David Nguyen Funded Trader Interview Swing Trading Success

Meet David Nguyen, a Funded Trader with Funding Frontier. Discover how David Nguyen and other traders secured funding and gain insights and tips for a successful trading journey.

Please introduce yourself: Who you are, your age, where you are from, and what you do for a living.

My name is David Nguyen, a 27-year-old trader currently living in Vietnam. I am a full-time trader and trying to be a digital nomad creating other online alternative income streams.

How did you get introduced or start trading?

I got into trading maybe 6 years ago after a friend, who was a trader, introduced it to me. At that time, I was transitioning out of trying to be a poker player and looking for other career paths. When my friend discussed his trading strategy with me, I saw a lot of similarities between poker and trading and hence I made the switch.

Do you have any hobbies and what do you enjoy outside of trading? Do you find that these hobbies etc benefit your trading? Please elaborate 

Outside of trading, I like to play board games, learn about different cultures and languages, and try to keep fit and maintain a healthy gym routine

What is your trading routine?

My trading routine consists of doing all my analysis during the weekend when the market is closed. I analyze all the pairs from a fundamental and technical perspective and from there I create a watchlist of instruments I could potentially trade that coming week. On Monday, I usually set my pending limit orders. On weekdays, I check the charts for 15-30 minutes just to monitor any positions, see if my pending orders have been triggered, and determine if I see any opportunities to add to my positions. I am a swing trader so I don’t need to be at the screen at a certain time and because I hold my positions usually for 2 weeks or sometimes more, there is very little maintenance I have to do. I would say 80% of my “trading” is done during the weekend when I do my analysis.

What are your goals with funded trading? 

My goal is to reach $1M in total prop firm capital by the end of this year. It’s just an arbitrary number I set for myself which to me signals that I have “made it.” 

 Do you have a trading plan in place, and do you strictly follow it? Please elaborate

Yes, I have a strict trading plan in place. During the weekend, I analyze all fundamental factors to determine a bias for my pairs. From there, I analyze technically from a supply and demand perspective to see if the technicals are aligned with my fundamental bias. I only put instruments on a watchlist and set pending orders for pairs where “all stars are aligned” and fundamentals are aligned with technicals. 

How would you describe your trading style?

I am a swing trader capable of trading all kinds of instruments from forex, to commodities to agriculture and even indices. 

What was the most challenging obstacle in your trading journey?

The toughest part of my trading journey has been resisting the urge to take multiple trades in a single day and giving my trades second or third chances. Maybe it’s because of my ego, but I found it hard to admit when I was wrong and the market was right. This led me to give my trades too many opportunities, which resulted in significant drawdowns in my challenge accounts. To overcome this, I decided to avoid day trading altogether and focus solely on swing trading. With swing trading, there are only 1-2 opportunities a week and it takes time for a trade to play out and hit your stop loss or take profit which prevents me from giving my trades multiple chances.

What did you find easier, the FUNDING FRONTIER Challenge or the Verification phase? Share your thoughts

I found the Verification easier because of the lower profit target. I didn’t have any psychological issues and didn’t feel the pressure to pass the Verification when I had already passed the Challenge. Usually, when I pass the Challenge I pass the Verification as well.

How would you rate your experience with FUNDING FRONTIER?

The experience at Funding Frontier has been excellent. The support on both the website and Discord is very responsive, and any questions I had were quickly addressed by a helpful team member.

What advice would you give to other traders attempting the FUNDING FRONTIER Challenge?

Start with a small Challenge initially to familiarize yourself with the psychological environment and rules. Once you get your “feet wet” with a smaller Challenge, you can scale up to the bigger ones. Also, keep an eye on Funding Frontier’s Discord and Instagram for frequent Challenge giveaways, offering great opportunities to participate for free.

Do you plan to take another FUNDING FRONTIER Challenge to manage even bigger capital?

Yes, I definitely plan to in the future! Right now, my focus is on maintaining my Funded Account.

Describe your best trade

The best trade in my trading career was probably on XAU/USD (Long position) where I was able to minimize my stop loss significantly and let the trade run to my full TP. I think the RR on that was 1:15. This was around 2-3 months ago before XAU/USD had the bull run that we have seen. 

What is the number one piece of advice you would give to a new trader?

Take it slow and understand the terminology and how the forex market operates before diving into a strategy. Learn about the different trading sessions, as well as key concepts like swaps, pips, leverage, and margin. It’s surprising how many traders overlook this basic information, even though it’s readily available for free online.

How did you first hear about FUNDING FRONTIER?

I learned about Funding Frontier through CEO Keashif, who provided me with mentoring and valuable assistance with backtesting and mindset development.

Can you describe your risk management plan?

Before every trade, I always set pre-determined Stop Loss and Take Profit targets and allow my trade to run to one of the above. My risk management strategy involves moving my stop loss to breakeven when I hit a 1:1 or 1:2 Risk-Reward ratio. Due to my ‘swing style’ of trading, my stop loss typically ranges from 200-400 pips, sometimes even more. As a result, my lot size is very small, and I don’t have to worry about being stopped out quickly, as trades usually take several days to develop.