Topstep Live XFA Account Update

This is pretty wild - I just realized I’ve been in and around Topstep for 10 years.

In that time, I’ve passed a bunch of their tests, been funded (and failed quickly) several times.

Now, I’m trading much smaller size and thought I’d get back to writing about the journey.

Here’s what my first week on the live account looked like:

I’ve learned that I tend to hover around 30-40% win rate and roughly a 2.5-3 PF, when I’m trading well.

In order for this to be - hopefully - valuable to you, I’ll zoom into a specific setup of the day in each post.

Today’s setup of the day is this:

Spend a few years trading the NQ and you’ll learn the meaning of traps. It’s one of the trickiest markets because it’ll look like it’s (screamingly) obvious that the market’s about to do one thing….and then it’ll do the exact opposite.

In this case, it’s been a wild week and a wild overnight session.

The market opens up near major lows (see the H1 chart in the bottom left of the screenshot).

We open, and price shoots up and then quickly starts making its way down, quickly.

Then, this wedge develops (see the highlighted area above). The wedge includes a couple of heavy-looking bars with relatively significant upper wicks - looks like a great short opportunity, right?

We’ve got the negative-looking bars, the major level nearby as a magnet - let’s go!

….but then…

***psych***

The market shoots up and shorts are trapped, quickly.

Here’s my simple takeaway - when you see an “obvious” pattern taking shape in the first ~30 minutes of the session, be careful. If it doesn’t move the way you think it should….get outta the way.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been trapped like this.

Let’s wrap this up with my trading journal format:

One Strength: No big losses

One Weakness: Didn’t journal properly

One Focus for Next Week: Journal every day.

Hope you had a good week!