Been a crazy few weeks. I passed the topstep microswing 10k. Opted to stay in a optional funded evaluation phase. As I acknowledged that I needed more time. 6 days later , last monday I self sabotaged. Broke rules , lost funded status. By tuesday morning I almost blew up personal account. Wed- friday I casually traded demo. But was/is at a clear crossroads. The main 2 sources 1+1 = ME. 1 smartphone hotspot since july making me question my progress of the previous 6 months & basically throwing my patience out the window.

This slow realization brought me back here after novel ranting in a great healthy free trading chat room. Best advice was time off/break. Before I decided to purge my emotions again into another futures community; I decided Id use that fancy search feature & dig around the wealth of wisdom & knowledge.

Lo & behold I found a sticky! Took a few days but now a 1/4 of the way thru an oldie but goodie.

Time to Give Up I get a lot of emails and PM's from people seeking advice. Usually they've been losing money and don't really know what to do next. But I received a particular letter recently that made me want to write this post. What are some of the characteristics …

Highly recommend revisiting no matter what stage. So many nuggets in there.

Im still working on my final year (2022) of daily dedication gameplan & after that I'll have to adjust accordingly. So far Im not touching futures until September.
I believe Im still figuring out what my total amount Ill use as the last hurrah, "line in the sand". Im tempted to trickle in an amount in only if necessary & only with week-s time off. Just not sure If I wanna test myself with 3 strikes or 9 lives. But also know demo is friend for now as I need to rebuild refocus & recenter myself. Need to not to be too hard on myself as I have developed some skills & some bad habits but they will also take time to sharpen & purge.

Before all of the BS of 2020, I was/am focused on balanced lifestyle that fit my description for a longer swing at life, time will tell. So I started last year by choosing selective sobriety. I opted to only drink on the even months. Wow what a difference. A few months into this & dealing with 2020 I realized why the wiser ones tend to only enjoy the stuff on the weekends. So that is something Ive tried to maintain in 2021. Only on the weekends, unless special occasion, dying friend etc.
Besides that love affair Id say trading the market is definitely my favorite new passion/addiction. Just need to do what Ive done before & establish self control.

Im lucky being single after dodging a few trainwrecks, most of my family is supportive. I try not to sugar coat it too much. Try to explain its never an overnight thing to start a new career. Without putting them to sleep on market nuances & traders realistic timelines.

All I can say is Iam fortunate to have discovered the markets at a time in my life when I felt mature enough to take the leap & dedicate myself to trading/practicing/ absorbing daily on my own with NO outside financial help from family or govt. Did I make all the right decisions? For myself yes I did. Did I start my LLC at the right time in relation to a pandemic? Not really, first full year was 2019.
Have I made some reasonable compromises in order to spend more time growing this skill? yes!

I guess what Im saying is thanks to that wonderful thread mentioned above. Its helping me shape this next chapter. Providing some much needed balance at a time when I needed it most. Whether Im on a fast track or a long slow track. This journey will be the same regardless, one full of rewards , epiphanies , victories , losses & dare I say self actualization. Maybe success/financial independence .
I cant describe how thankful I am for this community.

Side note Is it CRAZY to try & trade thru any smartphone access point or dedicated hotspot device? Not trying to blame anything but myself. But the data speed has me concerned lately.

Still grinding with the nasdaq. Id say the past 4 months have been a learning experience for daily rules & protocols to follow for me.
I was/am in a ugly prop firm cycle. Bouncing from promos for the 50/100k trailing drawdown combines with Topstep , apex & leeloo. The money used probably should of sat on the sidelines & do personal SIM but I acknowledged that it was perhaps more well spent in testing environment with a potential validation reward. You know ego stroking of course.

So after failing multiple times for various reasons but top of the list was ME. My final trailing DD fail was due to being caught in the rithmic glitch a few weeks ago & being greedy well past my profit goal of 3k. The overtrading via mini & micro blew me up. So needless to say I know its not the trailing drawdowns fault set by the props, but Im done playing with that style.

So my next road on this journey is with the static non trailing drawdown of $625 in the 100k, focusing on micros & managing risk.
Currently on track for 2k goal within 10 days. 5 or6 to go. Im getting better at reading myself & switching to sim to protect my mental capital.
Primarily on focusing first 2-3 hours of RTH. Just short quick scalps , small size & different trailing stops to capture the MNQ pops & spikes. Works great when , I DONT MOVE STOPS.

On another note for those with poor internet service in your region, the unlocked netgear nighthawk hotspot with wifi 6 & ethernet port is working great. It does need to be reset every few days when it either says roaming or nothing works. But restarting has fixed it everytime. Its not any worse than a ninja trader/rithmic glitch

RogueJoules 

On another note for those with poor internet service in your region, the unlocked netgear nighthawk hotspot with wifi 6 & ethernet port is working great. It does need to be reset every few days when it either says roaming or nothing works. But restarting has fixed it everytime. Its not any worse than a ninja trader/rithmic glitch

Are you also using the MIMO antenna? If so, am curious if it's up high (like several feet, up above your roof for example) and is that working ok? as I've understood an extension wire up to it would negate it's performance.
I'm in a hard-wired place now but was about to experiment when I had an RV. May get another someday so like to gather more info in the meantime. Thanks.

Just using the hotspot device. Not using the antenna connector ports. I haven't had to use an extra antenna in Florida as 4g/5g coverage is pretty good. In Oregon Im on the wrong side of the hill & lots of trees. so Id imagine it would help in certain areas. But 4g has worked pretty well for the past month in the NW. Cell phone here is usually terrible & familys wired internet is slower than my hotspot at times.

I know there's some other mobile hardwired solutions that auto switches between networks & sims to maintain connection. Those were double the cost for those kits. The luxury bus people swear by them.
Ill be full timing in my RV in 2022. Been using hotspot full time for 4+ months with ninja, tradovate, TOS, streaming videos etc. I just keep it within 2 feet of my computer try to stay close to the windows. I dont see the need to upgrade other than wanting a faster connection sometimes.
GL with your experiments

This is what im using

https://www.engadget.com/netgears-5-g-mobile-hotspot-router-with-wi-fi-6-is-now-available-for-700-123048968.html

After one full year of futures, Im still learning & struggling at times. The biggest problem I just ran into, was being around my immediate family for first time since early 2020 & being fortunate enough to be in a position to learn a new skill nonstop for almost 2 years without any interference (burnout? perhaps) . Was a gut feeling of guilt or shame for not having any crazy small cap , crypto or nft "gains" to share. Instead I was trying to explain futures nuances ,props & market wisdoms Ive gained. Luckily theyre supportive but still basically real losses & paper profits. Yay.
So because of this unnecessary pressure/stress I put on myself, I proceeded to nuke prop accounts over & over until new years, trying to force BS win. But hey at least most of it was holiday promos.

So by the 2nd of January I decided I needed a break. So I observed for 2 weeks. I took casual mental trades but didnt keep notes. Tried to reanalyze my process to slow down & look for bigger swings. But ultimately was looking for ideal set ups, in order to trade less & be more efficient.

My biggest takeaways so far, is to avoid globex. Focus on RTH first 2 hours & last 2 hours. New rule for me - Im now demo trading the opening 15-30 mins. Usually by 950est-10am I jump in on my combine when I see price action Im comfortable with. Its not perfect, Im still hung up on shorter scalps as opposed to longer swings with more time. But Ive learned if Im hitting my daily goal efficiently, to just focus on that consistently. Stop over trading & stop taking bigger losses. To feel okay if I dont like what I see & walk away for another day/ trade opportunity that fits me.

I believe Ive started the 2nd year of this futures journey on the right step to becoming a disciplined trader. Luckily I had 2020-2021 chaos to learn from.

Other news Ive been back in FL for almost 2 weeks & enjoying 5g in St pete. Looks like I should be fine in Eustis for internet too. No big Douglas fir trees or hills blocking the signal for a few months.

Not active on apex static 100k combine, but using leeloo 25k promos & ninja trader this week. Cant wait to see tradovate & NT improvements.

So far starting off February in the zone with my new process I started back on the 18th of January. Since my last post I ended my membership with Apex to only focus on Leeloo. At the moment Im funded again from a 25k combine. Still have one left to get funded. Ive read all about the questionable business models of the props, have my own cynical feelings too. I understand their business model , technically a sim account w/ copy trader thats live & stepped payment rules. If nothing else I see it as slowing down my bad behavior in order to build discipline & consistency before Im comfortable to risk my own money again. And hey there might be a reward of side income this way too.

With that said Im only a few days in , going very slowly. Still trying to get 1 more account funded. I chose the static drawdown "accelerator". As Ive had enough bad days/weeks of watching that trailing drawdown come in like a wrecking ball. No thanks. Still only touching the micros, mainly scalping off my keltner channels & down or up to my Kaufman avg. I have had to widen my stops due to recent Volatility. So I know my R:R is wacky at the moment. As I like my various bread n butter brackets. More focused with consistency & self control than bigger targets.

So here is a snapshot of part of my morning routine- performance. Previously I had a nasty habit of trading premarket & opening 15mins. Now when Im ready I treat 8:30-945 or later as my warm up period. With more screen time I plan on adjusting this rule but for now Id like to stick to this for at least 6 months or so. During this warmup period I only do SIM with tradovate/NT before combine sim. I try to take it as seriously as I would with combine/personal. Obviously that's a lie at times. Because I would be sweating a lot more when I enter early/late, which would possibly effect decision making.
Based on my sim performance I either wait until Im comfortable or get going if Im ready at 9:45am. Current tradovate profit trigger lockout is set to $250. I think when I have 30 days Ill bump it to 275-300.

What a wild week! Id say mentally I finished break even. Did my process on Wednesday , hit my goals in SIM , combine & funded. Walked away. At this point I noticed on my google sheets daily performance tracking that I was on a 3 week winning streak. Which is great & terrible. I started Thursday following my routine. However I began simming right before CPI. From there I did ok, but I got sucked into a case of FOMO with a bias. I over traded & kept holding on expecting a bigger flush/squeeze. I only caught 20pts & was being greedy. From there it unraveled.

When I started my first red flag was my internet performance seemed to be lagging, did my normal resets & ignored it. 2nd red flag was my sim performance was awful. Ignored it as well.
Mind you I was $200 past the profit target on the combine with 3 days to go... but 3 weeks of not being humbled. I stopped within 500 of the trailing DD auto liquidate level. So then I switched to my funded account & promptly 5 bad losing trades -$300. I closed it out. Watched & stayed in simulation for the rest of the session. Not my day.

Friday I followed my sim process again but I waited until the opening bell to start. I also decided to record my voice for the first 20mins. Which was hilarious relistening to it. It did help me slow things down. I shorted way too early & didn't hit my sim goals first. Red flag! Switched to my combine account & swiftly blew it up before I could have a chance. Iam upset about it, but gotta move on. Pays to wait & I did not.
I simmed a little bit before jumping into my funded. Felt comfortable but not super confident with my recent behavior. Had some wild PnL swings ended up around noon with barely 100 micro pts after fees. Took a break but watched from my couch listened to super bowl sports radio & other podcasts, wasnt planning on trading. But if I did, 2:30 was go time.

Saw the geopolitical news hit & the VIX got a little spicier. Or as a magnum in a random discord used to say "its looking sporty". I jumped in with the most cautiously aggressive mindset I could have.
I kept my size small & stops wide. I shorted it & then shorted the bottom. Algo baited. Few BAD losses. My losses are still rather bad in relation to my averages. But thankfully I managed to stay green, finished up around 500pts net positive for my funded account at around 3:45pm est.

Of the 130+ trades I took I kept a short bias for 63% of them but I also stayed above 75% profitable on both sides. Makes me feel good as I was at least in the zone at the right time. That being said my MAE/MFE needs some improvement, both locked in at 17. Ended the week green but again my end of week MAE/MFE are telling a different story, that is I need to wait for confirmation before I run out of nets or bullets. Zooming out & patience are on my list for next week.

@RogueJoules Magnum still calls things sporty. One hell of a trader.

Sent using the NexusFi mobile app

I managed to stay nimble all week & kept my funded Leeloo account alive. For the most part sticking to my rules of simming the opening 15mins. 1-2 occasions I took an early trade just to make that day count as an active day in case I didn't have time in the afternoon. Luckily was able to get back in front of my computer around 2:30 to finish up in time before the "murder algo" hits. My current rule due to my style/experience is be extremely focused 9:45-11am or 2:30-3:45 for trading. I still regularly watch the RTH MNQ movements as much as possible but I respect it enough to get in & get out via small daily goals to control myself & not let the market control me.

I did break my tradovate SIM streak as I left a few shorts on into that Tuesday or WED rally. OOPS. But on the days that I messed up in SIM during the opening I was able to let go of my losers faster & decipher what the market was communicating quicker than before. As previously it became a vendetta that would ruin a day.

My efficiency is mixed but I'm humbly biased. I have 5 separate bracket orders (nets) of different quantities, all with slightly different targets that usually I allow the trailing stop to do its job & get SIP'd.
My trades count is down, Im averaging 10 bracket orders per day on my funded account. Im just counting when I start a position with a bracket, size ranges from 1-8 depending on action/circumstances. Stops we're moved again this last week. That's my weak point, really where I need to decide breathing room rules. But my self control has been on point. Either reducing size or flipping the account back to sim or taking a break to center myself for later or the next day.

Otherwise I can't complain as I know this past week was tricky given the current events/news manipulation.
PXL_20220218_161510322

I didn't quite survive this last week, Funded account is limping along for now. I did ok with small gains on Monday & Tuesday. But Wednesday the wheels came off & lost 14 trading days of progress. Just no control or discipline in that moment. Didn't lower size for the increase of volatility. Stops too wide.

At the time I wasn't aware of NT or rithmic having risk control settings. As I had asked Top step about it like 6 months ago with tradovate feature on the personal accounts. Got the cut & paste treatment of up to the trader to manage risk (that doesn't support our business model message between the lines). Ive looked around previously for rithmic tutorials but never found one that kept me awake or bothered with risk management features. Unfortunately I wish I had dug deeper on Tuesday night as I had big PnL swings in the morning. On Leeloo tutorial page 8-9 videos down it discusses risk parameters. So Ive got that set in place. Despite hearing my intuition to wait until Monday, I decided to try it out Thursday morning. It works! But Im in the hole deeper. So I readjusted it to a more comfortable daily loss limit.

I foolishly jumped back on Friday morning but was in control, collected a measly 50pts profit before 10:30 for a small victory into the weekend.

The other part of the equation I left out on my 2nd tilt day; my environment is/has been in constant flux of limbo with helping my friend move. With stress comes selective hearing = miscommunication. Thursday I was in hurry as I thought I had 30 mins, red flag as I thought I had learned if I don't have 1.5-3 hours to be focused than don't trade!
Well it turned out I did have 90 mins to kill. Which didn't matter because by 9:35 the day was trashed.

To wait is to honor your process you're trying to establish to satisfy your ego in the long run. Live & Learn.