TopStepTrader - An Online Prop Shop

[havaiana]

Day 8


Can and TH i owe you blokes a beer for telling me just to stick with it. Despite the green day i traded rubbish again. Really could have made the whole profit target in one day today if i hadn't tried to force things so much. At times my trading was completely off the rails (see number of contracts traded), also traded through europe as planned.

4 of the last 5 days i really have traded bad, kind of impressed that my trading has stayed in the positive despite this. Although i've not made much i've paid $1,145 in commissions in addition to this. Monday is usually a bad day, add in US and London on holiday and that i am already trading bad, i'm taking it off to sim and will come back on Tuesday for day 9. Will trade through europe again. I'm still in with a decent shot at passing this if i stick to the plan.

 

[CanOz]

Keep plodding away mate, you'll get there...

 

[havaiana]

That was a quick morning, 5 trades in 10 minutes, all bad trades except for the first one and daily stop loss hit

Need to make $1,100 tomorrow...

 

[havaiana]

Just to add to this more as a note to myself than anything else. I have a rule for fades, it relates to any fade after the previous one was a stop out on the same move. Taking any fades after the previous losing one isn't profitable long term how i trade unless i stick to this rule. The trades it filters out lose a ton of money long term.

Every trade after the first one broke the rule and many trades increasingly have from day 5 onwards.

 

[CanOz]

Just to add to this more as a note to myself than anything else. I have a rule for fades, it relates to any fade after the previous one was a stop out on the same move. Taking any fades after the previous losing one isn't profitable long term how i trade unless i stick to this rule. The trades it filters out lose a f ton of money long term.

Every trade after the first one broke the rule and many trades increasingly have from day 5 onwards.

I know another guy, ex Prop trader that has a rule for fades on the ES, he'll fade the first two, then accept that the third will fail and stops will run...Something that could be tested.

CanOz

 

[havaiana]

I know another guy, ex Prop trader that has a rule for fades on the ES, he'll fade the first two, then accept that the third will fail and stops will run...Something that could be tested.

CanOz

Interesting, my rule relates to the reactions, how large is the continuation, was there a bounce, how big, how fast, volume etc, certainly nothing groundbreaking.

The thing with re entering a fade after being stopped out is it will usually work so it can pull you in. Kind of like how martingale strategy works, more often than not it will work, but that one time it doesn't....

 

[havaiana]

Another note to self. My position sizing was very amateurish, only trading 1 to start with then only trading 2 to catch up. Should have started with 1, and pushed things when i was going well or saw a gimme setup... Overall should have just ignored the profit target and rather than try to just hit that target should have tried to make more/as much as i could

 

[havaiana]

Failed another couple after this. Would have helped if I read the rules properly and knew that I didn't have to complete these combines in 10 days, I had to trade a MINIMUM of 10 days in a month!

When I found that out it made the task a lot easier so I went for a $50k one so could have 5 contracts of buying power instead of 3 if I passed.

Just passed today!



(note: since i started this last combine they have since changed the rules, now they ARE a min and max of 10 or 20 traded days, i got on board just in time)

This was the last of my nearly 150 trades over the combine. Most of my trades I only hold for a few minutes, so this felt like the longest trade of my life watching the P&L approach and move away from the magic $53,500 number, nearly puked several times!



Will update with what happens now...

 

[Trembling Hand]

Just passed today!

Will update with what happens now...

Good one. I'm interested in seeing what happens now too.

 

[CanOz]

Yeah:jump::aus::bier::bananasmi:band Hav!!!!
The first ASFer to pass the TST combine!! Woooooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooooo!!!

Well done!!

 

[havaiana]

Thanks guys, have just moved from the beer onto the red. The GF will be wrapped to see the state I'm in when she gets home from work! I may as well set up in the spare room now

 

[CanOz]

Thanks guys, have just moved from the beer onto the red. The GF will be wrapped to see the state I'm in when she gets home from work! I may as well set up in the spare room now

man i'm just so happy for you, you deserve a drink...i might have one for you too lol!!:alcohol:

I wondered where you'd been, you've been focusing!

- - - Updated - - -

I reckon I might wait until September or so before i start my combine. If i can resolve my connection issue then i might be able to stick with Ninja, if not i'll have to try T4. How did you find it?

 

[Trembling Hand]

Thanks guys, have just moved from the beer onto the red. The GF will be wrapped to see the state I'm in when she gets home from work! I may as well set up in the spare room now

Nah.... make a run for it to the pub and send her annoying random selfies all night from bars.

They love that........ I'm sure of it.... :

 

[havaiana]

man i'm just so happy for you, you deserve a drink...i might have one for you too lol!!:alcohol:

I wondered where you'd been, you've been focusing!

- - - Updated - - -

I reckon I might wait until September or so before i start my combine. If i can resolve my connection issue then i might be able to stick with Ninja, if not i'll have to try T4. How did you find it?

I traded rubbish after the first one, went back to sim to fix some things then did 2 more. Only failed the last one because I went for broke on the 10th day thinking I had to complete in 10 traded days! When I realised I had the whole month, there was no pressure so a lot easier.

I don't mind T4 at all, a lot quicker than ninja and my spot brokers so that's enough to win me over. Only thing of note would be the T4 simulator is a bit dodgy on stop orders in forex. Doesn't seem to pick up icebergs and will fill your stop a tick past where volume traded sometimes or a tick past a refreshing bid/offer. I use limits 95% of the time so wasn't and issue for me, but if you're using stop orders a lot and are active it will add up.

I was previously using some of the same ninja tools (jigsaw) as you, great for learning what to watch for and how much volume it takes to stop and move a market. But i found i didn't miss it as much as I thought I would, now that you have learned it you won't need the tools as much as you think. You can just watch the changing volumes on the total traded column on the DOM and you pick up enough info in my opinion

 

[CanOz]

Great stuff Hav...

Will you be able to trade those during the hours you like?

I heard from one guy that although he traded during European hours for the combine once he got funded the hours were US due to the risk manager on duty.

you got to give us a heads up when you get your interview too

 

[skc]

Failed another couple after this. Would have helped if I read the rules properly and knew that I didn't have to complete these combines in 10 days, I had to trade a MINIMUM of 10 days in a month!

When I found that out it made the task a lot easier so I went for a $50k one so could have 5 contracts of buying power instead of 3 if I passed.

Just passed today!

Will update with what happens now...

Well done Hav. Your persistence is second only to Will Smith trying to solve the rubics cub in the cab ride in Pursuit of Happyness. Do keep us up to date on how things work at TST...

Thanks guys, have just moved from the beer onto the red. The GF will be wrapped to see the state I'm in when she gets home from work! I may as well set up in the spare room now

Nah. I suggest you greet her with the naked man.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The Naked Man

 

[CanOz]

Here's my CL prep for TST, 67 trades so far. Obviously need to trade a few more days and I had two weeks off as well.

 

[havaiana]

Will you be able to trade those during the hours you like?

I heard from one guy that although he traded during European hours for the combine once he got funded the hours were US due to the risk manager on duty.

I hope I can trade Asia, hadn't considered otherwise!

Believe me when I say Selfies and Naked Man would not have been good for my well being. Would certainly have been considered though if i'd got through any more wine before she come home

Looking good Canoz, what size/length combine are you planning on going for?

- - - Updated - - -

Final Trade Report

 

[CanOz]

Hav those are solid results ! I've not seen to many report like that where the average loss is so small with a umber of good size wins.

I've always used 4 contracts, so thinking of the 50 k 10 day combine. Can you explain the difference in the rules again, I'm still not completely getting it...

 

[havaiana]

Hav those are solid results ! I've not seen to many report like that where the average loss is so small with a umber of good size wins...

Don't read into my stats too much, the majority of my trades are scratches, I was purposely exiting all my scratch trades at +1 tick so i could 'fix' the stats later if i needed to with the extra win % in the bank.

As it turned out I didn't need to. Cost me $ overall trading that way because i was scratching trades i would usually let run to ensure i could get out at +1 rather than a small loss, but i was more concerned with the stats than the profit target.

...Can you explain the difference in the rules again, I'm still not completely getting it...

When I first read about a combine on a forum, the guy doing a 10 day combine had to trade at least 10 days and a maximum of 10 days over 30 days, so i just assumed it was the still the same when i did mine. However it was changed that you had to trade at least 10 days in the month, but there was no maximum number of days over that 30 days. Now it is changed back to a max of 10 days

So I finished my combine with I think a week to spare in the month, so passed it pretty easy. If i signed up to the same combine now, it took me 19 days, which is 9 days over the amount of trading days i would be allowed so I would have failed dismally.