Trading micros vs prop firm(IE: TopStepTrader)

[traider]

Well, you should never get rushed in trading bc that's how mistakes are made. Like other said, you should take it seriously like a job but in reality, you should treat it more than a job bc every trade you make it might become a trap if you don't follow your plan/setup carefully.

I showed a photo here on ET before where I printed out screenshots of my setups and laminate these photos so all I have to do everyday is to compare and trade without 2nd guessing it. If you are not ready to automate your setups or you think you can't automate them you should do the same thing like I do so you won't make other mistakes which aren't shown in your screenshots.

Lastly, if you really think your setups are profitable why not start trading micro using $500 to begin with? Once you are able to triple it to $1500 using the same setups over and over again, then it's time to switch to emini.

By the way, you should stop using TST because I think it's a waste of time. Their weekly stop loss in level 2 and funded account is are too tight. The only good thing about using TST is to force you to strengthen up your timing entry and exit skills for each setup. This is my opinion after using TST for a year to two after spending tons of money to reset and renew (Attached screenshot is a proof where you can see 16 pages of reset/renew my account.) Oh... I didn't mention that I got funded for few times and then violate one of their rules quickly due to Trumptard's randomly tweets. I always stay away from trading during major econ news or fed news so I can avoid 2nd guessing what market will do next.

You see? This is how much I went through in order to become successful in trading after many years of suffering losses trading stocks, ETFs and then Futures, but I didn't give up. lol Another thing is that I trade beyond US sessions because there are some good money to be made during Asian sessions too. If you take trading seriously, you shouldn't lay on your bed too comfortable for many hours everyday while trading full time.

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How did you eventually become profitable? You must have done something different
For me it was to automate as much as possible

 

[ESgambler]

How did you eventually become profitable? You must have done something different
For me it was to automate as much as possible

Only trade setups with extremely high winrate by using 2 emini contracts to begin with. I currently use between 6 to 10 emini contracts to trade these setups everyday where some of these setups only occur once or twice per week. Increasing lots do force me to stick to my trading plan and become more discipline. I can't automate my setups yet due to sophisticated stuff that I use to read PA, timing entry, exit and cut loss which ain't easy to program. I tried to hire a programmer here on ET but then I stop bc I might end up to reveal my edges so he could do an evaluation whether or not he could write the codes for me.

 

[TommyR]

the 2 emini special is very well understood. however it can be performed with very different skill levels. for example, how fast you can trade or how accurately you hit the ticks means not every emini special is equivalent

 

[Primal Trader]

You have plenty of funds, no prop firm needed. I would definitely go with one micro NQ, get consistently good with it, and then incremental progress to two and so forth. It is a great trading instrument if one has some understanding of its behavior, I have had the best success with the micro NQ out of the 4 micro stock indexes.

All the best with your endeavor, it can be hard to predict who will succeed and who will fail. Some segue into it within months, and others are still searching for the holy grail after a decade, with a bankruptcy or two and a failed marriage. For most traders it is best to have some other streams of income, unless they become the 1 % who make annual six figures consistently. I have not personally met any such individuals!

In general, I have heard numerous tales of very bright, successful, well-funded people who quit their jobs to be day traders. For most, trading with real money is vastly harder than they expected. Maybe 5 % succeed in time, and not without major psychological pain. I would never advise anybody to quit a job unless they have sufficiently proven that they have the requisite capacities, and even then realize income is going to vary greatly due to varying opportunities day to day. It helps you enormously that you have rental property, otherwise the pressures to perform would further impede your chances for success.

Black box systems work for a few, for awhile at least, until the market changes ... Above all else, trading is personal psychology, and very few humans can handle continual uncertainty and working from a probability mindset day in and day out. One basically has to almost evolve into a different species, and only the elite make it. To me it is a lot like Special Forces, a tiny percentage of humans can be a Spec Op. But even there, they build up their skills set via incremental progress, punctuated by occasional extreme real world tests.