My Trading Quest - Profitability in 90 days!

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum and would like to journal my journey for a new trading quest I have been thinking about for a long time.

I have been trading on and off for over 20 years and I have many scars to prove it. Recently, I became a funded trader with Topstep Trader using my own scalping system on US 30 Year Bonds. In the past I have traded Futures and Forex manually and with my own coded systems.

I have completed many trading courses and seminars. Most of the time I could not replicate their results! They often promise the world but most do not deliver.

Like most of us, I have been burned by these trading companies.

It is time to test these trading companies and see who can deliver.

My journal will track my progression:

• I will explain why I chose the courses on the short list and why I chose the first one to test.

• Right through to setup, back-testing, live trading and hopefully to profitability

• I will explain what works and what doesn't

• I will not be sharing anything that is proprietary to the company

My goal is to see if I can become profitable in 90 days.

If I fail, then I will start again with another 90-day challenge ... until I find a profitable course.

I would love it if people have questions or can suggest things along the way.

If anyone would like to suggest a trading course to add to my list, I would appreciate it.

I am NOT associated with any Trading Company.

I am excited to share my journey and my results with you.

Come along with me on My Trading Quest!

Cheers
Garry

Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Challenge Countdown – 6 Days to go …

Friday and only 6 days to go.

Actions I took since the last post:

• Traded 3 trades in the Leeloo Evaluation Account

• Reviewed a number of videos on the Simplicity Chart

• Sim traded Simplicity to see how it would work.

Todays Trading

The charts were crazy again today so my plan was to take 3 trades in the Leeloo Account and then do some testing in Sim.

I had watched a few of the Simplicity videos that Darrell had made and I wanted to see how practical it was to trade with the Simplicity methodology.

Again, I am not posting the list of potential trades today as the list is getting large and my trust factor in the ability of entering the trades due to the speed of the market is questionable.

Leeloo Evaluation Account Trades

I traded 3 trades with 3 winners. Total of +$150 – commission

All 3 trades went to profit very fast.

NQ Trade 1 – AR1 Win



NQ Trade 2 – AR1 Win



NQ Trade 3 – AR1 Win




Overview of Leeloo Trades Today:



Simplicity Testing Sim Trades:

As I am using the Trading Room Simplicity Chart, I didn’t have time to grab the image of the chart entries.

The following image is from my charts which don’t have the 2 indicators that the Simplicity chart is based on. My chart will give you an idea of the action of the 30 sec chart.

The chart shows my 3rd trade.



My results for my 4 trades can be seen below. I was trading the NQ and the risk was higher then I would normally use.

Best trade was a profit of $440 and the worst was -$330. Ended up 4 trades with +$385 profit.

It sure looks like it is worth exploring further.




Resources: I have added the link (I do not have an affiliation with this company)

The book I suggested that everyone reads is called “The Truth about Trading” by Judy Van Niekerk.

The book approaches trading from a different approach to most other books. It approaches Trading from the point that trading is a tool to help you achieve your goals.

It takes you through the process form having the right mindset to developing your trading plan and much more.

The book is written by Judy Van Niekerk who, with her husband created the Tribe of Traders. They teach their trades everything in the book and also how to trade with their systems. They are forex trades and use their processes to show the practical application of what is in the book. This book is not just for Forex traders.

If you are interested in reading this book then it is only available from Judy and it is free if you pay the postage. Click on the following link:

https://trading.tribeoftraders.com/tat-free-book-main





Watch this space for more resources that I find useful.

I will include books, articles, podcasts, interviews, videos, hypnosis/meditation audios, mental exercises, and more …

I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Challenge Countdown – 6 Days to go …

5 Days to go and another wild market day

Actions I took since the last post:

• Continued to review the Simplicity Trade setup

• Traded 3 trades in the Leeloo Evaluation Account

• Sim traded 2 Simplicity trades.

Todays Trading

The charts were crazy again today so my plan was to take 3 trades in the Leeloo Account and then do some testing in Sim. The trade setups were coming but were finished before I could enter. I did manage to take 3 trades.

Again, I am not posting the list of potential trades today as the list is getting large and my trust factor in the ability to enter the trades due to the speed of the market is questionable.

Leeloo Evaluation Account Trades

I traded 3 trades (2 NQ and 1 ES) with 3 winners. Total of +$185 Net

All 3 trades went to profit very fast.

NQ Trade 1 – AR1 Win +$45 Net



NQ Trade 2 – AR1 Win +$45 Net



Trade 3 ES – DTX Win + $95 Net




Overview of Leeloo Trades Today:



Simplicity Testing Sim Trades:

The following image is from my charts which don’t have the 2 indicators that the Simplicity chart is based on. My chart will give you an idea of the action of the 30 sec chart.

Trading the simplicity chart during fast markets is easier than the normal charts.

NQ Trade 1 – Simplicity Short Win +$305 Net



NQ Trade 2 – Simplicity Short Win +$195 Net



My results for my 2 trades can be seen below. I was trading the NQ and the risk was higher then I would normally use.

Best trade was a profit of $305. Total Profit +$500 Net

I will continue to practice the Simplicity Trade Setup





Resources: I have added the link (I do not have an affiliation with this company)

The book I suggested that everyone reads is called “The Truth about Trading” by Judy Van Niekerk.

The book approaches trading from a different approach to most other books. It approaches Trading from the point that trading is a tool to help you achieve your goals.

It takes you through the process form having the right mindset to developing your trading plan and much more.

The book is written by Judy Van Niekerk who, with her husband created the Tribe of Traders. They teach their trades everything in the book and also how to trade with their systems. They are forex trades and use their processes to show the practical application of what is in the book. This book is not just for Forex traders.

If you are interested in reading this book then it is only available from Judy and it is free if you pay the postage. Click on the following link:

https://trading.tribeoftraders.com/tat-free-book-main






I will include books, articles, podcasts, interviews, videos, hypnosis/meditation audios, mental exercises, and more …



I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Challenge Countdown – 4 Days to go …

4 Days to go and another fast market day

Actions I took since the last post:

• Watch a number of new videos from Apex

• Continued to review the Simplicity Trade setup

• Traded only 1 trade in the Leeloo Evaluation Account

Apex Video’s

Apex is now focusing more on NT8, so they released a number of new videos on NT8. They will continue to support NT7.

There are a number of benefits to change to NT8. The increase in speed is a major benefit along with a number of charting benefits.

Todays Trading

The charts were fast again today so my plan was to take 3 trades in the Leeloo Account and then do some testing in Sim. The plan changed as the number of Sniper setups were limited, so I tested one Simplicity Trade in the Leeloo Account.

The simplicity trade was profitable but I was being super cautious, so when the market appeared to be stalling I took profit. You can see the result in the chart below. Also, I marked what would have happened if I followed the rules. The test proved successful for what I wanted and it was good to see the potential result.

I was not in tune with the market and missed a few trades, mostly Simplicity Trades. I stopped trading so I could get back in sync.

Again, I am not posting the list of potential trades today as the list is getting large and my trust factor in the ability to enter the trades due to the speed of the market is questionable.

Leeloo Evaluation Account Trades

I traded 1 trades (NQ Simplicity), 1 winner. Total of +$80 Net

The potential of the trade was 44.50 x 5 = $222.50 – commission

NQ Simplicity Trade 1




Overview of Leeloo Trade Today:




Resources:

Do you treat your trading as a Business?

Do you review your trades each day?

Do you review why you didn’t take or why you missed a trade?

I stopped trading today because I asked myself those questions.

Mandi Pour Rafsendjani from https://www.highperformancetrading.com.au/ published a free document for planning at the start of 2020. It is worth reading and asking yourself the questions.

The pdf can be downloaded at:

https://www.highperformancetrading....ce-Trader-Performance-Improvement-Planner.pdf







I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Challenge Countdown – 3 Days to go …

3 Days to go and another fast market day

Actions I took since the last post:

• Continued to review the Simplicity Trade setup

• Traded only 1 trades in the Leeloo Evaluation Account

Final Days of Challenge

It is now getting close to the time for a review of the first challenge and decide what to do next!

Over the weekend I will review the Apex Investing experience and make a decision as to what next …

I would love some ideas … so please leave me a comment.

My initial options are:

• Continue trading with Apex for another month to see if I can get funded

• Start a new 90-day challenge with another company

Simplicity Trading

The change over to NT8 created a problem with the Simplicity chart being behind the real-time. This was fixed during the day session.

I see a lot of potential with the Simplicity chart trades, and it just takes a little time to have the confidence with the trades with the increased volatility of the market. It is also time to rollover to the new contract. I will roll over based on the volume in the contracts.

I did not take any Simplicity trades due to the volatility.

Todays Trading

The charts were fast again today so I only placed 2 trades. One trade in NQ and one in ES. Both were profitable.

Again, I am not posting the list of potential trades today as the list is getting large and my trust factor in the ability to enter the trades due to the speed of the market is questionable.

Leeloo Evaluation Account Trades

I traded 2 trades 2 winners. Total of +$140 Net

Trade 1 Long ES ODD and DTX Trade +$95 Net2



Trade 2 Short NQ – AR1: Win + $45 Net



Overview of Leeloo Trade Today:




Resources:



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I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Challenge Countdown – 2 Days to go …

2 Days to go …

Actions I took since the last post:

• Listened to a great interview with Denis Shull – Performance Trading Coach

• Continued to review the Simplicity Trade setup

• Traded only 3 trades in the Leeloo Evaluation Account

Podcast – Denis Shull

The character Wendy Rhoades, in the show Billions was based on the Performance Trading Coach, Denis Shull. Denise also wrote the book Market Mind Games.

If you are interested in listening to the interview click here:

http://www.alphamind.buzzsprout.com...-to-star-traders-and-investment-professionals

Todays Trading

The charts were fast again today. Three trades in NQ and all were profitable.

Again, I am not posting the list of potential trades today as the list is getting large and my trust factor in the ability to enter the trades due to the speed of the market is questionable.

Leeloo Evaluation Account Trades

I traded 3 trades 3 winners. Total of +$135 Net


Trade 1 Long NQ AR1 Trade +$45 Net



Trade 2 Short NQ – AR1: Win + $45 Net



Trade 3 Long NQ – AR1: Win + $45 Net




Overview of Leeloo Trade Today:



Resources: A short video …





I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Challenge Countdown – Last Day …

Last Day so time to review last day, review the challenge and decide where to from here …

Actions I took since the last post:

Traded only 2 trades in the Leeloo Evaluation Account

Todays Trading

I traded pre US market open and stopped as the market was too fast to enter. Two trades in NQ and all were profitable.

Again, I am not posting the list of potential trades today as the list is getting large and my trust factor in the ability to enter the trades due to the speed of the market is questionable.

Leeloo Evaluation Account Trades

I traded 2 trades 2 winners. Total of +$90 Net

Trade 1 Long NQ AR1 Trade +$45 Net




Trade 2 Long NQ – AR1: Win + $45 Net



Overview of Leeloo Trade Today:





The first 90 Day Challenge:

Tomorrow I will post my review of the first 90-day Challenge and what I will do next …


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I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

Apex Sniper Trading Bootcamp – Challenge Review …

Time to review my thoughts on the first challenge.

General Thoughts:

The challenge has been a great learning experience for me. Not just the trading experience and posting, but also the response from the people reading the posts.

I am disappointed that I lost continuity due to health and computer issues. I believe that my results would be better if I had not had those breaks.

I did not achieve my goal of making $200 per day average on 1 contract. During the last 7 trading days I averaged only $115.71 net per day.



Remember this is with 1 contract and trying to trade only 3 net trades per day.

The concept of only trading 3 net trades per day is based on the Apex philosophy of 3 and done. A number of other companies promote a similar concept.

Over the last couple of weeks, the number setups were present however the speed of the market in the current environment often prevented entering a trade. If I had been trading Simplicity, I would have entered more trades during the US market open time.

I believe that the main reason I failed to achieve my initial goal was me!. Just as I was getting good results, I stopped because of first my health and then the computer issue.


Apex Investing

I have been very impressed with Apex Investing, including:

• The ability to try all their material before paying any money

• The amount of work they put in and the contact they have with their students (free and paying).

• They encourage everyone to ask questions and post charts. No question is dumb.

• They are always trying to improve their material especially when the market changes

• Darrell and Lori are trading in the room. Darrell has some huge winning days.

• Skype mentor groups were small teams help each other. These are great.

• The trading setups are profitable

I will continue to use Apex Setups in my own trading.

Things that I wasn’t as keen on:

• The biggest drawback I had, was when Apex changes the rules. Mentally this upset my flow. Instead of just retesting the appropriate setups with any new rules, I became annoyed! It was not an Apex problem as they were trying to improve our profitability. I was not willing to go with the flow and grow into profitability.

• The risk-reward is often 2:1 or more. This is OK when the win rate is high (it is) and number of trading opportunities is high. Currently, the number of opportunities has dropped.

What am I going to do different in the next challenge?

• Approach with a growth mindset and be willing to be coached and learn

• Improve my consistency

• Ask better questions

• Post more detailed information on my approach, processes, mindset, backtesting, etc

Ideas I am thinking about including:

• Embracing the concepts in the “The Truth about Trading”, Trading the right way … from a business perspective. It is about asking the right questions and digging deep to find the real answer.

• Possibly including a video review session

I welcome input into ideas on how to improve this process.

Questions Answered:

A number of people have asked questions:

How do I backtest the setups?

It all depends on the setup. If I can code the setup, then I will code it and then test it over a long period of data. In the Apex situation, I could not code the indicators as the code for those are hidden (proprietary). NinjaTrader is good for backtesting as it is harder to cheat. So I used NT7.

My Testing Process:

• I had a written set of trading rules for each setup. Prerequisites, Reasons Not to Enter, Entry, Exit, and Management

• I started approximately 3 months prior and went bar by bar recording the results on a spreadsheet

• I then tested it again using Market Replay over a different period and market conditions

• When I was happy with these results, I then walk forward in the live market, initially just marketing the entries/ exits on the chart. I progressed to sim trading when I was comfortable and the results were as expected form the backtesting.

• I then started a Leeloo Evaluation Account for funding. The results above were for the last 7 days trading in the Leeloo account.

Note: All results were recorded on a spreadsheet.

Most people, I talked to in the course did not do much backtesting, if any.

I believe it is essential to backtest any system you are going to trade. To backtest you must understand your rules before you start.
This brings up one of the problems I mentioned above. Apex makes changes to the methodology as required by the market (good). The problem is that if I have spent all this time backtesting and the rules change what do I do?

My trading plan states that I must backtest the setup before I change any rule!

So, I don’t automatically change my rules with the Apex change. I will stop trading that setup or keep trading the old setup and backtest the new setup.

Is Sniper or Simplicity better than my own trading setups?

I like to have a portfolio of setups that I can use if any of my setups start to underperform.

The other benefit of testing other strategies and setups is that it gives me ideas for further development.

The real question is … Will I continue to use the Apex Strategies? Yes, I will at least until I pass the Leeloo Evaluation for funding.

Why did I focus on only taking 3 net trades per day?

I mentioned this above but it is worth going over again.

First, in the last couple of weeks, the market has been very fast especially during the US Open. Three items should be considered: speed of the market, liquidity of the market, and volatility of the market. Each creates a problem when entering/exiting a trade. It is best to sit on your hands until the market settles.

In Judy Van Niekerk's book: “The Truth about Trading” she states “you need to trade the right way”. What she is talking about is that you are trading for a purpose not just to trade. This is the business of Trading. If the market is too risky then don’t risk your business.

The concept of Net 3 and done is really about trading the right way. How many trades do you need to meet your $ goal? If you can consistently trade 3 trades to profit and then introduce compounding then you not only can reach your financial goal but it will free up your time.

Do I recommend the Apex Program or would I recommend something else?

I have completed many courses and have always learned something from them. NO Program is perfect!

It depends on you …

I think it was one the creators of the Turtle Program who said that he could put a money winning system with all the details in the New York Times and only a small percentage would make money from it.

Are you willing to put the work into a program to make it work?

The Apex Investing is free to try and a lot of people are making money with it.

Where to from here?

I believe I have unfinished business with the Apex Program. I want to pass the Leeloo funding Assessment.

I am currently looking at 4 other courses for the next 90 Day Challenge.

My Goals are to continue the Leeloo Funding Assessment to see if I can pass it in the next 30 trading days. I will continue to report on this daily.

During this time I will choose another course to start another 30-day Challenge

I will continue tomorrow posting my updates on my trades for the Leeloo Evaluation.


I will report back tomorrow on my progress and any lessons I learn

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with any of these companies.

Bro you did a great job! I'm honestly amazed at your efforts and patience. I analyzed your screenshots, it's really cool. I have been trading since the beginning of autumn ( somewhere in the middle of September ) And so far, I only fill the cones and do not trade. Of course, I can sometimes go into the plus, but I'm still new to big deals. People I met on the stock exchange showed me the macd histogram and I learned about it from them, as I learn a lot of new and useful things for myself . How did you learn to trade ? I don't understand how you can start trading yourself without any help ,I've seen a couple of such people, but I've always been amazed by them.