I've been trying to read this thread and I think I missed something. Okay, so when someone finally goes 'live' past the initial hurdles, these are the only additional conditions? Someone else mentioned 'micromanaging' positions, is that on top of these conditions? Meaning, you would be in a trade, that's in accordance with these and the initial conidtions and they would what, call you to tell you to get out?
Actually, they spell out the rules quite clearly in the Rules Comparison Chart: http://help.topsteptrader.com/knowledgebase/articles/241566-rules-comparison-chart The big difference is from the combine to Junior Trader, where there is a set of "Additional Rules" already mentioned in this thread. Once you jump from Junior to Senior trader, the "Additional Rules" go away.
My interpretation is you have to write down what size you will start with as a Junior Trader. Let's say for example you write down 2 lots as your maximum starting size. Therefore, your entry would always be either 1 or 2 lots, since two lots would be your max. In that scenario, since you cannot add to a loser, you could theoretically close out the 1 lot loser and immediately open a 2 lot trade, and still be within the rules. I think the logic of writing down your share size is to see if you can manage risk wisely, and achieve the Senior Trader status by meeting the profit goal (which has no time limit, unlike the combine).
If you review the rules comparison chart then you'll see the differences between the combine vs. junior vs. senior. Regarding the "micromanaging" of positions, I'm not really sure, that was the op's experience. I think once you start trading live, there shouldn't really be any ambiguity. The rules are spelled out. The backer agrees to take the capital risk, and you as the trader agree to abide by the rules.
Thanks. I look forward to trading another combine within the next month and implementing the Junior Trader rules to the combine.
What's even funnier is a few of them returned to ET and continued the no losing charade. And no, I'm not going to out them. It's not my intent to hurt anyone's ego here, I'm just trying to offer a unique perspective about this business.
I am not shocked. Some people want this so bad that just the impression that they are successful at it feeds the ego to live a lie. Its nuts.
As Maverick attests--- I have had the same experience. I worked with a hedge fund that had over 100 traders, some from elite, through its doors. These were vetted people with real track records --- EVERY SINGLE ONE but ONE failed losing money for the fund. ONE GUY and ONE GUY only was able to make money and his edge had nothing to do with anything I or the fund manager had ever even heard of in the past. He ended up making a fortune----- That's the truth. HH
Totally believable. I worked SELL side for a long time. I covered futures and options positions in sort of a ancillary risk management position. Over those years I watched at least 200 funds perform. Some were big, some were small. Some were elite uni guys. Some were schlubs. The percentage of guys that beat their respective benchmarks was tiny. The performance of guys that had no benchmark, but just shooting straight Alpha was terrible as well. It was absolutely right around the 1% success number you always read about. I`m not counting the long levered guys who just bought stocks and held them in a bull market. Most everybody that was "active" lost money. Period. My favorite story from that time was when gold was going straight up for years, I watched a guy turn a few million into almost nothing by actively trading gold and miner stocks. A fucking drunk, blind monkey would have literally done better.