₦airaland Forum

The sell strong, 4450 may likely send it back. Market decides.

samfelly:
4403, incoming

Gold bears might be up to something

If 4450 does not hold, omo na to go pick am for 4380 be that. digging deep

#FTA

#BUY USDJPY

Entry : 156.072
Tp : 157.719
Sl : 155.910

Not Financially Advised...✍

Donsheddy:
Esteemed Members,

After thoughtful discussion, we've decided to create a special space in FTA Nairaland Thread for all of us to reflect on our trading journey in 2025 and look ahead to 2026. To make this happen, we'll be locking the Telegram group from December 27, 2025, Saturday at 12:00 AM to January 3, 2026, Saturday at 12:00 AM.

During this time, we'd love for everyone to share their trading experiences on the thread. Please include:

1. What you learned during the course of the year.
2. Areas you discovered that still need improvement.
3. Areas you improved on within the year and how it shaped your trading journey.
4. Mistakes you made that other newbies should avoid.

Also, when our host ALEXA58 opens the 2026 thread on January 1, 2026, we encourage everyone to drop their plans for the new year:

1. How you intend to trade in 2026.
2. Things you want to test or try out in 2026 to improve your trading journey, and how you plan to go about it.

We believe that self-realization, journaling, and holding each other accountable are key ways we can grow together as traders.

Some of our community members have already started reflecting on their 2025 journey, sharing lessons learned and setting goals for 2026. This kind of sharing can be really inspiring and helpful for everyone.

Thank you for being part of this community, and let's make this a productive and supportive space for all of us.

God bless you all,

FTA Admins

MY 2025 TRADING JOURNEY

I started trading in April 2024. This was when I opened my first demo account. I demo traded for about three months funding my first broker account sometime in August 2024. I traded mostly XAUUSD, BTCUSD and experimented on a few other pairs.
2024 was all about experimenting. No clear direction. Watching YouTube trying to find a strategy, to find an edge in the markets. There was no proper guidance, no proper mentor so everything was all trial and error.
I also started considering prop firms but seeing as I had not still found an edge, I didn't know how I was going to pass the prop firm challenge, get funded or get a payout. But when I saw DonSheddy post how it took him a year and five months to pass his Phase 1 on his account, that caused a mindset shift for me that I didn't have to rush the process. I could take my time to learn this thing and with dedication and God's grace, I will surely get to the promised land.
In January 2025, things started to take some shape. I learnt supply and demand trading and decided that was how I wanted to trade. I pinpointed a few YouTube mentors who traded the way I wanted to trade. I narrowed down my asset classes to just three; EURUSD, GBPUSD and USDCHF. I bought my first prop account; a $6k FN 2 step account.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNT IN 2025

I have learnt a lot in terms of risk management, discipline and strategy. But the biggest lessons are as follows.
1. Don't try to catch every move: This is one of the quickest ways to blow your account. I used to try to understand every move in the market and why price moved that way. This got me getting into trades I had no business being in. Instead, have a particular setup, a particular trade type, a set of confluences that have to align before you place a trade. Or else, you're just gambling. For me, with the limited number of pairs I trade, sometimes it means only a trade a week because these set of confluences don't show up every day on the charts. This realization only dawned on me in the end part of 2025.
2. Have another win outside of trading. This will keep your psychology in check. Trading will break you and bring you to tears many times. We all know the story. So try to have another daily win outside the charts that will keep you in the right frame of mind. It could be anything; gym, your job, your family, some progress in another skill you're building or anything else. Let me share a personal story.
Earlier this year, on one of those down days, where I had a very bad trading day of losing trades, overleveraging and breaking all the rules, I sat at my desk very sad and close to tears. Then I got a call from my elder and her kids. Just a routine call to check up on me. I spoke with the kids, talked and laughed for about 15 minutes. When I got off that call, I was in a different state mentally. I was happy and positive. That call probably saved my trading career because I was almost at the point of giving up that day. Since then, I make sure something else is going well for me outside my trading. Having another win outside trading will give you the strength to keep going on those rough days.

AREAS THAT STILL NEED IMPROVEMENT
In the latter part of 2025, I made a lot of improvement in areas of risk management and psychology. Having a particular trade type meant less trades so I could easily deal with FOMO and overtrading. Where I really suffered which caused me significant drawdown to my accounts was in the area of not respecting my stop loss. I would hold a losing trade, move my stop loss further away or delete it completely and end up taking a much bigger loss than I would originally have had if I had just respected my stop loss. This was the main reason I blew my first FN $6k account and got into deep drawdown on my other accounts. This area still needs improving.
Another area that needs improving is fear of taking a loss. This has got me missing a lot of trades because I was afraid to execute.
I also need to understand liquidity better, how to read it, how to see the manipulations and how I can avoid traps set by institutions for retail traders. This is a real challenge.
Another area I need to improve on is my overall strategy. I have to refine it better and be better able to spot it when it shows up on the charts.

MISTAKES I MADE
One grave mistake I made that I also think newbies should avoid is rushing to buy accounts without first finding consistent profitability. I don't like trading small accounts because I believe the whole idea of prop firms is the leverage it gives you to trade bigger capital. My first prop account was a $6k FN 2-step account which I built to 5% at a point.
This was the mindset I had when I emptied my savings to purchase a $100k FTMO account in August. That account is currently in 5% DD and I have no idea how I will get out of DD as I type this. I have stopped trading that account and focus on my $25k DNA funded and my Exness personal account. I also have the giveaway account from Blueberry Funded. I'll focus on trading those small accounts first and try to pass them before going back to my FTMO.
So focus on building your capacity technically and psychologically with small accounts before investing money to buy bigger accounts.

I am still not profitable and I still haven't passed Phase 1 on any of my accounts yet. As a matter of fact, I am still in drawdown on majority of my accounts. But I am optimistic that all that will be history at the end of 2026. I'm still on the journey and will never give up until I get to the promised land.

Thank you.

TRADING PLAN FOR 2026

In 2026, I plan to trade less. I have come to understand that less is more and you don't need to catch every move. One trade a week with a RR of 1:5 is enough to make you profitable more than tens of trades every week. The best trading opportunities to make money don't come every day so I will focus on fewer quality trades even though I will be on the charts every day to monitor price action and get more screen time. I'll just do more of what worked for me in 2025 using the Pareto principle of 80/20. I'll focus 80 percent of my time on the things that worked for me in 2025. There isn't really much I would do differently. In 2025, I hope to get more screen time and better train my eyes to clearly identify my setup when it shows up on the charts. Also to be able to execute it cleanly without fear.

Thank you.

Not buying anytime soon mehn, make wetin happen to Akpabio that year no go happen again

obajoey:
If 4450 does not hold, omo na to go pick am for 4380 be that. digging deep

Be teachable.Learn from your charts. Every candle is a story. It's not always smooth but it's doable. Only when you try again, again and again.

obajoey:
The sell strong, 4450 may likely send it back. Market decides.

I love the sound of that

samfelly:
I love the sound of that

Me I think I'll start looking for shorts from Asian session sef, but I'll wait to see how today's candle closes, I'm seeing a huge bearish engulfing candlestick on the daily and this maybe the beginning of a long correction on gold, if I'm right on this then we may likely see continuation of buys in February. January will be more of corrections and consolidations.

My reasons are;
Next week, we are more likely to get a strong NFP report
If trump announces the next Fed chairman, we may see a short term rally and then a massive dump (classic buy the rumor sell the news move) because we all know that trump is going to pick a puppet Fed chair who will cut rates aggressively hence all ready priced in
And lastly, majority of wall street traders are still on holiday

Count down to the next BTC halving

Though I'm not a swing trader but this might help the swing traders among us. There is a setup on the monthly chart that signifies gold has a high probability of selling all the way down to the critical zone 4221.025.So,if I'm going to swing trade gold, I would look for a sell.

This isn't a financial advice, trade with caution, just my own sentiment about the market movement.

obajoey:
If 4450 does not hold, omo na to go pick am for 4380 be that. digging deep

4284 is possible

Sellers go fit buy nairaland today

obajoey:
If 4450 does not hold, omo na to go pick am for 4380 be that. digging deep

Davigle:
Me I think I'll start looking for shorts from Asian session sef, but I'll wait to see how today's candle closes, I'm seeing a huge bearish engulfing candlestick on the daily and this maybe the beginning of a long correction on gold, if I'm right on this then we may likely see continuation of buys in February. January will be more of corrections and consolidations.

My reasons are;
Next week, we are more likely to get a strong NFP report
If trump announces the next Fed chairman, we may see a short term rally and then a massive dump (classic buy the rumor sell the news move) because we all know that trump is going to pick a puppet Fed chair who will cut rates aggressively hence all ready priced in
And lastly, majority of wall street traders are still on holiday

I dey believe you like fulani dey believe AK47 😁

We are so gonna short Gold to the dip deep, shortn't we?

Na Achiever and Godwin dey do this thing

samfelly:
We are so gonna short Gold to the dip deep, shortn't we?

obajoey:
Sellers go fit buy nairaland today

How much Seun wan collect and lets start the bidding o

What i am looking at

Closed at entry

Infact. What a time to be trading silver and gold

Davigle:
Omo kafaya dey bleed, chai who missile my wife like dis naw
But e sha dey sweet me because opportunity don dey come for me to ride her, it may be this week or next week

#operationcorocodilewaitactivated🐊🐊🐊

samfelly:
4284 is possible

Haaa. In one day or tomorrow

Started the year trading Demo, switched to cent account and then funded an Exness live account in April which was profitable for months with rising equity curve till September where it seemed like the model was failing maybe it was just a change in market profile.

Got a $5,000 prop account in November, this one is in DD but I’m very cautious with it, less than 0.5% in DD. I was lucky to win a $25,000 account in December which is also seeing a healthy rising equity too.

1. What I learned during this year trading,
I learnt patience and trusting the system even if it fails. I also made it a habit to go through my journal during the weekend and subconsciously, I tend to recall mistakes I made in a previous trade once it occurs again when live.
2. Areas I needed improvement includes Waiting for the setup to fulling form, i.e allow that you entry tf candle to close, has your parameters been met in line with the weekly and Daily. Also an upclose candle will be bearish before closing up, reverse for bullish on the weekly so I think OHLC.
3. Areas I improved, journaling. I took it a step higher and reduced the ambiguity and I actually stated how I felt when in a trade and if I don’t take a trade I state it.
4. Mistake I made is always anticipating every move which is not necessary, allow the machine do what it wants and if it provides you with a setup you’re familiar with, take it and if it fails go back and learn the reason it failed.

Donsheddy:
Esteemed Members,

After thoughtful discussion, we've decided to create a special space in FTA Nairaland Thread for all of us to reflect on our trading journey in 2025 and look ahead to 2026. To make this happen, we'll be locking the Telegram group from December 27, 2025, Saturday at 12:00 AM to January 3, 2026, Saturday at 12:00 AM.

During this time, we'd love for everyone to share their trading experiences on the thread. Please include:

1. What you learned during the course of the year.
2. Areas you discovered that still need improvement.
3. Areas you improved on within the year and how it shaped your trading journey.
4. Mistakes you made that other newbies should avoid.

Also, when our host ALEXA58 opens the 2026 thread on January 1, 2026, we encourage everyone to drop their plans for the new year:

1. How you intend to trade in 2026.
2. Things you want to test or try out in 2026 to improve your trading journey, and how you plan to go about it.

We believe that self-realization, journaling, and holding each other accountable are key ways we can grow together as traders.

Some of our community members have already started reflecting on their 2025 journey, sharing lessons learned and setting goals for 2026. This kind of sharing can be really inspiring and helpful for everyone.

Thank you for being part of this community, and let's make this a productive and supportive space for all of us.

God bless you all,

FTA Admins

abham:
Started the year trading Demo, switched to cent account and then funded an Exness live account in April which was profitable for months with rising equity curve till September where it seemed like the model was failing maybe it was just a change in market profile.

Got a $5,000 prop account in November, this one is in DD but I’m very cautious with it, less than 0.5% in DD. I was lucky to win a $25,000 account in December which is also seeing a healthy rising equity too.

1. What I learned during this year trading,
I learnt patience and trusting the system even if it fails. I also made it a habit to go through my journal during the weekend and subconsciously, I tend to recall mistakes I made in a previous trade once it occurs again when live.
2. Areas I needed improvement includes Waiting for the setup to fulling form, i.e allow that you entry tf candle to close, has your parameters been met in line with the weekly and Daily. Also an upclose candle will be bearish before closing up, reverse for bullish on the weekly so I think OHLC.
3. Areas I improved, journaling. I took it a step higher and reduced the ambiguity and I actually stated how I felt when in a trade and if I don’t take a trade I state it.
4. Mistake I made is always anticipating every move which is not necessary, allow the machine do what it wants and if it provides you with a setup you’re familiar with, take it and if it fails go back and learn the reason it failed.

Bossmiiiiiiiiii
It's really been a very long while sir
Where have you been naw
You've been so radio silent
Great to have you back

Eyin bois

You are even nice, 4150. By 7pm, na wake-keep service for gold. sorry @Davido

samfelly:
4284 is possible

Ok everyone, what I'm going to advice might shock some of us but here goes nothing, if your strategy permits avoiding stop loss, then avoiding stop loss will be a great edge for your trading. A lot of us don't use adr, do you know that you can use adr as stop loss.
Gold moves at average of 1000 pips, this is how I trade, once I see my setup, I enter, I project gold adr back and forth, even with A+ setup, I always have it at the back of my mind that gold can move against me by 1xadr, and I enter with lotsize that my small capital carry 5xadr, then I wait, if the market goes against my anchor trade by 1xadr, and I see my A+setup again, I start loading my trades until the market goes in the desired direction. If my A+setup is at ATH, I'll load up like the current short setup I posted. On a live cent account, I don't load up because the capital is not much unless I grow the cent account to a very high capital, loading up will follow.
In the course of my trading, no matter where I placed my stop loss, the market alway finds a way to hit it 100% and go back in the intended direction and it dawned on me that my A+ setup always tally with stop hunt zones.
So I stopped using stop loss for my A+ setups😔
Most of my cent account that I traded, the market always hit my stop loss 10 out of 10 and I've decided to build my cent account to a very high capital that will enable me to load exactly like my demo account which I've been running since march this year and I was able to double a balance of 5m euros to currently 13.5m euros😔

📉gold = -3%
silver = -8%
platinum = -12%
palladium = -15%

#PreciousMetals #PriceDecline #Commodities

infofirst:
Haaa. In one day or tomorrow

Boss, na today o. Gold jumped out of Burj Khalifa without a parachute o 😁

It's a free fall something, baba

obajoey:
You are even nice, 4150. By 7pm, na wake-keep service for gold. sorry @Davido

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Nothing spoil you need to see the way ah dey sharpen my cutlass as ah dey look silver, although I will not touch gold and silver today, but I'm enjoying the scenes


Meanwhile I watching to see if BTC will dump as usual as Michael don load another buy, it's also red in wall street as well

obajoey:
You are even nice, 4150. By 7pm, na wake-keep service for gold. sorry @Davido

Toor, lobatan. Baba Infofirst, you dey hear so

EASYLIFE4US:
Ok everyone, what I'm going to advice might shock some of us but here goes nothing, if your strategy permits avoiding stop loss, then avoiding stop loss will be a great edge for your trading. A lot of us don't use adr, do you know that you can use adr as stop loss.
Gold moves at average of 1000 pips, this is how I trade, once I see my setup, I enter, I project gold adr back and forth, even with A+ setup, I always have it at the back of my mind that gold can move against me by 1xadr, and I enter with lotsize that my small capital carry 5xadr, then I wait, if the market goes against my anchor trade by 1xadr, and I see my A+setup again, I start loading my trades until the market goes in the desired direction. If my A+setup is at ATH, I'll load up like the current short setup I posted. On a live cent account, I don't load up because the capital is not much unless I grow the cent account to a very high capital, loading up will follow.
In the course of my trading, no matter where I placed my stop loss, the market alway finds a way to hit it 100% and go back in the intended direction and it dawned on me that my A+ setup always tally with stop hunt zones.
So I stopped using stop loss for my A+ setups😔

Please, remind me to add your name to the list of our 2026 Guest Speakers/Lecturers.

Omo, FTA26 go see a new kind of dawn by the time we start using Zoom or Google Meet to gaining from one another's unique ways of trading.

We no really need any holy grail of trading if we just borrow from each others' specialty ways of catching tangible/profitable trades with minimal drawdowns

samfelly:
Please, remind me to add your name to the lost of our 2026 Guest Speakers/Lecturers.

Abeg ooo make e be google meet o, ah no fit install zoom for my phone aha.

Davigle:
Abeg ooo make e be google meet o, ah no fit install zoom for my phone aha.

Google meet it would be then