Certain trading practices can exploit the simulated environment, but lose when transferred to live markets. We intend to maintain the integrity of our simulated markets here at Alpha Futures. A small subset of traders, either inadvertently or with the intent to manipulate the system, engage in these practices, which are strictly prohibited at Alpha Futures.
We are committed to creating a sustainable and fair trading environment for all here at Alpha Futures, in which traders can build their skills and learn to become profitable.
Can I automate my trading?
Alpha Futures enforces the following guidelines on automation to maintain a fair and transparent trading environment:
Alpha Futures restricts the use of automated systems designed for high-frequency trading (HFT), particularly those resulting in over 100 trades per day.
The use of AI, bots, and other automated trading mechanisms is strictly prohibited across all account types.
Semi-Automated Trading is permissible under the condition that traders actively monitor, manually manage, and understand the system and semi-automation's purpose.
Any form of hands-off, continuous day and night trading, or any other type of full automation is strictly forbidden.
What is the prohibited conduct when executing my trades?
Alpha Futures emphasizes ethical trading practices and order management to ensure a stable and reliable trading environment:
At Alpha Futures, we are looking for traders to develop and practice strategies that can eventually translate to a live trading environment. Some of these practices that do not represent this goal would be:
"Tick or Micro Scalping" (trades less than 10 ticks)
Consistently just opening and closing positions less than 2 minutes to make profits without any plan. There is no "must hold past X minutes" rule, and we understand that market volatility takes over sometimes. This is only an issue when it is a large sum of the trader's profit. Taking max leverage positions then quickly closing with a favorable fill is taking advantage of the sim environment.
Exploiting the absence of slippage and utilizing tight brackets to gain from favorable fills are not permitted.
Simultaneously placing multiple limit orders at the same price to manipulate order fills is prohibited.
Gambling tendencies or "account rolling" meaning taking max leverage positions with no plan, no stop loss, and hitting max loss on the account then buying more accounts and repeating the process until a trade hits.
"Reverse Trading", meaning going short on one account, and long on the other is strictly prohibited at Evaluation and Qualified Phase.
Initiating trades to profit from isolated fills in gapped or illiquid markets is not allowed.
All trading activities must adhere to CME Group's rules and regulations.
Collaborating with others to execute identical or opposite strategies across unconnected accounts is prohibited. Also referred to as “Group Trading”.
What happens if I violate any of these?
Alpha Futures holds the right to enforce strict consequences in the event of policy violation:
Alpha Futures reserves the right to terminate agreements immediately in the event of any breach by the trader.
Profits generated from prohibited trading practices will be void.
All passed Evaluations are subject to review, and traders found guilty of policy ignorance or abuse will not advance to the Qualified phase.