So I've been thinking about this in regards to the rather lengthy topstep tradfer threads. Some guys wanted me to put forth my ideas on how I would run a combine if I were to back traders. I truly believe this is a risky deal for the owner and I raised my suspicions that this model is not as lucrative as some of the guys think. Although I do think it has a lot of potential. So I'm going to design something that is fair to me first, the owner. This is a business after all and it's not charity. I will make it tolerable for the trader, key word being tolerable. It's not on me to make this easy. So first things first. I'm going to incorporate a lot of what topstep is doing and some of what they are not. By putting this out there I actually hope they take some of these ideas up because I honestly don't have much interest in backing traders. Running an airline if probably much more profitable. Which is a joke of course because most airlines are not profitable. I'm going to offer a 6 month program. The idea behind this is to focus on trader development. It will cost $1500 up front. There is NO refund. This is what is in it for ME. I want this money. I don't care if you quit after 3 days or if you make a zillion dollars, this is the program cost. Now, each month, we are going to focus on different stages of trader development. This whole thing is not cumulative. So every month we are working on different things. You have to pass the objectives for EACH month before moving to the next one. If you fail any given month, you will need to do it over and it will cost you $200 each time. There is NO refunds on this money. The good news is there will be NO profit objectives. We instead are focusing on behavior and performance metrics. I want to "build" a good trader, not a good track record. At the end of the 6 months, you WILL go live. No questions asked. Once you COMPLETE the program, you have graduated and will get funded. Period! There will be no profit objectives and no rules EXCEPT a daily stop rule. You will also have a drawdown stop where if you hit that, you will go back to repeat month 6 of the combine again for 20 days. It will NOT cost you 200 to do this. You must PASS month 6 in order to go live again. Once you go live, you WILL have to make back 50% of your losses. This entire contract is for 2 years. This is not a non compete, you can leave anytime you want. What this means is that I HAVE to back you for the entire period of the contract no questions asked. I can't kick you out. I have to put money on the line for you as long as you are in the 2 year program. Once you go live, it will be a 50/50 split. I WILL, I repeat WILL take my 50% cut at the end of each month. You will also get your cut whether you want it or not. This 50/50 split stays in force until the 2 years is up which if you agree to continue will increase to 80/20 going forward. The stop points for going back to the combine will be 10k the first time. You can trade anyway you want. Any contract you want. Any size you want. Any rules you want, any day you want. Once you are 10k in drawdown, you go back to repeat month 6. If you pass month 6 you go live again. You will given 5k to lose the 2nd time. If you lose another 5k, back to month 6 of the combine you go for 20 days. Upon passing that month again, you will go live again. When you go live again, I absorb 50% of the previous losses and you have to make back the rest. The 3rd time you will also be give 5k in losses. The 4th time it drops to 2500. The 5th time 2500. And then every time after that 1k. I have to keep backing you not matter how bad you are. So I have to drop the loss amount as you keep losing. I will absorb 50% of each loss when you go back to the combine. Now let's move on to the monthly goals when you start. Month 1 I just want to watch you trade and have you get familiar with the platform. The only rule this month is the daily stop. I will set it at 2k. You can trade anything you want. You can lose as much money as you want. You can technically lose 20k and still pass month one. I just want to see you honor daily stops. If you get through the first phase, we move on to month 2 and your p&l resets. Month 2 We will keep the daily stop at 2k and add a second rule. You can lose money, but you can't lose more then 10k for the month. That's it! I just want to see you to continue to honor the daily stop rule and now keep your losses in check. I do NOT expect you to be profitable the first two months. Remember, we are building traders here, not a track record. If you pass month 2, we move on to the next one. If you fail this month, you pay 200 to stay in the program and do month 2 over, just like grade school. Keep in mind there are still no other rules or restrictions other then what is listed. Month 3 Now I want to see progress. You have to honor the 2k daily stop out rule and the 10k drawdown rule. But, by the end of the month, you have to be profitable. It can be by one dollar. And you can lose money intra-month as long as it does not exceed 10k. Any violation of the 2k daily stop rule is an automatic monthly failure. You have to make money in month 3 guys. Month 4 All the previous rules apply, now we are adding a performance metric. You need to be profitable on more then 50% of your trades. I want you to focus on quality, not quantity. Take fewer trades. Month 5 Same rules as above but adding that your biggest winners have to be larger then your biggest losers. So again, can't lose more then 10k during the month. Must be profitable, can't lose more then 2k in one day, more then 50% winners and no losing trade can be larger then your best winning trade. Month 6 Almost there! Here is the good news. Month 6 since you might be going back to a lot, will be easier, but you must demonstrate you can trade down your size and your risk. So there are no rules on month 6 except you can't lose more then 2500 at worst drawdown. You must be profitable. And your daily stop is 1k, instead of 2k. You must show the discipline of scaling back. By this point you should be very good, making money on a consistent basis, honoring your stops, focusing on high quality trades. But when you get sent back down to the minors, you have to show you can scale back. When you go live again, you can trade however you like. Once you pass month 6, you are done!!!! You now go live with a 50/50 split for the next 18 months. Do whatever you want as you now are a skilled and proficient trader. Just remember, these are the drawdown stops outs:10k, 5k, 5k, 2500, 2500, 1000, 1000, etc. When you go back down to the minors you have to repeat month 6 at no charge. Upon passing you go live again and you have to make back 50% of your losses. Here's the good news, the first 3k of your p&l, instead of me taking 1500 of it, you get the first 3k to make back the 1500 combine cost. So everything after 3k, I get 50% at the end of each month. There are no rules once you go live except the monthly drawdown. The purpose of this program is to get you to commit to 6 months and build your skills each month. We want to teach discipline and consistency. The first 3 months of live trading, we will keep the 2k daily stop rule in effect. After 3 months, we pull it. If you hit that stop the first 3 months, you do go back to month 6 of the combine. So don't hit it! This is a rough draft and is now open for review!
do u plan to registered with the nfa similiar to richard regan and go on TV (cnbc, Fox, etc) promoting your business like regan? Sometime, the nfa can help protect u from people like gmst (small trader)
Nope. Just ET!!!! Keep in mind, I'm not going to do this. I'm simply providing what I think would be an alternative to the TST model. I'm still not sure this model would even be profitable for me. I basically got rid of the refunds, made it longer, made the payout better to me and forced guys to make back half their losses. In return, they get 100% transparency on the rules with very little restrictions. Freedom comes with price.
Combine is a term used in the NFL. They do combines for all the college players that were not good enough to get drafted in the NFL. Combines allow guys to attend workout sessions and let teams get a second look at them. If coaches like what they see, they sign on to training camp. A combine is a process. A process to get a second chance, a process to get discovered. A process for guys to get a second look.
Used in the NBA also. Draft combines. Wingspan, drills, bench-press 185? Athletics, strength testing. An assessment. GM's, Head Coaches, all looking. Work hard, show who you are. Same thing TST/Patak is doing.
think about this. The model DOES NOT include emotion on the job dealing with new people like gmst (quack quack). Of the 10 new people, maybe at least 4 people are gmst. For instance, if they are not making money, they will call u a scam, liar, i will sue u, threaten, blah blah blah. when it comes at the end of the month and look at your paycheck, u will say to yourself, this is what i get dealing with these high blood pressure scumbag. The next new month, u get 10 more new people and 4 more scumbags and on and on and on. It is easy to say, i can deal with them, but when actually deal with them, it can be worst than taking a heat when in a trade.
I agree and it's one of the reasons again that I have no interest in backing traders. At least not running something like this. Maybe as a silent investor. I still can't see how this makes money. I actually might have to adjust these numbers again. I'm taking about 35k in risk per trader. I need to find a way to lock in more revenue.