Rating
Introduction
OneUp Trader is a funded trading program providing traders with capital and support to trade the financial markets. It has experienced mentors and focuses on risk management and trade planning to help traders build successful trading careers.
If you’re like me, you had no idea what a funded trading account was. OneUp Trader was a godsend to me in that regard. All successful traders get funded accounts.
You don’t need to use a specific trading strategy. However, the platform is helpful in the sense that it offers newcomers a set of rules that they must follow in order to pass the evaluation phase of the program and then keep up with their funded accounts.
It is an excellent option for traders that have a winning strategy and who want to trade using a funded account that’s risk-free. But there are some bad points about it, such as the fact it can be a real money sink if you aren’t able to make it past the evaluation phase.
Contents
Let’s Talk Prices of OneUp Trader
When you decide to start with OneUp Trader, you will pick a plan that’s based upon the size of the account you would like to receive once you prove you are successful during your evaluation.
You will find that the account sizes vary in terms of the max number of contracts you can hold at any given moment, the daily profit you’d like to hit, max drawdown, and your max daily loss.
After you choose this, there will also be pricing differences that depend upon the amount of profit you want to keep. If you want to keep 50% or 80% of the profits, the pricing will differ.
For example, a plan that involves a 50% profit sharing benefit will let you keep ALL Of the first 5,000 dollars that you make. Meanwhile, an 80% profit-sharing plan benefit will let you keep the first $8K you make.
The plan pricing does vary-it starts at $95 a month for a $25,000 account at 50% profit sharing all the way up to $650 a month for a $250,000 account with an 80% profit sharing benefit.
If you choose to reset your account as a result of breaking the rules of OneUp Trader, it will cost you $100 per instance of resetting.
There is also a 14-day free trial offered with an account valued at $100,000 which is a great deal. You would normally pay $240 for such an account with a 50% profit sharing benefit.
The Evaluation Stage
Before you can even get your account with OneUp Trader, you are going to need to get through a 15-day period we call the Evaluation Stage.
It may take place on non-consecutive days, which can work to your advantage if you are starting out during a volatile market period. To do the evaluations, Ninja Trader platform is a free option, but other platforms may NOT be used during this period.
It may seem like the requirements are stringent, but I liked that the people at OneUp were very transparent about what they required out of people that wanted to join.
The profit target you will be asked to meet is chosen based upon the size of your account as well as your daily loss limits and drawdown.
The trading products are also quite limited. It’s a limited amount of equity and e-mini futures, commodity futures, and currency futures.
And here is a special note as we don’t all live in Central Time Zones: You have to have all positions closed up by 3:15 PM Central each day, and you also have to trade consistently during your trial.
So yeah, it seems a bit much, but they are at least honest about it before you start. You should be able to think hard about it and decide ahead of time whether or not you can reach a funded account within 1-2 tries.
I would recommend that you try it out on a simulated account using the regulations as set forth by OneUp Trader, so you can see if this is doable for you or if you will be throwing away hundreds by constantly resetting the accounts.
About the Funded Accounts
If you do manage to get that great funded account, things are going to get a little more hairy. Trading rules will stay the same, but you will be able to choose from over a dozen trading platforms to do your analysis and trading.
The flip side is that you are going to have to pay for the trading platform, plus the trade data you get from Rithmic. The fees for this will be auto debited from your earnings that you make with your funded accounts.
Bear in mind that the rules still very much apply here. If you violate these rules, you are going to lose your account, and you will have to go back to start, doing that evaluation stage all over again.
So, what are these rules? Well, minimum limits are just one of these. There are minimum limits on what you can take out from your trading account. If you don’t meet these standards, you will not be able to get hold of the dollars you earned while funded trading.
I should note that OneUp was not very open about this and it took me a little while of searching to find this out for myself.
The Layout
OneUp Trader is very social in nature compared to some other platforms I’ve used. Instead of a laser focus on analytics, this tends to focus on the social aspects of trading.
You will find plenty of useful stuff here, such as market quotes, but you’re going to see lots of screencaps and comments from others using the program.
I think this is pretty nice if you’re experienced, but I think newbies could fall into the trap of “Oh no, guy over here is having trouble trading, and so is lady over here, looks like markets aren’t great-I better reset my account!”
And then $100 goes flying out the window. The bottom line? Stay in your own lane and don’t get hung up on what others are doing. Do what YOU think is right.
The Features
OneUp Trader’s Account Analytics screen will show you a plethora of charts that will grant you some insight into how your evaluation is coming along, as well as your funded account.
There are heaps of stats you can view, plus graphics of how your trading is going compared to the goals you set in your account balance.
After that, things stay pretty basic. You’re going to be hanging around the Ninja Trader interface a lot, which is where your trading will actually happen.
Is This Good for Me?
If you are an experienced trader that is confident in their abilities to trade within the boundaries set forth by the platform, then have at it. I would highly recommend you do this on a simulator before you take part in the actual services offered by OneUp Trader.
You would not want to risk losing any money, no matter how good of a trader you are.
Even if you are experienced, you may find that you’re better off trading independently than with OneUp Trader. After you take into consideration all the fees involved, it may just be better for you to go your own way.
Conclusion
In sum, OneUp Trader has good stuff to offer-a fair way to evaluate your profile, especially in times of market volatility, transparent requirements and risk-free funded accounts.
That being said, I think this a great way to grow your money, and I think the friendly interface and chance to interact with other traders is fantastic. Go check it out and start growing that wealth!
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