FINALLY passed TopstepTrader's Combine!

[ScalperJoe]

One thing I am curious about...What happens if you were to continue for another three trading days...Couldn't you recover some of those losses? Or if you lose more over the next three days it will cost you more?

I think his point was "why bother?" If he was down minus $541 and only had 3 days left, then he would need to recover the draw AND make enough profit in three trading days to continue trading past the "10-day rule."

So yes, he could have recovered the losses, but chose not to continue.

It would not have "cost him more" (except his time), because TST absorbs the loss in the first 10 days, up to the maximum draw down allowance.

 

[ScalperJoe]

What is the redevelopment opportunity? Not sure I've heard of that one?

It was posted earlier. TST was offering a trader to bypass the FTP after passing the combine if you already had the live account but were sent back to the combine.

 

[Topstep]

@TopstepTrader this 10 day rule is complete BS, give traders a chance instead of pulling the rug after 10 days. Very few traders are going to come out of the gate well their first 10 trading days, it takes a bit of time.

@JamesEM you did good, unfortunetely, topstep has a very flawed format and you really need allot of luck to get past their hurdles. I don't believe they are in the business to actually make money off of funded traders but they are in the business of selling the dream and collecting combine fees. Now I'm not saying anything is wrong with that business model but if they really wanted to develop traders, they would remove the ridiculous 10 day rule.


What is the redevelopment opportunity? Not sure I've heard of that one?

It was posted earlier. TST was offering a trader to bypass the FTP after passing the combine if you already had the live account but were sent back to the combine.

@ScalperJoe Thanks for the lively discussion just wanted to jump in and clarify what exactly Redevelopment is. Any funded trader whose Net P&L is halfway to their Max Drawdown or less in the Funded Account before Day 10 can opt for Redevelopment.

If a trader opts for Redevelopment, they have 30 days to successfully complete the Trading Combine objective again. If they are successful, they then go directly into a fresh Funded Account, with the prop firm having eaten all of their previous losses.

Redevelopment is meant as an opportunity for traders who are struggling in the Funded Account to take a step back, trade in simulation, get their head straight and focus on what earned them the Funded Account in the first place.

Lastly, it's worth noting Redevelopment is completely free.

Hope that helps! Happy Thanksgiving all!

 

[JamesEM]

Thank you for your candor in posting your trials and tribulations through the journey. Certainly you can at least take the lessons you learned in your TST trek and now apply it to your approach in sim, and then live with your own money.

One thing I am curious about...What happens if you were to continue for another three trading days...Couldn't you recover some of those losses? Or if you lose more over the next three days it will cost you more?

No, it was just a personal decision to not waste anymore energy with an unfavorable situation

 

[JamesEM]

@TopstepTrader this 10 day rule is complete BS, give traders a chance instead of pulling the rug after 10 days. Very few traders are going to come out of the gate well their first 10 trading days, it takes a bit of time.

@JamesEM you did good, unfortunetely, topstep has a very flawed format and you really need allot of luck to get past their hurdles. I don't believe they are in the business to actually make money off of funded traders but they are in the business of selling the dream and collecting combine fees. Now I'm not saying anything is wrong with that business model but if they really wanted to develop traders, they would remove the ridiculous 10 day rule.


What is the redevelopment opportunity? Not sure I've heard of that one?

Redevelopment: If you are down less than half your draw-down limit ($750 in my case) and you have traded 9 days or less, they give you a free Combine which, if passed, puts you back in the live account.

I've heard different stories about whether you start from where you left off or not but you get 10 more days to create that draw-down cushion.

 

[JamesEM]

few questions:
* during the combine, you were on demo. Now, you are live:
why did you exoect that because you managed the demo, you would automatically manage the live account?

* could the live trading reveal something about your trading, rather than TST?
If so, what does your live trading reveal that you did not get to know on the demo account?

Just wondering.

Nothing changed. They're model just doesn't allow for normal draw-down within trading.

 

[algofy]

What's your next steps James ?

 

[Xela]

They're model just doesn't allow for normal draw-down within trading.

It depends how you look at it, and on your degree of risk-aversion: it allows for more drawdown, pro rata, than I'm willing to risk in my own self-funded account.

 

[JamesEM]

Another update for all those interested!

After leaving TST behind, I've now turned my attention to my own account. I've made 16.2% on my small account, which I have set up to mirror the TST Combine parameters. I've just drawn my first check from the profits.

The difference is, I actually have an indefinite draw-down rather than one which disappears after 10 trading days. It doesn't trail and I am free to trade my method with enough room to, hopefully, deliver regular checks.

My summary of TST would be this: excellent tool for those who don't know how to trade if they can buy into the dream of getting and staying funded (think Donkey and Carrot) but, once the carrot has been dangled long enough and the Donkey has learned his lesson, actually getting funded with them is extremely inefficient and not geared towards actually funding traders.

Why else would they move from a 60/40 profit split in the beginning to 100% on the first $5K?? Because that sweetens a deal that very few people get to take advantage of and allows them to sell their funded traders.

Essentially, I've funded myself with the account I was training for but would never receive from them. The hard part isn't getting funded, it's being able to trade in the first place...I went there because I knew I wasn't good enough to be funded and left when I was. There are far better ways to get funded than through their program.

My 2 cents!

 

[JamesEM]

It depends how you look at it, and on your degree of risk-aversion: it allows for more drawdown, pro rata, than I'm willing to risk in my own self-funded account.

I'm not sure I a understand you?

All I know is I can operate with a specific draw-down over TIME and they don't offer that. Focusing on the short-term risk of my own account is short-sighted in my opinion. I'm quite happy to sit in a draw that is statistically expected for profit over time.

They squeezed me with time and promptly lost over a grand when discipline went out the window. We can't make our edge or the markets do anything in relatively short periods of time. They would have made money with me had they given me draw-down and time. Their loss I guess