11/30 Trade Review → -10pts/-$500 Total Loss on 3 Trades:
Here’s a screenshot of the day’s action. I marked up three different spots on the chart that I want to discuss. Keep in mind that the white horizontal lines indicate the initial balance high and low (which are the actionable entry levels for my strategy).
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1. TRADE #1: Long at Initial Balance Low → –2pts/-$100
Entered tight to the IB low right after 10:30 and got a strong initial impulsive up (8+pts), but experienced a lack of continuation. Came back through the IB low and I got stopped out for a small loss.
2. TRADE #2: Long at Initial Balance Low → -2pts/-$100
Re-entered on a false break of the IB low. Once again experienced an initial impulse up, but just wasn’t breaking through the 3950 level. Got stopped out for another small loss and missed the major impulsive move that happened no more than 5mins later.
3. TRADE #3: Short at Initial Balance High → -6pts/-$300
This was honestly a mistake. I left this short order at the IB high in by accident when I walked away from my trading station around 1pm. I didn’t get back until after 1:30pm – at which point the market traversed the entire IB range and broke out well above it.
This volatility spike was due to a fed chair meeting – and the market responded with buying. I had a conditional order in that set an automatic stop loss and take profit upon entry, so my downside was protected. But this was still a boneheaded move on my part.
Overall – Frustrating Day Full of Mistakes and Missed Opportunities:
Disappointed in my execution today. The market tested the IB low several times, but never broke strongly below it – and provided some massive upside opportunity. When this happens, I should be capturing substantial profits.
Add my boneheaded move of leaving an order in and walking away during a fed meeting – and I just don’t deserve to be profitable today. And on top of that, I subsequently missed two large bounces off the IB high.
I’m performing this Topstep Funded Account Challenge alongside my own personal trading accounts. But that’s no excuse for being distracted and making boneheaded mistakes. I have the bandwidth to do both. Just have to clean things up.
I’ll come back tomorrow fresh, re-charged, and ready to follow my process. The mistakes and missed opportunities have been piling up over the last few weeks – which has left my account consolidating between the +$5,000 – +$7,500 range for too long.
The +9,000 profit target is only about 60 ES points away. So if I follow my process, I’ll probably hit it in 1-3 weeks.
Written by Matt Thomas (@MattThomasTP)
Related Pages:
- 5 Excellent Ways to Get Started With Topstep For Free
- Topstep Trader Review – What Exactly is Topstep Trader?
- Is Topstep Trader a Scam – My Thoughts as a Topstep Trader
- What is a Funded Trader Program – Earn a $150,000 Account
- What is Futures Prop Trading – Get Funded Trading Futures
