Topstep's Nick Dolby (Social Media and Community Coordinator) - Ask me Anything (AMA)

May 23rd, 2015, 08:03 AM

DrewDown.
The bottom half of the page covers exchange fees. The exchanges classify people as professional or non-professional. If trading live with Topstep you pay the professional exchange fee of $85 per exchange. I understand that this is because you are trading other peoples money (The TST equity partners account, rather than your own account), which is one of the CME classifications for a professional trader.
https://topsteptrader.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1971631-funded-account-fees

May 25th, 2015, 06:39 AM

TopstepTrader

ratfink- I wish I had an update but I do not at this time. We have some major updates to the site happening later this week or early next week, but no updates on new products.

mp

@TopstepTrader

Do you have meanwhile some updates concerning trading the FDAX at TST?

May 26th, 2015, 01:12 PM

pipandrun

@TopstepTrader

Do you have meanwhile some updates concerning trading the FDAX at TST?

pipandrun- We offer ICE and Eurex products to trade for Funded Traders after their 10th trading day. Currently, we do not offer this in the Trading Combine, but will update when they become Combine available.

Thanks,

Michael

May 27th, 2015, 01:18 AM

TopstepTrader

pipandrun- We offer ICE and Eurex products to trade for Funded Traders after their 10th trading day. Currently, we do not offer this in the Trading Combine, but will update when they become Combine available.

Thanks,

Michael

@topstep Trader

Thanks. Is this a bigger problem to offer the FDAX in the combine, when you already have it later in the funded time? For CET traders mainly currencies are left to trade "in the morning".

May 27th, 2015, 05:20 PM

mdsvtr

Hi Michael,
I had a few questions please concerning both the combine, as well as being a funded trader

1. During the continuous combine ...... how many markets can you trade " At the same time " ?
Could I trade all of the following markets for example.... ES, YM, CL, ZC, SI ?

If you are a funded trader, can you.....

1. hold positions overnight ?

2. Get a waiver on all of the exchange fees .... NYMEX, CBOT, COMEX ?

3. What's the earliest you can enter a position and does it depend on the future you're trading ?
For instance, can you enter a new position on say the ES at 4:00 p.m. cst. ( which would be the 30 min. time span, from 3:30 p.m. cst. market close )

4. will all trades automatically be closed out come the close of each trading day
Just want to make sure that if something comes up, but I/m in a trade, that all of my positions will automatically go flat

5. I'm not sure if there's a difference between the combine and being funded, but . ..... when funded, can we hold positions overnight ( swing trade and stay in a trade for up to a week or so at a time ) as long as we never reach are max daily loss ?

Thanks so much, I really appreciate it

mdsvtr,

Thanks for the questions!

First- At this time, all trades must be flat when the market is closed. We require all Combine and Funded traders to close positions at 3:10 pm CT.

Second- No waivers on exchange fees. The exchanges get theirs.

Third- Depending on the Contract, 5:00 pm CT is the open of the next trading day and the earliest you can open a trade. There are limits on some of the contracts, you can find the answers here. https://nexusfi.com/topsteptrader.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1968878-important-combine-info#Permissible Products/Times to Trade

Fourth-No. All trades will not be automatically flattened. It is up to the traders to ensure they are flat in the Combine and the funded account.

Fifth- At this time, all funded trades must be flattened by 3:10 pm CT

I hope this helps, let us know if you have any other questions.

Regards,

Hoag

May 31st, 2015, 04:05 PM

Hi Hoag ,
Thanks for your reply to my most recent post

I did have a few more questions that I'd like to ask you please.......

1. How many different Products can I trade at the same time during both the Combine and as a Funded Trader ?

Could I trade CL, ES, SI and ZS all at the same time Or would I have to have a Combine designated solely to each product to trade ( so 4 separate combines ) ?

I ask, because I sometimes get entry signals on 3 - 4 products on the same day, and would like to be able to enter these trades all at once if the signals for entry are there

2. I know that if Funded, the Trader is liable for paying the exchange fees,
an with trading CL on NYMEX, GC on COMEX and say ZB on CBOT , that each exchange costs $85 per month.

This can add up to quite an expense per month if trading 4 different products on 4 different exchanges.
Trying to decide on which products to narrow down my trading to

3. Is there a way ( through Ninja Trader ) to close out of my positions via my smartphone ?
Sometimes I'm not at home in front of my computer at 3:10 p.m. cst. to close out of my trades, and have to do so from my smartphone.
Just wondering if there's a way to do so through TopStep/NinjaTrader ?

4. If during the combine you opt to only trade YM and pass that combine and then get funded ..... can you only trade the YM once you become funded , or will you be allowed to add 2 to 3 more products to your trading list ( ZC, GC and NG ) for example ?

5. Once Funded ..... how many trades do you have to make on a per month basis ?
Or does it just come down to not exceeding your Max daily Loss / Overall max drawdown ?
And you just needing to keeping showing a profit of X amount per month ?

5. And lastly, I know that you can use a demo account with NinjaTrader during the combine that doesn't costs anything ,
but how about when you are funded.... who pays for that and how much would that costs on a per month bases ?

Hoag and Michael,
I really appreciate the two of you starting this thread and for helping and answering the questions from all aspiring TopStepTraders such as myself

Thanks again - Michael

June 1st, 2015, 04:36 PM

mdsvtr

Hi Hoag ,
Thanks for your reply to my most recent post

I did have a few more questions that I'd like to ask you please.......

1. How many different Products can I trade at the same time during both the Combine and as a Funded Trader ?

Could I trade CL, ES, SI and ZS all at the same time Or would I have to have a Combine designated solely to each product to trade ( so 4 separate combines ) ?

I ask, because I sometimes get entry signals on 3 - 4 products on the same day, and would like to be able to enter these trades all at once if the signals for entry are there

2. I know that if Funded, the Trader is liable for paying the exchange fees,
an with trading CL on NYMEX, GC on COMEX and say ZB on CBOT , that each exchange costs $85 per month.

This can add up to quite an expense per month if trading 4 different products on 4 different exchanges.
Trying to decide on which products to narrow down my trading to

3. Is there a way ( through Ninja Trader ) to close out of my positions via my smartphone ?
Sometimes I'm not at home in front of my computer at 3:10 p.m. cst. to close out of my trades, and have to do so from my smartphone.
Just wondering if there's a way to do so through TopStep/NinjaTrader ?

4. If during the combine you opt to only trade YM and pass that combine and then get funded ..... can you only trade the YM once you become funded , or will you be allowed to add 2 to 3 more products to your trading list ( ZC, GC and NG ) for example ?

5. Once Funded ..... how many trades do you have to make on a per month basis ?
Or does it just come down to not exceeding your Max daily Loss / Overall max drawdown ?
And you just needing to keeping showing a profit of X amount per month ?

5. And lastly, I know that you can use a demo account with NinjaTrader during the combine that doesn't costs anything ,
but how about when you are funded.... who pays for that and how much would that costs on a per month bases ?

Hoag and Michael,
I really appreciate the two of you starting this thread and for helping and answering the questions from all aspiring TopStepTraders such as myself

Thanks again - Michael

Michael,

Feel free to give us a call with any questions too.

First, You can trade as many allowed products as you want. The rules state that in order to succeed in meeting the rules, each product you trade must have a trading average greater than $0, so choose your products wisely.

Second, yes, the exchange data fees are something to consider and can add up to being a little pricey, again, choose your products carefully.

Third, our funded traders are required to trade from only their desktop and must be present when there are live trades on.

Fourth, Once you are funded with one product you may add other products after your tenth day of trading in your funded account.

Fifth, Once funded there are no profit targets and we only require 10 trading days traded every 60 calendar days

Sixth, Platform costs are always the responsibility of the trader. NinjaTrader has special discounts for TopstepTrader funded traders. NinjaTrader Charting Software & Trading Platform: Purchase Options T4 platform fees are part of the commission structure, but an of the other platform fees are yours.

Thanks again for the questions and trade well.

Hoag

June 3rd, 2015, 05:19 AM

pipandrun

@topstep Trader

Thanks. Is this a bigger problem to offer the FDAX in the combine, when you already have it later in the funded time? For CET traders mainly currencies are left to trade "in the morning".

@TopstepTrader

I just want to remind to the above question.

If I were an investor, where can i invest in your concept? Where do I even know that there is the possibility to invest in retail traders work? I can only find advertisement for traders to be funded, but not for the chance to invest. Thanks.

June 11th, 2015, 02:39 PM

pipandrun

@TopstepTrader

I just want to remind to the above question.

If I were an investor, where can i invest in your concept? Where do I even know that there is the possibility to invest in retail traders work? I can only find advertisement for traders to be funded, but not for the chance to invest. Thanks.

pipandrun,

Thanks for your interest. Unfortunately at this time, we're not currently accepting any new investors. We have had interest in the past, so we do keep a notification list for if/when we do open up for new investment. If you would like to be included on this list, please email [email protected] requesting so. Again, thank you for your interest.

Hoag

June 12th, 2015, 01:30 PM

TopStepTrader So if I got funded would I have to buy a Ninjatrader license for about a thousand dollars? If I wanted to use R/Trader how much would that be per month? Would I have to pay to use R/Trader for the combine and how much?

Topstep's Nick Dolby (Social Media and Community Coordinator) - Ask me Anything (AMA)

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Topstep's Nick Dolby (Social Media and Community Coordinator) - Ask me Anything (AMA)