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I agree that it is a good product for discretionary intraday futures traders, but that is not the only way to trade. That was my point.
I'm pretty sure that the few who make it through the combine are the same people who would've made it on their own, but the service opens doors for underfunded talented traders, of course.
I think the program is good for anybody really, discretionary or systematic, rich or poor, because who can really afford to learn this game with a 150,000 of risk capital and 15 lot buying power. Decamillionaires can't afford this because anybody starting out at this game underestimates the challenge and 99% will lost 100% of their risk capital. Every trader needs to prove they have mastered the concepts of risk management in sim before trading real money. Simming on your own is not the same, sitting in a room somewhere in isolation pretending to trade is not going propel you along the learning curve, on the contrary, it will be far from realistic and more likely to bring about bad habits. For those that pass the combine perhaps it is true that they could have done it on their own but the regimented process of the combine and the experiential knowledge sharing and team working environment definitely accelerated their learning curves. All of the live traders who have passed the combine will attest to that. But to be sure, few will pass, it's a tough game, a brutally tough way to make a living, the challenge that it is should not be underestimated. It will not happen overnight, it will take a minimum of one year's practice, but in most cases it is more like 2-3 years to reach a level of competency. The combine process can shorten this down by a good 30-50% I would think, by keeping people on the right developmental track and learning from others and by doing etc. Anyways, just looking at my stuff now, most of my ideas are impossible for a human to trade, very discouraging. Just trying to nail down an approach for this combine. The opportunities that are available to manual trading seem to be more and more on the larger time frames, whatever that means these days. What is your swing frame?
I think the raised prices is a filtering process. Getting more committed people to try it. People however still have to realize that's it a raised DEPOSIT. Even if you don't hit the profit goals, those who meet 2 out of 4 trading performance statistics have the option of getting their deposit returned. That's pretty mind boggling from a business perspective.
They are giving you a chance to earn your money back. How many places can you say do that? The goal is to find and filter good traders and even reward those who show competency.
From the FAQ section:
Yes. The deposit will be refunded at the end of the Combine if the account balance is above the initial balance, daily loss limit was not hit AND 2 out of 4 of the performance requirements* have been met, which are as follows:
- Overall Average Win greater than Overall Average Loss
- Overall Average Win Duration greater than Overall Average Loss Duration
- Largest Winning Day greater than Largest Losing Day
- Total Win % greater than 45%
By doubling the prices of the combine, it really cannot be argued that Topstep wishes to tighten up the screening process.
From various press releases that have been done on Topsteptrader, the CEO, Patek mentions that 95 per cent of people who enter the Combines fail to become a funded trader.
Therefore, by doubling the prices of the combines in effect doubles the revenue of the Topsteptrader Site, that is if demand will remain constant for their services.
As a prediction, in future there will be less and less people signing on, and Topsetp Trader will have no choice but to decrease the price of entry to attract people to use it.
If it is cost prohibitive to deal with so many new applicants .... double the price... cut the applications in half ... same income stream... lower cost... higher net profit
I'm just a simple man trading a simple plan.
My daddy always said, "Every day above ground is a good day!"
I both swing/position and trade intraday. My trading is not time frame dependent, but purely event-driven.
I agree that the program looks is a good way to take sim trading seriously. I actually checked it out last year, when I tried to get my brother to start trading.
For the record, I never sim traded. I sat and observed the market, did some statistical analysis, prayed to a higher power, and consequently kicked ass!
It's hard to justify taking a few weeks off to do sim trading, then have to give up 20% and pay much more in commissions. But, like I stated earlier, it seems like an excellent solution for underfunded traders and beginners wanting a more realistic simulated experience....
Alright, I'm done..
By the way, my results exceed the combine requirements every week!
This is not true. When they started there was one combine, it still exists, the price has not changed. They have added a number of different combine options however. In every combine the trader must reach the profit objective and stay within the rules. The rules are simple, you need to meet two of three. If a trader goes through the combine and does not meet the profit objective but does stay within the rules, the next combine is free, rolled over. On my last one I met 70% of the profit objective and adhered to all three rules, hence, the one I start tomorrow will cost me nothing, it is free if you can at least stay within the rules. Most, however, cannot even do this.
If what you say is true, it is very impressive Lornz. I agree the time factor is killer, I am in a very tough spot right now for all the time I have dedicated to this process. I personally think the value of a 20% payout on risk capital is a pretty good deal, considering all of the benefits of having a risk manager in the background and a network of really solid people to work with. The network is very good, better than trading alone I think. And when I get down to paradise and have an internet outage or the algos shut down the nymex again it will be nice to know know that my risk manager on the floor in Chicago will be there to take care of things... this cannot be understated...