I finished day 3 of my topstep trader combine +$1700. I had placed 3 trades, 1 loser, and 2 winners. I caught a nice piece of both legs up and decided to call it a day and get ready for my other job. My last trade of the day I decided to trade a 2 lot only because I was already up $1000 and wanted to protect my profits in the combine. I posted a chart this time to show my entries and exits along with the t4 trading report. I plan on posting my Topstep Trader website report sometime later today or tomorrow. Have a nice weekend!
Bad Day Today did not go as planned for many different reasons. I went into to today with a very nice account buffer and decided to get a little more aggressive so I could put myself ahead comfortably. Unfortunately, this did not happen and I gave back a good chunk of my buffer. What Went Wrong? My charting software that I usually use(ninja) was not working correctly and I was forced to use the T4 (charts). There is absolutely nothing wrong with the T4 charts, I am just not used to looking at them and do not have them set up the same way as I have my other charts. I actually like the T4 charts, I am just not used to them. However, charts are charts and ultimately, this probably had very little to do with my lack of performance today. I was too involved in the TST chat room and not paying attention to my trades like I should. I do like the chat room because it is a great place to socialize with other traders. However, for me, it is just too much of a distraction and I will not be in the chat room again if I am actually trading. I made a few mistakes actually placing and removing orders. This is the first time this has happened in the combine, but it happens to everyone from time to time. I just need to be more methodical about my order entry. I was way too aggressive today with placing and managing my trades. At one, point earlier on in the session, I had added to a position and was up nicely, but watched my gains erode quickly into nothing. I just wanted one more push on the position that never materialized to put me up massively for the day and in my account. I then went from up small, to down, down large, and trying to dig myself out like I usually do. Unfortunately, I was unable to dig myself out and had a very large loss today of -$2970. This nearly disqualified me from the combine and was very careless. The fact that I had a nice account buffer going into the session this early in the combine, enticed me in to operating more aggressively than normal. I fudged on a few of my rules today and my account suffered from these mistakes. Granted, my really good days can be larger than the loss I incurred today, but I need to make sure that this does not happen again. If I want to be a successful trader, I have to ALWAYS follow my rules, not just the Topstep traders rules. This is going to be may major focus from this point on.
Day 5 Today I had my highest daily profit in the combine so far +$3885. I had a really nice trade at the end of the day that brought me from slightly down to extremely up for the day. Unfortunately, I had a couple sizable home runs turn into singles earlier in the day that made my day much longer than it needed to be. I was looking for the grand slam that didn't quite materialize as early as I thought it would. Regardless, I did catch the grand slam at the end of the day and that erased yesterday's losses and put a little extra in my account. I need to start trailing my stop a little more aggressively than I am to lock in more profits. A big part of my strategy is letting my winners run. However, crude can turn a nice winner into a loser in the blink of an eye. On a side note, I am really impressed with Topstep Trader's trading platform. I have had no connectivity issues to speak of, my orders get sent and filled with ease, and there are many other perks that I am beginning to notice that I really like. Tomorrow's results will probably be posted later that night or on Saturday since I have to work tomorrow night
Great job thus far. Nice on the recovery today and getting your head back in the game. It would be great if you could post a chart of entries (if you don't mind) and also lot sizing. I noticed that at the beginning you were trading 3 lots but today looks to be quite a bit more. Really enjoying your progress, thanks for sharing. You are doing (and showing) what most people cannot do...holding winners. I understand you have another job so if its too much I understand.
My mistake.. After looking at your combine results it looks like 6 lots are the norm for the most part. Well done.