TopStepTrader 100k Combine Day 5
Traders,
Where do I start? Deep breath.
Woke up feeling great, ready to take back what the market took from yesterday. Starting to go through my-premarket routine and heard “connection lost” If you trade with the Ninjatrader platform you probably heard that before. I check it out and looks like I lost connection. Start to investigate and my home internet went out. Great. I was just about to start up the trade room screen sharing software.
Had to delay my students to get it fixed, nothing was working so I tried to fire up my laptop but of course no internet connection, then I came up with the brilliant idea of creating a hotspot with my cell phone. So I got connected with my laptop and tried to open Ninjatrader and get an error msg that my license key has expired! GREAT! Strike two.
Just before the pit open session (crude oil futures) it comes back! Awesome, I fire up the trade room and start analyzing and get into my first trade. About 5 seconds in I hear “connection lost” NOOOOOO! A trader’s worst nightmare has just happened. In a trade and lose ALL control, I have no idea where the market is going, if my stop or target is working, I have been in this situation before in my personal account, Usually I would just call my brokers trade desk and have the close the trade or monitor it for me until a stop or target was hit. I had no Idea what to do since I was I’m trading in the TopStepTrader combine. Should I call TST or the data provider? I decided to call my internet service provider to give them hell, this would be the third time it has gone in and out this morning and I had to reset the trade room etc. but this time I was in a TRADE holding 3 lots.
I connect with my ISP and they said there is an outage that can take up to two hours. I hang up and let me students know via Skype on my cell phone that it could be it, get a report back that the market has reversed and I’m hoping that my stop got triggered.
About 10 minutes later I hear the bells that Ninjatrader makes when connecting online and I wait for the charts to load when I see the DISASTER. I did get stopped out on my trade that I was in when the internet went out but for some reason ANOTHER TRADE was entered? WHAT? HOW? WHY? At the time it was just going in the wrong direction I hit the CLOSE button as quick as possible. Well the damage has already been done I was -90 ticks ($-900) just like that. I can’t repeat the words that were coming out of my mouth but it wasn’t pretty. I was extremely pissed off and frustrated.
Trading this way is just impossible, its like when they say do not be mad and ride a motorcycle. Its guaranteed death. Well you think that would stop me nope, I want to make it all back. So now trading has turned into an emotional battle, I’m taking trades outside of my trade plan, doubling up on contracts before I know it I’m -160 ticks (-$1600)+ commissions. I decide I’m going to stop before I hit my daily loss limit, I’m all good. Well not really, I just realize then that if I stop now I’m over my MAX DRAWDOWN! The most I can lose in two consecutive days is -$3000 in total and if I stop now I’m about$300 over where II need to be. SO NOW I CANT STOP trading if I want to continue on with the combine. Let me clear this up for you.
I’m about 15 ticks from hitting my DAILY LOSS LIMIT of -$2000 and I’m already over on my max drawdown. It’s basically impossible to get that back right? Now I’m trading 1 lot with a smaller stop than I already use, about 4 ticks and trying to stay patient knowing I need to make at least 40 ticks to get under my max drawdown and only have about 15 ticks to give away before I hit my daily loss limit for the day and GAME OVER. I get stopped out a couple times and I see a setup at the end of the pit session so I throw on 1 lot it goes +10 in my favor I reduce risk to 0 and I add another lot at +10, it moves up down almost stops me out then it comes back goes to =15 or so and I add another lot. Now I’m break even on both and I’m in it all or nothing. If I get stopped I got nothing let and will hit my daily loss limit and if it goes I should be okay to survive at least one more day. I manage to take about 34 ticks total on 3 lots and get out. This brings my daily total down to -93 ticks (-$930) not including commissions) which is a lot because of all my trading in and out trying to get something back.
After calculating it all including commissions today and yesterday’s loss I’m around -$2900 and under the MAX DRAWDOWN. I stopped trading and calculated it again and again to make sure. To tell you the truth at the time I’m writing this It seems I slid under the radar but I can only be 100% sure when the trade report comes out.
What an ordeal full of frustration, anger. Call it unlucky, or a bad break, either way I got kinda screwed this morning but I dealt with it. It sucks but its apart of the game and it might happen to you so be prepared and ready.
Thanks for reading my rant today and coming along this journey with me. Here to hoping my calculations are correct and I can live to trade tomorrow.
Lino D.
VancityTrader
support@vancitytrader.com
skype: lino.demarchi1
