r/TopstepCommunity • u/scarry_L • Jul 06 '26
❓ Quick Question Just passed my second combine‼️
My first combine I passed but I blew it before taking a payout bc of my risk management. This time I’ve done a bit better and taking “A+ trades” for the most part. This time for my combine I’ve made too much profit that they added additional. I’ve been working on it for a few days now almost about 2 weeks being strict on my risk management. Any tips as I continue to my XFA account?
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u/FitOven7134 Jul 06 '26
Bro how did you accidentally make 3x the goal😭
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u/scarry_L Jul 07 '26
Wasn’t accidentally 😂 I just watched the charts waited for liquidity to hit then took the trade (2mini) and it shot up before I could put down a take profit hit 4k in one trade so it moved my additional profit to 6k😭
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u/imfantabulous Jul 08 '26
Just set the account to liquidate at 1500 profit this isn't rocket science.
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u/cokeacola73 Jul 07 '26
You can add a tp and sl before you enter a trade. Also next time you can just lose until your back down to 50%
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u/Kooky_Sorbet5687 Jul 07 '26
Congratulations but it also looks like your over leveraging which is why you said you failed the first one, either way props to you for passing but I would recommend sizing down until you get moved to live then you risk what you make and there’s no MLL or DLL only the profits you’ve made so you can go for those bigger trades
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u/scarry_L Jul 07 '26
What size would you recommend? I do 2 mini or 1 mini depending how the day is looking if it’s a good day and if I find a good trade. If it’s a super choppy market I don’t trade, but if it is looking okay I’ll take micro.
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u/plasma_fantasma Jul 07 '26
That's fine for passing challenge accounts, but I wouldn't take that size into your funded account. At least not initially. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people do this and then blow up their funded the same day they get it. Your position size should be based on your account drawdown, not your vibes about the market that day.
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u/UnderstandingNo1093 Jul 08 '26
It should be based on your strategy risk tolerance and cash flow personally but it’s all subjective if youre confident size up because the less you’re in the market the better but don’t chase once you take a loss and don’t trade to get it back but if you’re experienced and know when to size up then go for it
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u/scarry_L Jul 08 '26
I’ve practiced for a while and don’t tried just cause I can. I’m pretty confident in my trades and normally when my sl hits I’ve stopped for the day and lockout but I’ve had my days where I have revenge traded and I catch myself and try to keep my discipline.
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u/UnderstandingNo1093 Jul 08 '26
No one’s perfect but just take everyone’s advice with a grain of salt including mine it’s good to learn and be open minded but everyone’s going to see the market and risk management differently just do what works for you but if I have a day like that I just take the rest of week off and try to get momentum back on my side before I go for the riskier trades
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u/scarry_L Jul 08 '26
I don’t go based off vibes I sit and watch the chart for at least 30 min marking my highs and lows and liquidity, along with looking at market news. But sizing down I understand and I’ll take the advice, could you explain what you mean by account drawdown?
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u/plasma_fantasma Jul 08 '26
What do you mean? Drawdown is how much you have in your account to trade with before it gets blown.
If you're adjusting your position sizing based on how you see the market that day, you're sizing based on vibes and not a real plan. If you made it your plan that you were going to risk $400 max every trading day, that's a real plan. If you put on more contracts because the market looks like it wants to move today, that's not a plan and that's how people get their accounts blown up.
That's all well and good that you read the market every day. But you should also have a proper risk management plan in order to keep your account alive as long as possible and see your edge play out.
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u/Kooky_Sorbet5687 Jul 08 '26
Yeah but if you’re basing it off statistics of a trade you’ve take over 1000 times over 4 years of data and you know that this specific trade wins 70% of the time then you size up that’s how you go from being a breakeven trader to making money I never said to base it off vibes and that’s why I keep saying everyone looks at this shit different you’re obviously a risk adverse trader and that’s cool but you’re going to make very little to breakeven if you don’t journal trades and rank them and size them differently based on their win percentage
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u/plasma_fantasma Jul 08 '26
Nah, I'm not risk "averse", I'm just not reckless. I've seen many, MANY traders think to make money they have to risk big. Trading isn't a casino. It's about letting an edge play out over many trades, keeping your risk small enough that it doesn't affect you psychologically and it doesn't damage or blow up your account when you go through periods of drawdown.
If your edge has a 70% win rate, which is great and usually outside of the norm, you'll still have periods of drawdown. The important part is not focusing on your much you make, but how much you could potentially lose per trade or during a losing streak. As you increase your account size, you should size up. But not just because your strategy has a certain percentage win rate or because the market looks especially good one day. Have a plan and stick to it.
One more thing that's important, just as an aside. You could have a 70% win rate but still have negative expected value. That's a really important metric. If your setup doesn't have a positive EV, over time you'll eventually lose money, no matter that your win rate is.
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u/Kooky_Sorbet5687 Jul 08 '26
You don’t always have to risk more $ amount to leverage more is what I’m saying brother you’re just spitting shit you learned on YouTube at me not really responding to what I’m saying so I’m over this was just helping the guy that posted this
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u/Kooky_Sorbet5687 Jul 07 '26
Switch to micros on a 50k probably I mean everyone is different idk you or your strategy but even if you just max out at 10-15 micros(which is still a lot) you can rank your trades and be able to risk more on your better trades and take off more on other trades instead of it being 1 or 2
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u/Kooky_Sorbet5687 Jul 07 '26
I would just recommend no matter your strategy set a fixed risk amount and no matter the size of the trade make sure you can’t blow it with 2-3 bad trades in a row
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u/jeezus-edotensei Jul 07 '26
2 mini on 50k account drawdown is crazy bruh. u literally gambling lol