Hey Daniel, got turned on to Topstep from watching your first combine videos. I was always skeptical of prop firms. But after some devasting losses trading options on my personal account and watching your videos...I decided this could be the answer for me as well. I passed my first 50k combine on Jan 3rd and am now funded. Working now on my 150k and another 50k. Those videos changed everything for me bro, I went from a really dark place to absolutely stoked and optimistic. First time trading futures too! I can't believe I was trading options! Everything is clicking now without the complexities of options. Made $4300 between all my accounts in the last two days. I can't thank you enough for putting yourself out there and making these videos. THANK YOU!!
I love how self-aware you are about your flaws in trade management, I have found myself in the hole where i cut my winners early. Definitely something I am working on.
I'm currently in my combine and I feel this is a great reminder that once you pass the combine, your discipline and consistency still matters. Goes to show its not over yet. Thank you Daniel!
Super impressed you were able to shake off a lost account and pull off another one, that's really tough mentally. You have an excellent disposition for trading, its just building the right habits now. Best of luck!
Congrats, Daniel! Really helps to break the ice... after you pass your first combine, it can be disheartening to lose an XFA, but it's a lot easier to get back there than it was the first time. Just a bump in the road. Keep grinding, man!
In my opinion the hardest part comes after the combine. I like to take a break once I passed a challenge, to "reset" the mind. You are euphoric after a passed challenge. You want to make the real money. This is a bad spot to be in, IMO taking it extra slow with a fresh funded account is a must. Especially because drawdown will make you even more emotional.
Take the Al Brooks trading class. 80% of break outs fail. Especially on the Nq. 2) your account size is your distance to draw down amount. That’s it. It’s not 50k 100k or whatever. Treat it like.
Congratulations on being accountable. It’s hard to take losses and just as hard if not harder to share publicly. Your stats suggest you have a good system and you can have confidence in your analysis. Now just to tweak your wins to losses and I’m sure you will be back stronger than ever. Nice job reflecting and thank you for sharing! You got this!!
Thanks for updating boss, adore this series cause i'm in a bit of a similar part of my journey. i know youtube comment advice is probably not the one but with that being said, here goes hahaha, a huge change in my game was just accepting that 1m and 5m weren't for me, i get too freaked out with the speed, 4hr chart is my jam but it's not for everyone but i reckon just moving up your time frame can help descision making and dealing with fomo and all the fun fear based descisions. Anyway, take this with a grain of salt, if what you're doing is working and its just a mental thing sure you know yourself, keep at it, you're doing great!
I feel the exact same. I just recently failed my first combine because i was for the first time subject to monetary fears and took 2 big red days. Im overall profitable when in practice trading yet i let emotion affect my decisions. And it is the same problem as u said im overall correct on my "predictions" but bad executions. Coming from someone id say is in the same point as u in the journey, my advice is to not change strategy too much because u will always change ur strategy to what worked in ur last trade when it should be consistent overall. Fears will affect u in places u do not expect. Rock on bro im cheering for u
You can separate your volume indicator from your charts by clicking on the volume indicator and then select a new pane above or below, it makes the charts way cleaner and clearer
I have thoroughly enjoyed your trading videos. Thanks so much for your dedication and it has been amazing seeing you constantly get better and better. Keep on rocking!
amazing Daniel , you know what i'm planning also to go with some funded platforms and you are giving us a great experience for the hole of the journey , i do really appreciate your effort
Try the 1000 & 3000 tick chart and maybe adding a footprint chart. I use a heat map, footprint, dom, and a couple minute/tick charts to trade. 3 years later I’m breaking even and will be profitable hopefully on my 4th year.
Same here; very good plans, less-than-ideal executions. I just finished a 2-week losing streak. It's hard, but we're still here! Eventually, we'll all get there as long as we keep coming back. Good luck Daniel and everyone!😊
Got introduced to futures with your last video and started to learn last month. Started my first time with a prop firm (topstep b/c of you) and trying to pass the combine.
I would recommend you to not look at the numbers all the time, most traders gets scared or anxious when they see red (including me) especially with big numbers, so I decide to switch to percentage without looking at how much dollars I am in loss and it really helped me out.
always take your payout, these propfirms are not your friend and they want you to lose, take what ever you make its better to lose the account and get a new one.
I lost my funded account 2x’s had to step back and admit that it’s different when you’re out of the combine and their is a real possibility of money involved. The mindset changes 😢 they don’t talk about that too much
Bro I lost two funded accounts. Those max daily losses are killer. I’m trying to pass another challenge now and my goal is to keep my loss at 500 or two losing trades.
Thanks for sharing, good video dude. Sounds like you’re on the right track, just keep working on improving the small things one at a time and eventually it all comes together. GG
Hi Daniel, not sure if you’ll even ever see this but there’s one thing you’re missing. When you take a payout, say even as little as $300, Topstep then refunds your last months combine fee which is $149. So really it halves the cost it took to get funded (if one try on the combine with no resets). For context, I’m a Topstep and TPT funded trader and have had over 20 funded accounts across both companies. Still fine tuning my game but my average return on a funded account is around $4000 withdrawn (not bragging just want you to know why my opinion isn’t pointless)
I can see you coming to grips with your weaknesses at some point. All the best in your endeavour. I'm no fan of day trading (swing trading more my thing). On an unrelated side note, I caught some TV the other day (a rare occurrence lol)and one of the adverts had your outro music on it!
You doin a good job! I started trading because of your video with matt for about 8 Month. I exactly facing the same problems. In my Experience, i cash out as early as possible on my next funded account. Just for the feeling and to be able to pay for the next two resets. its the worst when you lose 3k because of the buffer zone. I wish you all the best!
Awesome video Daniel! You’re the most open and honest trader on youtube that I know of and you set a realistic example of what the trading journey is like. With an absurt amount of scams, expensive courses and downright misleading information/statistics in the trading space, it’s refreshing to see someone making videos for the purpose of sharing their own journey without claiming to know it all! My trading journey started a year ago and although I’ve been funded twice (without being able to take a payout), I just can’t seem to consistently improve my performance. At this point I lack the motivation and focus to trade at all thinking I’m never gonna get there. Anyway, good luck and don’t forget to take a payout🙏🏼
well, i’ve been at it for four years. trading will definitely beat you down, but if you can stick with it and improve, it’ll pay off. thanks for watching.
Bro you are so realistic and very logical! Your thought process and understanding in an intimate of your mistakes is exactly what make a successful trader! Don’t give up and don’t repeat those mistakes and I am sure you’ll be fine
Most important aspect of a trade is how the RISK was managed regulated and CONTROLLED, when you enter a trade you should already know your MAX loss, I see you have a random trade plan random risk day by day random amount of trades day by day, control everything you can and follow strict rules, 90% of trading is also a mental game, you barely feel it with combines, becomes slightly more real with “funded” but it’s still fake money, becomes the most real trading real money. Learn who you are and what type of trader you are, control your risk, create a plan that can be executed CONSISTENTLY, controlling everything you CAN and play your edge, so many variables changing constantly is just gambaling
Hey Daniel I am the same as you with my analysis being correct but my execution (stops) being bad - quick rec for placing your stops: use ATR to set your stops. What I have found works for me is placing my stop, then adding 1/2 of whatever ATR currently is. For example, if I’m long NQ at 16800 and want to keep my stop at 10 points, and ATR is currently at 8, I’ll make my stop 14 points, at 16786. Hope this helps!
Have you considered just quick scalps, since you have a hard time holding trades and you tend to have large losses? This way you have a quick stop/small loss and you can get back in if needed, and you can comfortably get out green on a quick move
This happened to my funded account , I traded with almost no emotion during the combine just traded per the strategy. As soon as I got funded, my phycology went to bits, and even when I got into profitable setups I'd trim much too early.
Looks like you have a great attitude and you're very self aware. All I would question is varying the number of contracts. It's a recipe for defeat. Think of it as like a unit for sports betting - never ever change the unit size.
getting capital is the easy part. maintaining it is the hard part. also i dont know why so many traders have to try and trade every day. take a break during holidays.
Thank you for sharing us all the good and bad of your trading journey Daniel! It's honestly more inspiring to see you reflect and improve month to month than any other overblown "I made xxx amount with this strategy" trading video. I hope you continue to improve and find success in the near future!
Hey Daniel, I'm no pro, but I am noticing that your red days, you made many more trades (7+) and your green days you usually did like 4, maybe try to have a limit to how many trades you take per day.
You should show yourself by trading your own money and then buy a account... I'm working to get up 5k then I will show it on my channel me Before buying a new account we would love to see you grow a small account and not try to get us to also buy accounts
seems like you're using wayyy too large of a size... you don't have 150k, you have $4500.. and its trailing.. split that 4500 into at least 20 shots... risk no more than 200 per trade. anything above is gambling. and even 200 is gambling for this account size
Yes, exactly. It may say $150k, but at a $2500 trailing DD that’s a 1.6% loss. Most traders state don’t risk more than 1-2% per TRADE and here he has a MAX 1.6% do or die. Gotta bring that down 1/10th and trade as if it’s a $15k account. Now your max drawdown is 16%. Trade the MICROS, throw the ego away. These funded accounts are a grind. Playing any larger than stated above is just gambling
Getting comfortable taking losses is the hardest part in this whole journey. Good job getting funded again, as someone who has passed 13 Apex PAs and failed 10 of them, I can relate to the grind and overall struggle.
Position sizing is key for me. I almost never take more than one contract and this allows all the wiggle room I need in a trade. I chart previous days highs and lows, overnight highs and lows, and value are high and low and this keeps my trades tight and with good risk management. I watch the big 7 NQ, ES, and RTY to get a feel for the market and lets me know how tight my stops should be. I still cut trades too early I think everyone does brother. I also try not to buy the first touch of a key level unless there is reason maybe buy a retest still working that one out. Yesterday when ES broke 4760 we still looked fine so when we came back up got in for 5 points and that’s a good day to me. Best of luck will look for the next video and your continued success.
Nice! I have been trying to pass a 50k since Aug. Cant seem to get closer than 50% before everything I do goes south lol... Trying to learn from my mistakes..quickly! lol Look forward to more vids.
I think you need to look into mean reversion but you need to be very particular about which markets you choose as in Forex there are certain currencies that like to stay correlated with each other so they often revert to the mean IE a 200 EMA
- watch 930-11am NY session only - Buy an EA that shows TP x SL and adjust each trade to .8% risk, look for expansion move with largest candle range all session, and net volume divergence to take london l/h with it. On retracement back into inefficacy BOS enter at 1/6 of the total range and dont enter if it takes equlibrium and highs. BE at 4 r . US30- NAS - SNP only
Best way to trade futures is not trade them at all. Or ability to sell naked options short term against a losing position. Can almost always make money. Trading directionally with technical analysis is nearly impossible to make a living doing full time. You'll be much better off working for a living and adding to a self managed fund and use options to hedge. Can make 2% a month return on account.
After I took several losses I developed a really bad case of pulling the trigger, I would sit there and watch as the asset went into the direction I expected it too but I just would not enter the trade. It took me a long time to get over that, so I fully understand the fear of losing a profitable trade and honestly I don't think it's all that bad of thing.
