How to Use cTrader’s Best Features for Your FTMO Challenge

How to Use cTrader’s Best Features for Your FTMO Challenge

[Note: This blog post features paid affiliate links for FTMO. I personally sought to become an affiliate of FTMO because I genuinely trust them to provide a reliable and realistic model for prop trading]

Hey there, folks! My name is Andrew Blom, founder, and CEO of Disciplined Fx. If you’re new here, welcome! I first started teaching myself how to day trade after developing a chronic illness and needing to find a way to make money from home with a minimal amount of time and energy.

I’m also a Ph.D. student pursuing a doctorate in business with a concentration in entrepreneurship, and the intention of disciplined fx is to provide a safe space that supports diverse traders from all walks of life to learn how to hone discipline and a trading mindset to succeed in forex markets.

For today’s tutorial, we’re going to tour my favorite platform FTMO offers its traders, the browser-based cTrader platform.

I’m currently taking the FTMO challenge and will report soon on those results!

I’ve chosen to use cTrader as my platform of choice because it’s the option most similar to TradingView, which I’ve used through Oanda for a few years now. I’ve tried my hand at mt4 in the past and never fully adapted to its interface.

I’ll explain why this platform is easier to use than mt4 or 5, list some of its best features and how to use them, as well as how to set up a chart for a free 5-minute scalping strategy I made for you. (Watch the video on this page for that last bit of information!) Okay, let’s dive in!

Why cTrader is Better Than MT4/MT5

So first, I want to sing praises of cTrader as it compares to mt4 and mt5.

I’ll admit that I never lasted with either of tcTrader ftmo challengehose programs for more than a few days, and my opinion of them would likely be different if I was forced to learn that platform because of a lack of options.

However, I actually think of myself as a lazy trader and will pick resources and strategies that minimize the amount of effort I need to perform during a trading session.

My biggest issue with mt4 and5 is that they’re not very intuitive and, frankly, they’re really archaic-looking despite how far technological design has advanced in just the last ten years alone.

I believe at this point in time highly technical programs almost act as a form of gatekeeping. Setting up and closing trades does not need to be complicated, even if making trading decisions is challenging, and charting software by TradingView and cTrader are much better examples of intuitive and clean design compared to mt4 or mt5. 

How to Use cTrader’s Best Features

To show you the ways in which this platform outperforms mt4 or mt5, let’s go over some of its best features.

1) Easy and Informative Order FormcTrader order form FTMO

cTrader makes it so easy to make sure you’re trading the right position size and will even calculate the percentage risked for you. It’s so convenient! Also, setting up take-profit targets and stop losses, as well as trailing stops, is easy and can be set up right on the order form as part of one whole trade order. 

2) There is a lot of freedom of use when it comes to applying drawing tools and chart stamps.

There’s the cross-hair, which is the tool you’ll need to measure price ranges and pip sizes on the chart.

I’ll often use this to mark the points at which I’ll need to set an alarm for when I move my stop loss closer. This one feature alone makes me love FTMO’s cTrader more than Oanda’s offering of trading view.

Snapshot is also a neat tool for discovering the details of individual candles and price points. Then we have a list of charting analysis drawing tools, such as your fibonacci tool, as well as stamps and lines for marking up candlestick patterns and notes. You can also use their snapshot feature or your own computer’s snipping tool to capture chart screenshots.

What’s also cool is that you can draw on your indicators, as well. This is really handy if you use any of your indicators as setup, entry, or exit signals. 

3) BUY/SELL FTMO open position scalecTrader buy sell button FTMO

Another neat tool is that upon the ask and sell chart button, you can see this green and red bar that shifts according to how many other FTMO traders are in buying or selling positions. 

4) All of Your Account and Market Information Next to Your Chart

You can pull up economic news, data about your account, and even a kind of level 2 analysis of trading orders on the panel without having to open up another screen or go to the brokerage website. 

5) Time-Until-Next-Candle Countdown

Lastly, another useful feature for scalpers, in particular, is the countdown to the next candle that you can see right under the current candle. I personally time my entries with the closing and opening of certain candles so this little feature is gold!

FTMO.com - Funding for successful traders

What do you think, is cTrader your kind of platform? As you can see, everything you need is nested in one place without being displayed in a way that’s overwhelming.

If you haven’t already, I recommend checking out FTMO if you’re confident in your risk management skills and have a strategy you trust. A big hurdle for most traders who are new to the experience of consistently profiting is having too small of an account size to actually make a decent income. FTMO provides traders who pass the challenge with a 5- or 6-figure account and PAYS OUT 70% OF PROFIT to you, the trader, at the end of the month. It’s a great way to make an income off of your trading skills and discipline!