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Which pairs I trade on a prop account, and why it isn't the same list as my personal one

on my own account I trade a handful of pairs, but when I started on prop evaluations I realised the list should be different. The reasons are practical and have nothing to do with which pairs I like.

First, spreads and commissions on the firm's platform can differ from what I get elsewhere. A pair that's cheap to trade on my personal broker might be more expensive there, especially crosses. I checked the typical spreads at my trading hours before choosing, and cut the ones where the cost was too high relative to my targets.

Second, volatility and loss limits. A pair that moves a lot, like GBPJPY or gold, can use a big share of a daily limit with one normal stop. On an evaluation I'd rather use pairs where a stop costs a smaller share of my allowed loss, so I have room for a few attempts in a day.

Third, rules about which instruments are allowed or have special conditions. Some firms limit leverage on certain instruments or have extra restrictions on news around them.

I ended up with two or three majors only, and I know them well. It's less exciting, but it fits the job of passing.

Gold is the one I dropped first on a prop account. It moves so much that a normal stop for gold uses a big share of the daily limit, and one bad day on gold can end an evaluation. I kept the majors where the spreads were tight on the firm's platform and dropped most crosses because the cost was too high against my targets. It made the evaluation feel more like my normal trading, just with fewer pairs. I also check the firm's contract specs for gold, since the lot size and pip value there are not always what people assume.

Also worth checking which pairs are correlated in your list. If I trade EURUSD and GBPUSD at the same time on a prop account, a dollar move can hit both and use twice the daily limit in one go. I treat highly correlated pairs as one position for risk purposes and do not open both at full size. On a personal account that is a preference, but on a prop account with a hard daily limit, it is essential. A simple rule like that keeps one dollar headline from turning into a breach on two charts at once.