I almost made a mistake this week. A big one. Watching the SP500 bleed for the fourth straight week, every instinct screamed 'buy the dip.' The little voice that wants a heroic bottom call got loud. But then the trader who has failed over 20 prop firm challenges took over. That trader—the one who's actually profitable—knows that fighting a trend like this is the fastest way to blow an account. With the index threatening to close negative for a fifth consecutive week tomorrow, my plan is simple: respect the trend and sell the pops.

We've seen a steady unwind from the highs, with each rally attempt being sold off harder than the last. The market sentiment is clearly risk-off. This isn't just noise; it's a pattern. The daily 21 EMA has been acting like a brick wall, and we've just sliced through what I saw as key support around 4920 on the E-mini S&P futures (ES). Honestly, the narrative doesn't even matter that much to me right now—whether it's rate hike fears or something else, the price action is screaming weakness. As Emma Blackwood often points out, the institutional flows tell the real story, and right now they're flowing out.

For anyone trading prop firm accounts, marking your levels is non-negotiable. It's the first thing I do every morning. Here's what's on my chart for ES heading into the weekend:

• Key Resistance (formerly support): 4920. This is the line in the sand for me. Bulls need to reclaim this to have a chance.
• Minor Support: 4810. This week's low. A break here likely triggers the next leg down.
• The Real Target: 4750. This is a major structural level from back in January. I expect price to gravitate here if 4810 fails.

My entire strategy is built around surviving the drawdown limits. I don't need home runs; I need consistency. One of the best prop firm challenge tips and tricks I can offer is this: trade with the dominant trend, especially when it's this clear. Don't be a hero.

I'm not shorting down here at the lows. That's poor risk/reward. I am patiently waiting for a bounce back towards the 4900-4920 resistance zone. If price pushes up into that area and stalls—showing a bearish wick on the 1-hour or 4-hour chart—that's my signal to enter short. If you want to know how to pass FTMO challenge first try, it's by executing high-probability setups like this, not by guessing bottoms. It requires patience, which is half the battle.

1. Entry Zone: Short between 4900-4920 on signs of rejection.
2. Stop Loss: A firm stop at 4945. If it breaks this, my thesis is wrong and I want out, fast.
3. Profit Target 1: Take partial profits at 4810.
4. Profit Target 2: Let the rest run with a target of 4760, just above the major support.

This setup gives me a clean risk-to-reward ratio of over 1:3 on the final target. That's the kind of math that gets you funded. Even with equities weak, I am keeping an eye on Gold. My funded accounts have some exposure there, partly thanks to Viktor Reyes's solid calls on commodities which have been a nice hedge.

My thesis is invalidated if we see a powerful, high-volume reclaim of 4920 and a daily close above it. A headline could always change the picture, but I don't trade news. I trade the reaction to it. Until the price action proves the bears are exhausted, I'm assuming they're still in control. A good trader knows exactly what proves them wrong, and for me, it's that level.

This is the core of my strategy. When you do a proper prop firm challenge rules comparison, you realize they are all designed to penalize volatility and big losses, not reward home-run predictions. The game is survival first, profit second. So, instead of asking 'where is the bottom?', are you better off asking 'what confirmation signal would it take for you to even *consider* buying this market?'