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Please keep in mind, trading for a living is only a dream for most, in any aspect. This is not isolated to trading. Even if you want to open a small business in some other public sector, the fact is, most businesses fail. Just as most traders fail.
Let's not make this harder than it is:
- Do you need to be funded by someone else? Do you not have your own money, or don't want to risk your own money? OK, then maybe a prop shop is a good fit.
- The rules to pass the combine are laid out clearly. How about you use your platform on your own, and pass two or three of your own "combines" internally before you pay TST and make it official.
Trading is a business. Treat it like one. If you need to be funded by someone else, then take it seriously, pass the combine on your own a few times, then take theirs and get funded. The end
The ET thread contains posts complaining of TST arbitrarily changing the rules during the combine period repeatedly to fail traders, and also of subjectively not passing traders who met all the requirements and passed.
Also it mentioned that you only get to make any profits, after you make a certain amount of profit cushion for them that they keep, ie first 10k. After this deferred capital is established, then you can start taking profits out of your split, and it sounds like they keep this amount if you leave, and this is common in prop shops, etc.
I share the same view on trading and business and the comparison that you make between the two. In fact, I've explained to my friends and family why I've struggled so much with trading in my first 12-18 months by comparing it with starting a business. Most people expect starting a business to be very difficult in the first 3-5 years... and then (or earlier!) - as you say - many still fail.
The idea of trying the combine on your own is a great idea. Especially, if ones trading parameters are different to their requirements. For instance, as a swing trader getting sometimes only 3 trading signals per months, one has to find a solution to cater for the 10 trading days required in a 30 calendar day period.
I really don't want to get into what was said on ET. I prefer to not visit ET If you have questions about TST, you should contact TST directly. If you have used TST directly yourself, you should feel free to write a review in this thread and talk about your experience. If you do not want to use TST, then move on to another thread.
Mike is correct. The firm is on the up and up. If you can trade, you have a future there. I will be entering a
combine as soon as I can free up the time to complete it. It will be an excellent way to supplement my
personal account that I like to trade at the London open. They will be supporting NT soon, also, which is
another reason why I am waiting.
I will trade the TST account at peak volume times - US open. They frown upon weak volume and larger
spreads, which is logical.
I have researched them over a long period of time and trust them completely. I have one close friend who
completed the combine and was funded.
It is my pleasure to bring back TopstepTrader for another webinar on Tuesday, August 21st @ 4:30 PM Eastern US. The topic is Discipline and Trading Psychology. Michael Patak (Founder of Topstep Trader) will be joining John Hoagland (Senior …
Yes, Michael said NinjaTrader and Zen Fire are coming in a few months, I believe.
As I promised I would do so, I gave the combine a try. I'm sad to admit that I can't report on how it's like to become a live trader.
I actually stopped trading intra-day before the summer. I wanted to get out more (after a long period of illness) while the sun was still providing some warmth in this cold country. It was meant to be a vacation, but I think it's become permanent. I started as a swing trader, and my goal was to only day trade for a couple of years, in order to build up enough capital to swing and position trade more comfortably. I ended up becoming obsessed with short-term trading instead. After I went back to school, I grew more disenchanted with this kind of trading, as it felt pointless. I'm actually not half bad at it (if I'm allowed to claim such grandeur) , but I hate routine and I'm only truly happy when I'm learning something new. I went back to school to study financial mathematics, but I ended up being more attracted to the math and programming aspect of it and I'm now studying AI subjects instead. I must admit that I feel more relaxed when I can peacefully contemplate my trades, and I didn't really realize how much strain intra-day trading put on my mental state. I found it hard to trade for a few hours, then spend many more hours doing math -- my brain made me choose. For the first time since I started trading, I wasn't sufficiently focused to be able to execute quickly enough. It almost seems as if I was a willing victim of self-sabotage -- something I've rarely experienced in trading. Yes, I probably shouldn't have tried it by sporadically trading during my summer break. I also don't find the T4 platform very intuitive, I traded max size (even though I, on average, need a cushion of 40 ticks per contract per day), and I've never been good at following rules or being evaluated, but I thought I had enough of Chopper in me to harden up sufficiently ( Ronnie Johns - Chopper - Harden Up). Apparently, I don't...
I apologize for the long post, but I guess my ego wouldn't allow me to proclaim that I failed, without trying to justify it.
I should point out that nothing of the above excuses my subpar performance, because I, unlike many other posters, am not afraid to admit when I fail. I fully claim responsibility for my shameful display. Thus, I think the following is the only honorable thing to do:
Hi, my name is @Lornz. I am a recovering day trader, and I failed the combine.
Hi Lornz - Good post. And don't feel bad. At least you analyze your results honestly and know what areas to work on if you decide to go forward with your trading.
I didn't do well with the Combine either and it was mainly due to the T4 platform. My strategy requires a lock-in of small profits fast several times each 2 ticks apart and moving the stop as soon as the profit is locked in with the runners managed manually. Couldn't do it on the T4 - too slow, too inefficient - a big mess. I understand TopStep will offer Ninja in about a month. This could make a tremendous difference to results because you can design templates for the DOM and execute your setup with one click.
Good luck to you and thanks for posting your results.