One Prop Trader a Day – Meet Foungnigué Salomon Soro: The Striker Who Trades Like a Defender

A My name is Salomon. I’m 30 years old, originally from Côte d’Ivoire. As a multi-asset trader, my primary focus is on foreign exchange (FX), major equity indices, and precious metals – letting me capitalize on liquidity and volatility across different market sectors.

A I officially secured my funded status with The 5%ers in June 2025. It was rewarding because I’d spent about a year meticulously working through the evaluation stages. What changed was a shift in perspective – it validated my consistency and proved that my approach could withstand a strict, institutional evaluation process over an extended period.

A Technically my very first funded account was back in 2023, but that firm closed down. I didn’t get to the funded stage with them because, after a risk review, they refunded me on strategy compliance. My second funded account was lost just a month after passing, right before I could secure a payout. Because of those past experiences, getting funded with The 5%ers felt different. I was proud, but completely grounded. I knew from experience that getting the account is only half the battle – the real victory is managing risk properly to secure that first official payout.

A The 5%ers was my third funded account, so my journey involved multiple failed evaluations and lost accounts along the way. A compliance refund with the first firm and losing the second within a month of passing were heavy blows. What kept me going was data and discipline. I knew my strategy had an edge – I just had to refine my drawdown management and psychological discipline. Every setback was a lesson on how to better align my style with strict prop firm parameters.

A My lowest point came after two consecutive setbacks: first when Prime Bridge Capital declined to move me forward following a risk review, and shortly after when I lost my account at my second firm before securing a payout. I genuinely questioned everything. I looked at the immense sacrifices I’d made and asked myself if it was truly possible to make it in this industry, or if I was chasing an unreachable goal. Yes, I considered quitting. The gap between the effort I was putting in and the financial reward felt impossible to bridge at the time.

A Absolutely. Trading is as much a psychological battle as a technical one, and it heavily impacted me during my toughest periods. Around the time I was facing those account losses and rejections, I also went through a difficult breakup. It was a perfect storm of emotional stress. I realized I was tying my entire self-worth to my trading achievements, hoping a big breakthrough would validate me. When things went wrong on the charts, it amplified the personal pain and triggered immense self-doubt and mental fatigue. Overcoming that phase required serious emotional maturity. I had to learn to separate my identity from my trading results and rebuild my mindset from the ground up.

A Today I’m a systematic trend-follower operating on higher timeframes – specifically the 4-hour, daily, and weekly charts. After experimenting with numerous strategies early on, I realized macro-trend following best aligns with my personality and lifestyle. My core strategy is multi-timeframe technical analysis, ensuring my technical trades are executed in the direction of the 200-period EMA. To increase probability, I overlay this technical filter with fundamental analysis – cross-referencing macroeconomic data on Trading Economics so the broader macro environment aligns with my technical signals.

A Because I trade higher timeframes, my routine is efficient and structured. I check the charts twice a day – once in the morning, once at night – to review candle closes, manage risk, and scan for new setups. Part of this routine includes checking central bank policies, inflation data, and growth indicators on Trading Economics for the specific assets I’m tracking. That fundamental baseline lets me trade with high conviction. I spend less time staring at intraday ticks and more time focusing on high-quality execution, keeping my psychological capital optimized and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

A The majority of people around me don’t truly understand professional trading. Some view it as a “magic skill” and assume I must be a genius – they only see someone working from a laptop and generating income. Others view it with skepticism, misunderstanding, or even envy. They don’t see the years of discipline, the failed accounts, or the emotional resilience it took. Because of those mixed and often negative reactions, I’ve learned to operate quietly and keep my journey mostly to myself, to protect my mental focus and stay grounded.

A Trading completely shifted my life perspective and forced me to optimize my physical and mental health. To maintain peak cognitive performance and absolute composure on the charts, I’ve made radical lifestyle changes: I cut out sugar entirely, committed to staying sober from alcohol, and incorporated meditation into my routine to cultivate mindfulness and calm.

It even changed how I think outside of trading. I love playing football, and as a striker my natural instinct was always to be entirely on the offensive. Trading reshaped that. To survive in the markets, you have to think like a defender first. If you protect your capital and focus on ironclad defense, the market will naturally present you with high-probability opportunities for a good offensive run. I now apply this defensive, risk-first philosophy to both my trading and my life.

A Trading is the single best vehicle I’ve found for holistic self-improvement. It challenges you to grow emotionally, spiritually, and financially. To be successful, the market forces you to master your patience, conquer your greed, sharpen your logic, and elevate your analytical skills. It requires you to deeply understand global economics, optimize your health, and develop an elite work ethic. For me, trading isn’t just a career – it’s a profound path of self-mastery where building wealth is simply the byproduct of becoming the best version of yourself.

A Two pieces of advice. First: “Live to fight another battle.” In the beginning it’s easy to over-leverage and try to force wins, but survival and capital preservation are everything. Second: “You don’t need to know what is going to happen next to make money in the market.” Stop trying to predict the future, accept that trading is purely a game of probabilities, and focus entirely on executing your edge with discipline.

A It would be an incredible milestone, but at the end of the day they’re just numbers on the screen. If you let the size of the capital get to your head, you start making emotional mistakes. In the first 7 days my focus would be on staying grounded and applying my usual strong risk management. My goal wouldn’t be to make massive, risky returns – I’d target a consistent, realistic 10-15% yearly return. I’d wait patiently for my specific setups on the 4-hour, daily, and weekly charts, keep my risk per trade very small, and focus entirely on executing my strategy consistently.