I am creating this thread to document my 20-day, $150K TopStepTrader Combine.
I decided to try the combine so as to open the possibility of trading with more capital. If I do not meet the performance requirements of this combine, I may repeat it, but probably not before mid-January or February of next year (when volatility and volume will be coming back from holiday). My goal is not to simply meet the requirements to receive my deposit back, but to actually be funded. I am doing this to be considered for funding and have access to more capital so as to be able to leverage more capital, not to join a club, chat with other traders, or become a lifelong TST combine-taker.
Each day I trade I will post the results from the TST site, and will also post a chart showing fills. This thread is not for mine or anyone else's learning about trading, entries, exits, methodology/approach, or the like. It is simply to document this process so that I may review it, and so that others and I may look back and see the progress, setbacks, and challenges that are faced and overcome. I will have good trades, and bad trades, but that will not be the focus here.
The trades are being mirrored between my live account and the combine account (with the difference that trade management is different due to size differences). This proved a bit challenging the first day, switching between two DOMs, but I think it is doable.
Fills on the CTS sim server seemed pretty realistic and were mostly in line with my live fills; that is encouraging. I did have an issue modifying the orders using Sierra, and will have to troubleshoot this, but it was not a deal-breaker.
I strongly dislike the $16K profit objective and the 20 day time limit, though of course TST must have these (what are they going to do, fund a trader who has not proven that he can make money in some set period of time?). It is about 0.5% per day net. Trading a max allowable leverage using a 15-lot, that would mean 5 ES ticks per day per contract traded. Of course, this sounds incredibly easy, but anyone who understands risk knows it just does not work this way. My first day I worked with a base 5 lot, and plan to start nice and slow so as to focus on the risk first and foremost. My goal is to get to $16K profit to be funded while staying within performance parameters, but I would rather make a small amount and get my deposit back than to try to swing for the fences too early and dig myself a hole.
The first day I found it slightly difficult to trade with the knowledge that my performance will be reviewed in a black-or-white manner (the day was a winner if I made $1 or $5000, and a loser if I lost $1 or $2000, no middle ground here). However, I do understand the point of the strict performance metrics, as it leaves no room for subjectivity. You either made money on this trade/day, or you did not. You scratched the trade quickly so you favorably impacted hold time (low) for a loser, but you also decreased your win rate, but you also favorably impacted your average loss metric. Stuff like that... best for me to not focus on it that much, but then again, at the end of this combine that will be what is reviewed, so while I do not want to focus on these numbers and simply trade well, those numbers are all that matters.
I am approaching this venture with confidence. I expect to do well, I expect to win, I expect to succeed, I expect to be funded. Of course, there will be challenges, and I have lost enough money trading to know that what we expect means nothing to financial markets. And I have never traded with a time limit and profit objectives as success criteria which must be met. This may be my biggest challenge. But, my objective on a personal level is to grow during this phase, and if that means the extra crunch of these criteria, then so be it. Growth is almost always painful because it involves change, which is uncomfortable. But I have felt enough pain and discomfort in my growth process in the markets already that a little more will not kill me.