For my very first post, I just want to put my thoughts out on why I even created this in the first place, and what my goals are in day trading futures.
PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG
I have a few trading accountability partners. I think putting yourself out there, being honest and transparent, and actually finding people that are on a similar journey as you is helpful. Especially if you take each other seriously. You have to be brutally honest with yourself, and sometimes it takes another trader to point some stuff out to you.
Where I found the most benefit in having an accountability partner was the transparency part. For some reason, letting someone know how good or bad my day, weeks, and months went kept me in check. I got roasted a few times by the market, and then by my accountability partners. Sometimes you know you did something dumb as a trader, but it sinks in even more when you have to tell someone that you did something dumb. Or worse, remind you that you already made this mistake again and again and again.
So this blog will let me do the same again. I’ll be putting myself out there, showing my wins and my losses. I’ll be writing out some of my thoughts along the way, and it will mostly be a “take it or leave it” kind of thing. Maybe you’ll get some nuggets of information from me to help you. Maybe you’ll see my progress and think “thank you for showing me what NOT to do”. Either way, I hope this blog helps you as a futures day trader.
It should be pretty apparent early on the type of trader I am. A lot of the traders out there in the online prop space will probably write me off, and that’s okay. I’ll probably be going “too slow” or I’ll appear not so profitable. I know much of social media and online communities will think I’m going about this the wrong way. 100% okay with me. I think there are a few of you out there that will see what I’m trying to achieve, and you’ll want it to. To those few, you aren’t alone! There are people out there that want to go slow and steady. Tortoise beat the hare type mentality.
WHAT AM I TRYING TO ACHIEVE?
A healthy path to trading
The more I’ve been doing this, the more I’ve become aware that it’s not just about profits. The journey is important too. As corny as it sounds, if you’re rushing to get those profits, banging your head against the wall from blowing funded accounts, and feeling like your emotions are going out of control… then something might be wrong with your journey and your habits. If I share my trading with the goal of healthy trading habits, the more likely I am to stick to them. You’ll see me screw up along the way. I am sure of it. Yay!
Proof (to myself)
I don’t even know if I can day trade futures successfully! I have more experience in stock investing (since 2007) and selling options (since 2011), but find day trading is just completely different for me. I stumbled into day trading futures because of a really bad loss in 2023 when I was swing trading futures. I decided to try prop firms and learning to day trade in the summer of 2024, so I’m still “just” a year and half in. There is a goal I want to achieve and I don’t know if I even can. I’m going to document it along the way though.
WHAT THIS BLOG ISN’T
- This blog is NOT financial advice. I’m not an expert. I’m not even an online social media trader. I’m just another trader trying to make it and sharing how I’m going about doing it. I don’t even know if people are going to read this thing! If I ever make it big, you’ll see how long it took me to get there.
- I’m not going to argue with you that this is the right way to do things. This is just one of the ways. There is probably more than one right way anyways. Lots of wrong ways too.
- I’m not a mentor or a coach. I’m just some guy trying to make day trading work. It’s a challenge for me and I think I want to solve it. That’s all.
- A professional “service” – I’m not here to sell you anything. It’s just a blog of my journey.
ROUGH ROADMAP
- Topstep / Tradeify (Short Term)
- I have funded accounts here, so I’ll continue to trade them. I’m most familiar with Topstep rules. They’re the easiest to learn in my opinion. Although I may just be used to Topstep since I’ve traded with them longest.
- I have some thoughts of why I’m most likely going to move on from these firms that I’ll share in the future. They aren’t bad firms per se. I just don’t see myself trading with them in the long term unless if things change.
- Most likely, I’ll be done with Tradeify first since I have reasons to continue trading with Topstep.
- The Futures Desk – Sim Funded (Short Term to Medium Term)
- If I have to pick one single firm, and I think everyone should just pick one, then I would pick The Futures Desk. I’ll write a blog post of why I am.
- The goal here is that I’ll be trading with The Futures Desk once I’m “done” with Tradeify and Topstep.
- Live Prop Firm Trader at The Futures Desk (Medium to Long Term)
- Once I am Live Funded with The Futures Desk, I’m going to be making some really slow progress. This is going to be intentional. I think out of everything, I hope to achieve this the most and show that slow and steady can work just fine for most people.
- The goal is to stay with this firm in a Live Funded to make steady progress and to establish healthy habits for that I enforce myself. Who knows how long it will take me to achieve this.
- Personal Account (The End Game)
- The ultimate goal for me is to trade only on a personal account. There are reasons why I could stay with The Futures Desk for longer (will be a future blog post), but I would have to make that assessment when the time comes.
- I already have a personal account, but I’m keeping the futures account small (it is currently with Edge Clear). I would only ever scale it up if I feel like I learned enough healthy habits from trading for a prop firm and I am confident I can continue it with a personal account on my own.
- Till then, all payouts will go towards my other personal accounts (Fidelity / Schwab) where I do other things. I like buying dividend stocks and I like to sell options.
