Welcome to NexusFi: the best trading community on the planet, with over 150,000 members Sign Up Now for Free
Genuine reviews from real traders, not fake reviews from stealth vendors
Quality education from leading professional traders
We are a friendly, helpful, and positive community
We do not tolerate rude behavior, trolling, or vendors advertising in posts
We are here to help, just let us know what you need
You'll need to register in order to view the content of the threads and start contributing to our community. It's free for basic access, or support us by becoming an Elite Member -- see if you qualify for a discount below.
-- Big Mike, Site Administrator
(If you already have an account, login at the top of the page)
@PandaWarrior, to see how it is really possible check out the video I just published here, go to last 5 minutes to see how 40 ticks can be done in less than a second. These trades are my bread and butter.
I have got an email from John Hoagland. Basically it's the same story as anybody else's: they are prepared to provide me with a live trading account pending my performance in LivePrep. So no news here. LivePrep must adhere to Junior Trader trading plan, which is standard, with distinction I have to trade minimum 10 days within 60 calendar days, my profit target is only 4500, DLL is 3000, WLL is 3000, MaxDD 4500.
I supposed to get a call from them, maybe tonight, I hope I will be able to convince them to make a slight change to the plan, since it cripples a bit my own risk management which I believe is more superior than theirs when used with my trading approach. Especially this rule about starting trading day with x lots and only increase or add when daily net profit is above 1000. That will essentially kill my opportunities to make money, because I only have few setups per day, and if I spend them all on small lot shots, when I get ammo finally it inevitable suggests I should take more shots but by this time likely good setups are already done and I might face a situation where I trade high quality setups with smaller position and take a loser from a worse setup on larger position. I am fine with this rule as long as word DAY there is replaced with work WEEK throughout the whole paragraph.
I understand the reason of this requirement but it is suited for discretionary traders, not system traders like I am, and it's intention is to allow trader to tune-in into the market and assumes trader take substantial number of trades through the day and his win probability is around 50%. In my case it does more harm than good, as I take few trades, tune-in is non-existent as each trade is totally a separate event, and trying to correlate result of previous trade with risk parameters of next trade is totally artificial and has no substance and only can reduce profitability.
We shall see how the interview goes. I am ready for this challenge and sure I won't fail it, unless market will get totally unsuitable for my approach, in this case most probable failure scenario is having a losing day larger than a winning day, I obviously can get a losing day maybe 1000 usd and if market gives me chuckles instead of bucks I might not get to the figure on a profitable day, especially being curtailed on position size.
I honestly have to say at this point, this is more and more just a challenge for me, seeing so many restrictions can be maddening but ultimately they channel your efforts to build yourself into a better trading shape, given that you really commit yourself to it. I take it like a personal challenge now that I need to pass to say I did it. After going through so many barriers I can see how one can easily get the necessary discipline and self-confidence to trade his own money.
I think this is the ultimate paradox that TST faces every day: people who pass all their quests with success are the ones who most likely will leave soon as they feel confident to trade on their own.
I wish you much success. When I passed the combine it was not my first attempt, but I had very good stats on the combine that passed. 90% winning days, zero drawdown from initial balance, and very good stats otherwise. When it shifted to the live prep, the week down time I had messed me up quite a bit, because even though I tried to trade with purpose, I got out of rhythm. Also, the weekly loss limit really was quite a challenge, even though in the combine I never had a weekly drawdown at all. These influenced me, and I take 100% responsibility for them of course, but the live prep was just not the same mentally for me. I hope you do great! The requirements are actually much easier in a way, so go get 'em tiger!!
Thanks! Actually maybe you can clarify: in the rule I quoted, do they mean by "total net PL" this day's PL or the total PL since the start? If second, I can only applaud for this rule, my own rule is tougher.
I also feel it can get a bit under my skin but luckily or not I will have to take days off during this run due to my family circumstance so inevitably I will get my cool-off days, which is always good.
Well done ! If you go for this you will be able to do it and work within whatever agreed params there are. I saw your video. Very informative.
Have a think about it and sketch out the params that you feel are acceptable, show them your video and explain them the method. If you get to speak one-on-one with John it will be interesting to see what he says about the method and how that fits. The contract can be changed over time of course.
This is ultimately where the clash between individuality and corporate risk management happens. It's a classic story that happens every day in many businesses. You seem like a talented individual with a lot of knowledge and are even able to share that so certainly have value for an organization. On the other hand TST need a single manageable process.
The questions you need to consider are
a. an I work out any sort of acceptable deal
b. will I learn, lets say over a period of 12 months, anything about risk mangement and the markets from TST
c. will working within this structure make me better, not just as a trader but as a team player for my own business, will I learn about how to manage other traders, the infrastructure required
d. it is clear that within the TST structure once you have a framework and earn money that you can change the params and up the risk or just change the working structure. It all depends on track record and a cushion of cash in the bank. That said ... the main question is ... will you be able to earn a living ?
They mean "today's P/L" -- in other words, if you make $1000, then you can increase your size that day. But at the start of the day, you cannot trade more than X contracts.
I admit to not reading your journal very closely, but just saw you are an algo trader. Do you have a post that describes what platform you develop on and any testing methodologies?