Maverick, there is no need to leave people with no options. It has been 10 days and 20 days options. So why make it only 10 days? To force people who do not pass to take new combine more frequently?
To make those targets within 10 days would require to take more risk. Their live parameters are pretty much very risk averse.
Also, constant changes is not exactly casino. In casino rules are same for centuries. TST has managed to change practically everything within less than a year coming with something new every 2 months or so. There is nothing permanent with them.
It is very confusing.
After they introduced trailing equity stop there frankly were no reason for other parameters outside of daily loss limit.
Target, daily loss limit and trailing stop. It is all that required.
Also, they are not exactly funding traders.
As I stated, they are risking only $1500-2000 on a trader and the rest comes from trader's own good trading aka cushion trader builds. Good trader can do same without need for so called backer cause they are not backers. It is other traders who pay Combines back funded traders.
Were they truly interested in traders to succeed they would not put traders constantly under duress and confusion due to constantly changing rules and requirements. It increasingly looks like Ender's game. However Ender was not supposed to be like this all his life. Successful traders are supposed to do it long term..,.
Markets are stressful enough , no need for even more confusion.
I believe it is in TST interests to actually choose something and stop meddling with it constantly. Otherwise they might kill their golden geese.
Holycow, it's my understanding that a large majority of the traders did the 10 day over the 20 day combine. The 20 day is actually much harder. It's counter intuitive I know, but most people want to restrict the chances they have of getting stopped out. I think almost 100% of the various combines done on ET where 10 days vs 20 days. To be honest, the 20 day doesn't make sense the way they have it set up in this "gotcha" format.
As for the profit targets, well mathematically we know if we shorten the duration, the data becomes much more sensitive to outliers so the increased p&l accounts for that. Again, I've said this over and over, it's not the p&l target that is getting guys, it's the max daily drawdown. I think by moving all guys to a 10 day format it makes for an apples to apples comparison much easier. Besides if you screw up on day 3 and kill the combine, do you honestly want to trade the next 17 days knowing you can't improve your position?
I think a majority of the changes they keep making are actually in the trader's favor. I'm speaking from a quantitative perspective, not from a psychological one. I think the real road block in this combine are your own demons, not TST's rules.
I'm sure there are no business owners on this thread but from a business owner's perspective TST does want guys to succeed. They actually need guys to succeed or the business model is not sustainable. It's the same reason Vegas wants "some" people to win at their casino. When you hear the slot machines making noise around you it only incentivizes you to keep putting your quarters and playing more. If nobody ever won at a casino, nobody would go.
