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Funny that I just now became aware of the changed terminology. It's Combine Step 1 and Step 2 now on their website. I think it was still Combine and FTP a short while ago.
I think @matthew28 is right about competition, and also about the purpose of "Step 2"/"FTP".
I also think this was good marketing/labeling -- the amount of complaining about "why do I have to do it twice?" was amazing. Now it doesn't look like just a repetition, or a trick to make you fail (although I am sure that some people will find a way to make it so -- complaining can be so much fun. )
Competition seems to be working as it should. A good thing, overall.
Thanks to both @Tymbeline and @matthew28 for waking me up to the change.
I think one of the hardest part is size and risk.
Some people myself included were not use to the size, thus though there is parameters in ftp/step2 you can easily shoot yourself in the foot by sizing up too much initially.
A better breakdown aor article or series of articles comparing different risk models and risk strategies could help traders who are or were successful at step1, but got hung up in ftp/step2.
For myself I'm thinking of it in R multiples. Not adding contracts till I have enough R multiples as a buffer. If my normal R is 1R, then not adding a second contract till I have say 5R. Depending on your r:r you could get there in 1 or 4 wins. This varies. But once I get to 5R then adding a second lot gives me 2.5R each or 5R total to play with, when in theory a single loss will cost me 1R per contract, or 2R, with 3R left in reserve for slippage.
Now this isn't the only model or strategy, as many people scale in and out in different ways, but it is one for people that are the all in to all out, or all in to scale out. For traders who scale in whether it is with a grid, on pull backs, or momentum, or other a different approach may be of value.
I am now a Funded Trader. The new process is better and clearer. The negative is the process is very long almost 2 weeks to get the account.
I switched to TSTrader to get free commissions mainly and mobile support. It's a good platform and easy to use for execution mainly. Mobile interface is great but not a native app.
I find Topstep not that developed regarding International traders. They don't support Euro reports and all my parameters are incorrect.
Overall good experience but big room for improvement.
It's only really the beginning of the week you need to bear it in mind. If you made $500 say on Monday then on Tuesday your max daily loss would still be $1000 (for the 50K), but you would be $1500 away from the week's maximum loss.
The idea was that it prevents people blowing the test in two days by say starting on Monday and losing a touch under a $1000 then immediately trading the next day and losing another thousand and basically reaching the maximum $2000 loss and failing in two sessions. If one in effect loses their full $1000 daily loss limit on the first day of the week (and TST recommend incorporating your own reduced daily loss limit in to your trading plan anyway), then I would guess that for most people it would probably be better to stop trading 'live' for the rest of the week and work out if they have an issue, then come back prepared and composed.
Note: Though obviously if you lose $500 on the Monday then the next day your daily loss limit is only $500. A good reason to ideally use a reduced daily loss limit of about half the TST recommendation.
You do not win as a trader, you just get to play again the next day. If that game doesn’t appeal to you then you should not trade. Gary Norden
Scaling plan and no trading during news events. Things that aren't enforced during step 1 that are in step 2. So watch out for interest rate announcements, FMOC meeting minutes, NFP, etc. You have to be flat 1 min prior to 1 min after.
The weekly loss limit goes away once the trailing max drawdown reaches the starting balance of the account. You will still have your daily loss limit, not your weekly. So, on a 50k combine, once the trailing max drawdown reaches 50k then the weekly loss limit is eliminated. Trailing max drawdown is calculated at end of day. So it is possible to drop below it, you just need to be above it by end of day. This is only true during the combine. Once funded you cannot drop below the max drawdown at any time during the day.