I was so busy trying to pass the Combine that I failed to give the proper attention towards what I would do if I actually passed it.
While I don't want to focus on the negative, when entering FTP, it became clear what TST's marketing strategy is and that it's, at best, a bit cunning ...if not immoral.
The Combine entices you into pitting yourself against the market, with a daily stop and an overall, maximum draw-down. You have to trade at least 10 days which means it's very difficult to pass with luck. If you can pass a Combine, it's very likely that you have the attributes necessary to trade profitably long-term.
Then there's FTP.
You have 10 days with your draw-down before the rug is pulled from underneath your feet and you have to be positive- and stay positive -until you reach the lowered profit target. It's almost as if they don't want to fund you...maybe because the funded traders make up, by far, the smallest part of their profits...especially when the first $5000 withdrawn is given to the trader with no profit split!
The combination of having reduced contracts to trade (I went from being able to trade 3 instruments at once to 2), fewer instruments (you can only trade the ones you were profitable in) and no draw-down after 10 days, proved too much for me and forced me to make a critical choice:
1) Trade normally and accept that a normal, run-of-the-mill draw-down could occur during those crucial 10 days. This would mean failing FTP with a long-term, winning approach or
2) Try to modify my approach to guard against draw-down- take smaller wins, more trades etc.
I chose 2. If I were to do it again, I'd just accept that I may fail due to natural variance and leave it at that. But I'm not sure that I will because, IMO, one shouldn't be subject to luck after clearly proving their skill. Of course, if they were to set the same rules for the Combine, they'd find that their clientele would drop off as the offer would be far less inviting.
Time to come up with a plan B. Any comments and suggestions (or investors!) are welcome. Watch this space!
