Topsteptrader

Crispy said:
Austin is that gonna be you?
More...
TST email says that Austin has 30 years of trading experience !! how is that possible ? :confused: i read somewhere that even Marverick has 15 years of trading experience .it's hard to believe that someone sits behind screen for some decades .are Marverick & Austin( & other vetaran traders here) multimillionaire? if not, at least they income is solely based on trading.i'm so passionate to hear from these people if they are happy now with the way they have chosen and what's the pros/cons of this route.. .
PS: Crispy , also sharing your own experience with TST (as a senior trader ) is appreciated by me nd other ET members.
 
Hello

This is my first ever post on any forum about anything. I am not a professional trader (yet), but it is my intention to be one soon and has been for around 7 years. I have stumbled upon this forum as I was looking for stuff about topstep trader as I am now on my tenth combine with them. “Give it up” I hear you all cry”. I cannot do this as I have improved and feel that I am now getting close to consistency.

On my previous combine I had three negative days then seven positive days, unfortunately due to an error on my part, I forgot that the commissions were not on the trade contract box so I went over my daily loss limit and total drawdown on those first three negative days. If it hadn't been for this I would have had my first rollover. I know that I still have a couple of bad habits that I need to stop doing, but realising exactly what it is I need to work on is progress for me.

I suppose I was looking for stuff about them to reassure myself as I have paid over £1000 to them doing combines. I have read a lot of back and forth about topstep on this forum on different threads, but there are a lot conflicting opinions.

The reason I have chosen this method of becoming a trader is, like a lot of people I have absolutely no capital whatsoever, just a lot of debt and I struggle to pay the bills, but I do have the determination to crack this game or die trying.

Anyway, I would like to document my progress (or lack of progress) with topstep as I continue down this long and rocky path to being a professional trader.

I have now done day 2 of my current 10 day combine. WATCH THIS SPACE!
 
I hate to play Captain Obvious all the time, but anyway:

Geramongstit said:
...for around 7 years.
... “Give it up” I hear you all cry”.
I forgot that the commissions were not on the trade contract box so I went over my daily loss limit and total drawdown on those first three negative days.
.... If it hadn't been for this I would have had my first rollover.
More...

I will sum up your post: After 7 years of trying trading, in 9 Combines you still couldn't make it to 1 (repeat one) rollover??? To get a rollover you only need to make $1 and not to break the rules (unless they changed the rules again).

Maybe your fist goal should be : Forget about the profit target, just trade small and make sure you are following ALL the rules and get a rollover. Once you do that, that means you are not "forgetting" (how the hell did you forget about commission after 8 Combines?) anything and you can concentrate more on making more profits.

And here comes Captain Obvious: Being a profitable trader =/= being able to pass the Combine.

The best example is Austin, who just gave a speech at TST: "After 30 years in this business I still can't pass the Combine. Ask Me Anything"

He still can be a very fine trader and can make a living trading, but that doesn't mean he can pass the Combine.

So I think you are misunderstanding what the Combine is: It is an interview process for profitable traders, thus the standard is very high (in deed, 60% return per month). So you who isn't even a consistently profitable trader it is just too high of a standard and you should be using it to get comfortable and consistent, not to try to get backing. Even if you could pass it by luck, the LTP and later on the real money trading would stop you soon...

But that is just me, Captain Obvious speaking...

Can you trade on a sim for a month without a huge (but bigger then TST's) drawdown and make some profits? I don't think you should be using the paid Combine until you can do that...
 
Geramongstit said:
----stuff about topstep trader....
----previous combine....
----three negative days then....
----forgot that the commissions....
----went over my daily loss limit and total drawdown....
----would have had my first rollover.
----have a couple of bad habits that I need to stop doing....
----realising exactly what it is I need to work on is progress for me.
----determination....
----WATCH THIS SPACE!
More...
1) Put Pekelo on your "Ignore List". :D
2) When you're having a losing day, you're losing entirely too much money. You need to be willing to stop trading sooner. :cool:
3) Put your "journal" in the Journal Forum instead of here. :)
 
Thanks for the advice nazzdack. I'm not going to get embroiled in any back and forth. I just wanted to document my journey and experience with TST (whether it be good or bad) and see whether there would be any interest.

Like I said I have never posted on a forum, so I am new to this. Thanks for the heads up about the journal section, I will have a look at this.
 
Geramongstit,

If you pass the 30K combine you will have a cushion of 1500 usd. If you pass the highest combine -150K you will have a max cushion of 4500. I doubt that they will let you blow the entire 4500 before sending you back to do another combine. In futures trading both cushion amounts are peanuts. A day trader needs to be able risk a max of 2.5% of their stake on any trade so that they have at least 50 shots. One can't trade with a gun to his head. Fair risk is between 150-200 USD. -trading 1 lot only. So you need at least 7500 cushion- without any stupid rules or restrictions.
If you are a successful day trader or you know a few good successful traders, why would you want to waste your time backing people who luck out and pass a simulated combine. You can trade yourself 100's of contracts per trade in most markets. I think that the owners and backers themselves would not be able to generate significant profits trading with their rules. I think that TST continues to exist is due to people losing their combine deposits and not due to the winning funded Traders. I suggest
that you sign up for a free forex Demo and then if you are confident, you can trade micro lots-never risking more than 2.5% of your stake per trade.
 
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