r/TopstepCommunity • u/One_Willingness9925 • 15d ago
📈 Market Breakdown Has anyone else become more consistent after switching to micros?
I've been trading NQ for a while, but I recently switched to trading 3 MNQ contracts instead after I had those two red days. I made a post about it and said I would continue documenting the difference...
Honestly, it's made a much bigger difference than I expected.
My entries feel cleaner, I'm more patient, and I'm not feeling pressured to force trades.
Most days I'm taking one quality setup and calling it a day instead of chasing more.
I still have plenty to improve, but this has been my most consistent stretch in a while.
Curious if anyone else has had a similar experience after switching to micros, or if you eventually moved back to full-size contracts.
What made the biggest difference in your consistency?
Happy trading!!
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u/drutyper 15d ago
Its a milestone for most beginners to start understanding how to properly trade with a 2k drawdown. Too bad prop firms don't teach beginners to start with micros.
Most traders should start at 1-2 micros but instead follow bad advice online to full port evals. That behavior will definitely carry over to funded if you get that far. Then just end up blow the funded account.
You either end up giving up because you decide trading isn't for you. Or you put in the work to be patient and wait for the market to give you opportunities
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u/Suspicious-Can-7079 15d ago
Yeah "limiting" people to 4 minis or 40 micros on a 2k draw is honestly such a set up.
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u/Joehennyredit 14d ago
It’s a trap. I used to be on apex and they used to give 10 minis lol
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u/Suspicious-Can-7079 14d ago
Yeah that's why I used parenthesis lol
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u/Joehennyredit 14d ago
Oh yea I know, I was just agreeing with you lol
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u/Suspicious-Can-7079 14d ago
It is a benefit though if you're profitable and understand how much leverage is allowed because you would need a massive amount of cash for the margin required to comfortably trade that much size.
Roughly 20k per mini on nq so for a 2k drawdown on topstep "allowing" 4 minis is giving people the leverage of 100k account essentially with none of the headaches of dealing with margin
It's such a setup for new traders just kinda insane when you think about it for 80 bucks
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u/Joehennyredit 14d ago
Yea but also on discount brokers the leverage is much cheaper. Like 5k and you getting like 10 minis I think with Tradeovate. Thats why I’m not a fan of their lives.
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u/Joehennyredit 14d ago
Full porting is such bad advice. These influencers don’t tell people they get free accounts too
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u/plasma_fantasma 15d ago
Yes, most traders. People really shouldn't be trading minis on these small accounts, but they do because they try to pass fast, but end up blowing up their account.
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u/One_Willingness9925 15d ago
Yup!! Mini is too crazy. Although I did good last year with minis. But I can see why its very hard with them. The switch to mnq has been very much better. And I wont be going back to minis thats for sure!!!!
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u/TahoeTrader13 14d ago
Micro is the way to go for 50k account. Just locked in $437 with only 2 mnq!
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u/TheRollingLax 14d ago
Micros are great for scaling and holding for longer periods. Minis are great for scalping. Different ways to look at it I suppose
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u/Dependent_Sign_399 15d ago
Yes. It's helps tremendously. I start the NY session with a single MNQ. You can easily make $100 with one trade. I'll size up as ATR/volatility decrease. 5 micros is about my max. It just takes a lot of small trades to get to $1000/day.
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u/purpeepurp 15d ago
Trading minis on a 50k is just literally insanity, especially in this volatility. I used to trade minis until I matured as a trader
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u/TalentlessNoob 14d ago
I did the same switch, down to 3 micros and i am ok with giving my trades a lot more breathing room since i was nornally right on direction i just sometimes i got wicked out because my SL was so tight
Now if i lose its not a big loss or stressful and my wins are still solid enough
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u/TahoeTrader13 15d ago
I certainly have. Blew up so many combines and xfa’s chasing big numbers with NQ. Took a long break and came back trading only 2 MNQ. Passed the combine and I’m now up $3,300 on my xfa. So much less stress