Quitting

No, I'm not quitting trading entirely. The grind still continues. I'm (thinking) about quitting Topstep, despite still trying to grind out Step 2 of the Combine.

 

After revisiting one of my favorite podcast episodes, An 8 Year Overnight Success Story, I've come to the realization that Nico stopped doing one of the things that I'm doing now - committing full attention to the markets rather than trying to trade during work or with other obligations on the side.

This key detail, along with a few other factors, has really made me question if Topstep is really worth it for me. Don't get me wrong. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with Topstep as a whole. I just don't think I'm in a situation where I'm properly able to take advantage of what they have to offer. So here's the breakdown:

• Nico stopped fragmenting his attention to the markets, which entailed trying to trade during work hours. This is my problem - US futures open just before my work hours. My attention is fragmented and requires a quick shift from markets to work. It's neither ideal nor sustainable.
  
  
• Topstep introduces a very unhealthy psychology of trying to "beat" the monthly Combine renewal date. In a month with no holidays, you have 20 good trading days. When you add in holidays, you have even less. The problem is that this introduces a mentality where I'm trying to hit the target before I have to pay the monthly subscription to continue the Combine.
  
  
• When you pair the previous bullet point with the fact that it's easier to just reset rather than to claw back a loss, it becomes even costlier. With the amount that I've spent on resets and monthly renewals, I could've just funded a personal Micros account with Tradovate directly. Even taking a hit on wire fees isn't nearly as bad as trying to make it work with Topstep.
  
  
• There's also an opportunity cost with these resets and monthly renewals. While the intention of getting on Topstep was to scale and broaden the scope of markets that I can trade in, the reality is that it's been fragmenting my attention. I could've redirected the payments to Topstep into my FX account to really scale it up and accelerate the progression to the DMA account status.
  
  
• Finally, I have more of a personal opinion. I don't think Topstep sets you up in a position to devise better risk management strategies. For example, the $50K Combine allows you to trade up to two contracts, which can either be on the Minis or Micros. However, it would be nice to be able to trade five contracts of MNQ instead of 1 NQ. This isn't possible. When I trade NQ and a move goes against me by a few points, I'm down 10% of my daily loss limit. My takeaway is CME's introduction of the Micros gives even less of a reason to use a service like Topstep.

With that said, I don't think it has been a complete loss trying to grind out Step 2 of the Topstep Combine. Although it has been a costly endeavour, I do think I have a refined strategy should I ever decide to trade futures again through a personal discretionary account.

My approach will still entail looking at the 3,000-contract increment volume bars. However, this volume chart needs to be paired with an M15 or H1 time series in order to set a directional bias. I only very recently discovered the advantage of doing this, but I don't intend to pursue this endeavour for the other reasons that I have listed.

November has also been a very interesting month on the FX side. In some ways, it almost felt as if I had gotten my "read" back. Pairs have taken on more structural breakouts, which has enabled me to take more positional plays. I have been able to win big and lose small so I think it's time that I start scaling my FX account again.