r/fundedoptions

Genuine question because I had a -$1,562.40 red day right in the mid of a decent stretch last month on options prop firm account.

The first row of the screenshot shows the week i’m talking about. One options day wiped out almost three days of work and left me -$6.50 for the week.

Usually I want to get back to normal as quickly as possible. But I’ve noticed that’s probably when I make things worse. I come back the next morning still thinking about the loss, and eager to get back on track.

This is the red day reset i’m testing now:

Take the entire next session off. No charts, nothing. I've done this a couple times now, and honestly I think the gap makes it easier to come back the following morning.

When I come back, I cut size (around 40%) and trade less. I keep it there until I’ve had three clean process days in a row and feel like I’m back in my rhythm.

I also set a hard weekly loss limit. Once I’m within 1% of it, I’m done for the week. No trying to squeeze out one decent day to get back above it.

Still testing this because I don't know if taking a day off is actually better than just trading smaller the next day.

The biggest pain is having a good week, giving a big chunk of it back in one day, then feeling like you need to do something about it immediately. And I think that's probably the part I'm trying hardest to get better at.

Any advice on red day handling this would be welcome.

DropkickNJ13 in the discord just earned a $9960 payout trading funded options on Vanquish Trader. Yet again the community is winning through proper risk management, exceptional patience, and classic diamond hands. Whether you're a seasoned or a beginner trader, Vanquish is the home for everyone!!!

I keep coming back to VWAP because it's the only intraday level where I actually trust why price reacts the way it does. Along with that I’m also looking for a failed reclaim: price approaches from below, attempts to move through the VWAP area, and then closes back below it.

I’ve shared some images from my Vanquish options eval account. My focus is to build a process I can carry into a funded account without changing the setup as the account stage changes.

For this VWAP rejection setup, I wanted:

• A relatively clean approach from below
• A push into the upper VWAP band
• A clear rejection candle closing back below the band
• Enough space between the entry and the next support level
• An obvious invalidation point above the rejection

The important part wasn’t that price touched VWAP. It was how price behaved after attempting to reclaim it.

The entry

I don't buy the first touch of VWAP. Too many of those are just noise, price tags the level and keeps going. What I want is a clean push into the band, a stall, and a rejection candle that closes back below it with some conviction not a doji, not a weak wick.

That's what happened here. Price pushed into the VWAP band, printed a rejection, closed back under it. I bought 17 SPY 768 puts right on that candle close. No retest wait on this one, the rejection was clean enough and the band had already held once earlier in that same push, so I didn't need extra confirmation.

The stop and target

Price didn't mess around. Rolled over almost immediately, and VWAP flipped from being a ceiling it was trying to break to a ceiling it respected on the way down no real bounce attempts worth mentioning. That's usually a good sign the rejection was real and not a one-candle fakeout.

Booked profits at 768.29, where the prior support shelf was sitting. Stop was tight, just above the rejection wick. Worked out to roughly 1:3.

If price had chopped through that VWAP band three or four times before this push, I wouldn't have taken it. A level that's been tagged repeatedly in the same session loses meaning everyone watching it stops reacting the same way. This worked because it was one clean approach, one clean rejection, not the fifth attempt of the day.

Also skip this near the close. VWAP compresses toward price late in the session and rejections stop meaning what they mean at 10 or 11 AM.

Risk management

Stop goes above the level, not above the entry candle. If VWAP gets reclaimed for real, the thesis is dead and I'm out no reason to give it extra room hoping it comes back.

Target was structure, not a fixed R multiple. The prior support shelf was sitting right there, so I took it instead of holding for more.

For anyone else trading VWAP on an eval or funded account: do you enter on the rejection close, or wait for a retest?

I’m currently at $876.30 of a $1,000 profit target on my Vanquish eval, with nine of the ten required trades completed. I’ve started thinking about what should actually change once the account moves into the funded stage.

Strategy stays the same, obviously. Same setups, same risk rules, same entry criteria. That part isn't changing.

But there's a mental shift that happens when it's a funded account versus an eval and I'm not sure how to prepare for it. During an eval, you have the reset option even if you don't use it. However, the safety net is gone when your account becomes payout eligible.

What I'm actually unsure about

Does the pressure increase or decrease after passing? Some people say getting funded removes the pressure of chasing a profit target. Others say the funded account creates a different kind of pressure because every profitable day now feels connected to a potential payout.

I’m also wondering whether people make any practical changes at first:

• Reduce position size for the first few sessions
• Trade fewer days or take fewer setups
• Keep the exact same risk used during the eval
• Build a profit buffer before requesting the first payout

That last point is probably what I’m most unsure about. Do you withdraw once you become eligible, or leave the early profits in the account to create more room above the drawdown floor?

Through hard work, consistency, and proper risk management R3con in the discord received a well deserved $20,000 payout trading funded options on Vanquish Trader. The community has all seen withdrawals before, but it hits different when it’s a with withdrawal with size.

Ended the day down $1,118.20. Wasn't one bad trade that did it, it was everything that happened after the first real loss.

This happened on my Vanquish options eval. I knew every unnecessary trade was eating into the account’s drawdown, but once I started chasing the loss, the rules weren’t even part of my thinking anymore.

What actually happened

First loss was a normal setup that just didn't work, fine, that happens, part of the game. The one right after it was still small and within my risk plan. Then a third loss hit and that's where something flipped internally, hard to explain exactly when it happens but you know the moment it does.

I stopped asking, “Does this setup make sense?” and started thinking, “I need to make this money back.” That was the point where it turned into revenge trading.

I kept jumping back into SPY and MSFT, hoping they would reverse, even though the earlier trades had already shown that my read was off. Wasn't even really looking at charts properly anymore at that point, more just reacting to the number in red at the top of the screen.

Then I had one small green trade for $43. Instead of treating it as an opportunity to stop, I took it as proof that I could still trade my way back to even. I went straight back in and made the day worse.

What was actually going through my head

Nothing rational looking back, obviously. Every entry after that third loss wasn't based on a setup, it was based on the number I was down and wanting it smaller. Wasn't thinking about probability or risk at that point, just thinking about getting back to even, which is probably the worst possible headspace to be trading from.

The green trade is what actually bothers me most now. That was the one clean moment to just close everything and walk away, and I didn't take it. Everything after that felt less like trading and more like trying to undo something that had already happened

Not looking for the generic "just walk away" answer, I already know that's the theoretical fix everyone gives.

Trying to figure out what actually works in the moment versus what just sounds good after the fact.

Can anyone share some tips with me wrt revenge trading?

I’ve traded both SPX and SPY 0DTE. After testing SPX, I decided SPY was a better fit for the drawdown and consistency limits on my Vanquish options eval account.

SPX isn’t a bad product. Personally, I find its larger sizing increments less forgiving.

This is the first thing people miss. 1 SPX contract is roughly equal to 10 SPY contracts in terms of notional value. So when you're sizing up on SPX thinking you're being efficient you're actually taking on 10x the exposure per contract.

For a funded eval with drawdown limits, that's a problem. One bad SPX trade hits your account significantly harder than the equivalent SPY trade. SPY gives you more control over exactly how much you're risking per trade.

The SPX loss that made me reconsider my sizing

The screenshots are from different trading sessions, so they aren’t a like-for-like SPY versus SPX comparison.

The SPY screenshot shows a 30-contract trade that made $1,290. The SPX trade lost $2,860.50. I’m not sharing them to suggest that SPY trades win and SPX trades lose. The outcome still comes down to the setup and trade management.

What the SPX loss showed me was how quickly one position could consume a meaningful part of my eval account’s drawdown allowance. Even though the SPY screenshot shows more contracts, SPY lets me change my total exposure in smaller increments. That flexibility matters more to me than the number of contracts shown on the ticket.

Why SPY fits my eval account better

In a funded options evaluation, I’m not only trying to make money. I also have to protect the drawdown limit and avoid letting one oversized day determine the account.

SPY makes it easier for me to:

• Size positions more precisely

• Reduce exposure without exiting everything

• Scale in or out gradually

• Keep a single 0DTE trade from dominating my account

SPX still has advantages. It is cash-settled, uses European-style exercise and doesn’t carry early-assignment risk. For traders who are comfortable with the larger contract size, it can make sense.

For my Vanquish eval account, however, SPY gives me the finer risk control I need.That’s ultimately why I switched.

Which one do you prefer - SPY or SPX?

Half way to my profit target. I had some questions about the funded stage. Does it give me a new account starting with 50k again? Also does the drawdown change to real time trailing instead of EOD. I saw someone say it turns static once you reach the buffer of $52,575. If anyone has any info or tips about the funded stage for the 50k advanced options I'd be glad to hear it.