One Prop Trader a Day – Gem Halmi: The Market Made Me Pay for My Greed Immediately

One Prop Trader a Day – Episode 126

What happens when a trader reaches a max allocation and two payouts, then gets greedy and arrogant? Gem Halmi, a 28-year-old Forex and Gold trader from Italy, learned that the market makes you pay for it immediately. In this interview, he explains why he now focuses on the risk he puts on the table rather than the reward, how he lost two correlated trades in the same minute with full risk on both, and why he relies on math and probability to deal with losses.

My name is Gem Halmi, I’m a 28-year-old trader from Italy. I mainly trade Forex and Gold. My style is trend following, focusing on execution and asymmetric risk to reward opportunities.

I became a funded trader the moment I realized that risk management was the key. So I developed a framework to optimize and maximize my passing rate. I then started to focus more on the risk I was putting on the table rather than the reward.

The very first thing I did was bring my family to a Michelin star restaurant. Not to brag or show off, but to feel what money can make you experience.

I failed many times, mainly because I was trading a strategy in the wrong market regime. I always tried to keep the cost to payout ratio very asymmetric and I always tried to manage the accounts focusing on risk management.

The most expensive lesson I paid for was greed. After a max allocation and 2 payouts I became greedy and arrogant and the market made me pay for it immediately.

For me it was more emotional rather than mental. I can deal with stress well, but I hated losing back then. It was personal for me. It took me a long time to really work on that. I now rely on math and probability to deal with losses.

I traded with FTMO and Hola Prime. What I look for in a firm comes down to this: I invest in clear rules, no shady practices and proof of payouts of other traders.

I focus primarily on higher timeframes such as Daily and 2D for direction and supply and demand areas. I then execute on lower to intermediate timeframes to gain the asymmetric risk to reward ratio on every position.

I keep it very simple and I don’t force a setup. Usually before the market closes I check the watchlist and see if there are any opportunities. If I see anything I like I execute, if not I wait.

I lost two trades almost at the same exact minute: GBPUSD and EURUSD. As many might know they are highly and directly correlated. I executed long on both with a full risk. I overlooked my rules and I paid a double loss for it. My market exposure was 2x because of the correlation. I would decrease the position by 50% the next time on both.

Most people around me don’t really understand trading. Some people think it’s luck and not sustainable, but the people closest to me have seen how much discipline and structure it actually takes.

What separates me is I’m here for the long run and I aim to be very good at this craft.

If I had a 1 million dollar funded account today I would do exactly what I’m doing right now. I would trade it with risk control and asymmetric payoffs. The purpose of technical analysis is not to make a prediction. It’s to put yourself into opportunities where the reward is skewed asymmetrically relative to your risk.

Verified funded – the receipts