From combine to (hopefully) funded with TopStep

[mantaskon]

Hi,

I'd like to hold myself accountable for every trade that I take. I tend to do really well for a day or two, then over trade like a madman. I reckon that posting my stats here daily should help.

I signed up/passed TopStep 50k "step one" in 5 days (minimum required days). Starting "step 2" today.

What I trade:

ES only, usually 1 contract. Sometimes I'll scale into a winner with another contract, but that's rare.

How I trade:

1. Mostly trend "reversals" with a tight stop using 5 mins. Ideally I wait for a trend to reverse, then for solid confirmation (higher low or lower high) and only then I enter into a trade.

2. Sometimes I will buy/sell relatively late into a trend if it is showing a lot of strength. Those are pullback entries with a tight SL.

3. I try to let my winners run, but that's been a bit hit/miss lately. Not sure if that's a good approach tbh.

4. I do not use any indicators.

I will post my Tradovate stats/trades here daily. Maybe other stuff - not sure what would be considered useful. This is mostly to keep myself accountable/admit to breaking my own rules in public for all to see should that ever happen (lmao).

 

[Maverick2608]

I do not want to be arrogant. But can you imagine anyone of thousands of traders have tried your 3 rules systematically over the years? If yes and the rules worked, the profit will disappear. Hence, very simple rules are unlikely to work.

 

[mantaskon]

I do not want to be arrogant. But can you imagine anyone of thousands of traders have tried your 3 rules systematically over the years? If yes and the rules worked, the profit will disappear. Hence, very simple rules are unlikely to work.

Since this is my first time ever trading futures I prefer to start simple and only looks for "systems" or other help should I fail miserably. In fact, I believe that too much "learning" can be a hindrance. So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm at peace with that the fact that I might fail and have to rethink the entire process at some point.

For now I'm just watching charts and trying to stay focused. My worst enemy is this overtrading/tilt mode that I tend to enter now and again.

 

[mantaskon]

Done for the day.

+$949.10

Had to skip on the 3818 hold opening trade (had a line drawn there and it reclaimed/held up nicely), because I hit close to max gains before that.

I do not want to make more than $1000/day (in the trading combine), because TopStep have a 40% rule where your biggest day can't be more than 40% of total profits. And because I need to make $3000 to pass that's what... $1200. Ideally I would like to pass their "step 2" in 3-4 days, but we'll see.

Thoughts:

1. Had a couple of good entries early in the day, but had to cut one short as I had to leave and didn't want to leave any positions open while I'm away.

2. Overtraded the quadruple bottom. Thought it was going to fall through there... not the first time this happens to me. Gave back all of my early gains, but never went more than $150 or so into negative today. Max drawdown shows $600+, but I believe that ignores any gains for the day (was $500+ at the time). Really disappointed with my trading there, especially not cutting one of the losers earlier and letting it run to -$300.

3. Took an easy long trade before open that worked out great. Went into open with a +$300 SL so wasn't too much risk I think. Let it run and it paid off. Could have let it run another 30 points, but max gains kicked in.

Mixed feelings. I need to fix my overtrading as this isn't the first time I do great, then place a bunch of $100 SL trades in a row that ALL trigger before regaining focus and repositioning.

Tradovate stats attached.

 

[murray t turtle]

Done for the day.

+$949.10

Had to skip on the 3818 hold opening trade (had a line drawn there and it reclaimed/held up nicely), because I hit close to max gains before that.

I do not want to make more than $1000/day (in the trading combine), because TopStep have a 40% rule where your biggest day can't be more than 40% of total profits. And because I need to make $3000 to pass that's what... $1200. Ideally I would like to pass their "step 2" in 3-4 days, but we'll see.

Thoughts:

1. Had a couple of good entries early in the day, but had to cut one short as I had to leave and didn't want to leave any positions open while I'm away.

2. Overtraded the quadruple bottom. Thought it was going to fall through there... not the first time this happens to me. Gave back all of my early gains, but never went more than $150 or so into negative today. Max drawdown shows $600+, but I believe that ignores any gains for the day (was $500+ at the time). Really disappointed with my trading there, especially not cutting one of the losers earlier and letting it run to -$300.

3. Took an easy long trade before open that worked out great. Went into open with a +$300 SL so wasn't too much risk I think. Let it run and it paid off. Could have let it run another 30 points, but max gains kicked in.

Mixed feelings. I need to fix my overtrading as this isn't the first time I do great, then place a bunch of $100 SL trades in a row that ALL trigger before regaining focus and repositioning.

Tradovate stats attached.

%%
1]WINNERS run in a bear market?? Sort of\ but cant do that near as much as up-trending bull market. I dont like to trade much last half hour[2;30-3 CST]
[2] Every now + then + especially after market close , I like to do all my trend research but then consult barchart.com [follows this sentence]
[3]ES opinion [ESZ22]
Mostly long term sell\
medium term sell\
short term 20 dma buy.
Even for short term trading, medium + long term down trends kick in eventually;
except OCT may liVe its Stock Traders Almanac nickname ''bear killer'' nickname.

 

[mantaskon]

%%
1]WINNERS run in a bear market??...

Yeah, I noticed. It's tough. I'm trying to capitalize on good entries as best I can. BTW by "winners" I meant both long and short trades. Mostly long recently though.

I'm new to futures, but I have done a fair amount of low cap scalping/day trading. Really enjoying futures as there's a single chart to look at every day + serious liquidity even early in the day.

 

[GotherL]

GL. I started trading futures too pass a small evaluation on another prop firm.

But I have tons of experience trading options so the transition wasn't hard for me.

 

[murray t turtle]

Yeah, I noticed. It's tough. I'm trying to capitalize on good entries as best I can. BTW by "winners" I meant both long and short trades. Mostly long recently though.

I'm new to futures, but I have done a fair amount of low cap scalping/day trading. Really enjoying futures as there's a single chart to look at every day + serious liquidity even early in the day.

%%
Sounds good;
i do mostly SPY+ QQQ ETFs related.
Even 2 charts like UPRO + SPXS are really same SPY related chart, but different directions.....

 

[schizo]

I'm new to futures, but I have done a fair amount of low cap scalping/day trading. Really enjoying futures as there's a single chart to look at every day + serious liquidity even early in the day.

Two hints for trading ES:

1) Support/Resistance act like magnets.

2) Measured move plays a crucial role.

3) 1 + 2 should help you measure potential turning points.

4) If you don't understand, please disregard.

 

[mantaskon]

Two hints for trading ES:

1) Support/Resistance act like magnets.

2) Measured move plays a crucial role.

3) 1 + 2 should help you measure potential turning points.

Thanks! Yeah, I have noticed 1 and 2 already and sort of working on nailing my entries on these "turning points" right now.

Very surprised how things move on range days. It's almost as if the range is respected "too much" if that makes sense. That's not a bad thing, I'm just used to constant rug pulls in small caps hahaha.