups. That’s where I’m at now. I’ve been able to keep this set of 20 eval accounts alive since June 2025 and going slow and hopefully steady but oh man, it has been so hard to build up lately. My best trading days happened in the last 2 weeks of June which propelled my accounts across the board to about $32k in gains. And at one point, I built the gains to $60k or so, and then it’s back down to $34k as of last week (posted here.) I still have quite a long way to go to hit the evaluation targets. It can’t be rushed.
I’ve been learning to get back into the markets and not give up after a bad losing day. I’ve learned to be very aware of the difference between revenge and/or fomo trading vs. getting back in to trade intentionally. Also, one of the key differences between my first setup of accounts that I blew up vs. my current set is position size. Simply put, I’m trading very small contract sizes, so that I can more easily recover if a particular trade blows up. In a way, that alone is my stop loss (although, I do also use an actual stop loss as well.)
I remind myself every day now to have a very healthy respect and fear of the markets and use every method and tools that I can to help me stay calm, disciplined, and responsible while trading. So hard.
To see my prior post on my approach to prop firms, click here.