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A few weeks ago the folks at TopStep Trader approached me about doing a guest webinar at their weekly Friday Educational session.
Since I love talking about trading, I eagerly said yes, provided I could do a Combine as part of a 2 webinar series.
They said "yes," so here I am!
Here's how it will go:
1. On Friday March 22 I'll be presenting at TopStep (details in the next post).
2. I started a 20 Day Combine today (March 20).
3. I'll return to TopStep on Friday, May 17th to show everyone how I did - good or bad.
4. Between March 22 and May 17th, I'll update my progress in this journal. I won't be revealing the strategies I am using, but I will provide a whole lot of detail about my experience. I will also gladly answer any questions.
Join us for a TopStep Trader educational webinar with Kevin Davey...
You’re invited to attend our Featured Educational Guest of the Week segment with Kevin Davey Friday March 22, 2013 at 12 PM CST (note that this is Central Time).
Kevin's topic will be "Developing A Trading Plan To Pass the Combine and Stay Funded." It should be pretty interesting, since as part of the webinar, Kevin will actually be trying his own Combine. If you don't know what a "Combine" is, just check out TopStep's website. It is an interesting way to show your trading skills, and possibly get funded.
Remember, this dynamic, hands-on presentation will be held LIVE Friday, March 22, 2013 at 12 PM CST. Squawk Radio will be open to guests beginning at 7:15 AM CST (be sure to invite friends and colleagues).
Someone asked me via PM why I am doing a Combine. Here is what I told that person:
TopStep approached me about doing a webinar, and as I was thinking of a topic, I thought "it would be fun to try the Combine, and report on the results." That is how it started.
My motivation is that I always like trying different trading styles, for diversification and smoothing my overall equity curve. The requirements of the combine are strict, and way different than what I use (I had only one day trading system before this, for example).
So, developing a strategy for the Combine really stretched my thinking. It also put my development process to the test.
I ended up with what I think is a pretty good mechanical approach, one that I might trade with my own money even if I do not pass the combine (I have about a 48% chance of meeting all Combine goals). I started working on the strategy in early March, so given the timeframe I had to work with, I'm pretty satisfied with the results. Of course, I'd love to pass the Combine!
For the Combine, I am trading 3 mechanical strategies, at different times of the day and night. If I was running them automated, it would be fairly easy. Alas, I am not, since TopStep order entry through T4 is manual. It is a bit of a pain this way, but again, part of developing the strategy was knowing the rules and logistics in advance.
So, for me, this is a fun experiment, and a challenge for my trading. Pass or fail, I have already improved what I do in my day to day trading. And I may even have a new strategy to add to my portfolio.
Please join me tomorrow at TopStepTrader Squawk Radio at 12 PM CT.
I completed Day 1 of the Combine on Mar 20. I took 2 trades (see below). Started out Day 1 on the wrong foot...
I am running 3 different strategies for the Combine, all for the Euro Currency...
Strategy #1 - 105 minute bars - runs from 6 PM ET to 7 AM ET
Strategy #2 - 60 minute bars - runs from 7 AM ET to 2 PM ET
Strategy #3 - 30 minute bars - runs from 2 PM ET to 4 PM ET
Each strategy is independent, although they are linked by the $500 daily loss limit. So, for example, if Strategy #1 has a losing trade, I probably won't trade Strat #2 or Strat #3 that day. I do not want to break the daily loss limit rule (because then it is "game over.")
Each strategy has a different function/objective, which I'll probably get into later.
PLEASE feel free to ask any questions, or make any comments.
I'm glad you liked the webinar. I love doing them, but I can never tell if people are on the edge of their seat listening, or just sleeping... hopefully no one was doing the latter!
The spreadsheet I showed was one that I kind of cobbled together, and I think I'd only confuse people by distributing it as-is.
So, please give me some time, and I will clean it up, and post it (and explain it).
I will also post a simple Monte Carlo spreadsheet that I use for evaluating other (non-Combine) strategies.
While I am still working on cleaning up the Monte Carlo tool I showed in the webinar, here is another Monte Carlo simulator I use everyday.
I wrote this in Excel, with macros, and I use it to evaluate potential strategies. I have included a screenshot below, with some notes.
If you are good at Excel, you can easily modify this to suit your own needs.
Just for kicks, I put the combined results of the strategies I am using for the Combine. Compared to other non-Combine systems I currently trade live, this one looks really good. My plan is to watch it for a few months live (during the Combine), and then if the "incubation" performance is in line with the results shown, I'll probably start trading it live.
By the way, if you use this tool to evaluate your "live" systems, please feel free to post results. I think it would be neat for people to see how others are doing.