🔧 Recommended Settings to pass the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account qualification. *(Members Only Access)* 🔗
- Payouts: You can earn payouts from your trading
- Fast payouts: Topstep processes payouts daily
- Funded Trader Certificate: You can share your FTC on LinkedIn
- Risk management tools: You can use tools to manage your trades and reduce potential losses
- Education and support: You can get help from Topstep’s customer support team and access a community of other traders
- Trading experience: You can gain experience and develop discipline through the Trading Combine
- Capital: You can trade with a significant amount of capital
- Keep all profits: You can keep 100% of your profits
The last great benefit of being a Funded Trader—your Trading Combine® membership has been turned off and you will no longer be billed.
Scaling Plan
Once a trader achieves Certified Funded Trader status, the next goal is to consistently profit $200 per day for five days while following a new scaling plan designed to prevent aggressive trading.
Recommended Settings Strategy Ver. 7.7.8
Calibrating High-Pressure Strategies for the Express Funded Account
There are countless ways to fine-tune the High-Pressure Strategies, which will become even more critical once the Express Funded account transitions into a live account with TopStep.
Understanding the Process:
✅ The Trading Combine and Express Funded qualification require active supervision from the trader.
✅ The current setup is designed to manage risk effectively through:
- Smaller position sizes
- A reduced number of trades
- An auto-trailing stop mechanism
Does This Guarantee Success?
❌ No. Like any trading process, it may take multiple attempts to pass. The key is to remain focused, disciplined, and adaptable.
📌 Your mission: Stay committed, refine your approach, and get it done. 🚀
Express Funded Account. The process of updating trading settings.
It’s been seven days since I transitioned from the Trading Combine to the Express Funded Account. As I reviewed the scaling plan, I realized the need to recalibrate my strategy to align with TopStep’s trading rules. There were moments when I nearly blew up the account, as shown in the chart below. Over the past couple of days, I struggled with frustration while figuring out the best way to adapt my process. However, today, the adjustments paid off—I managed to turn things around just before the end of the week.
Looking ahead, I expect to have a much clearer understanding of the new setup, which should lead to better results in the first four trading days next week. After that, I’ll be on a 10-day vacation and won’t be trading during that time.
March 14, 2025 Today's Trading Improved !
What a really bad day trading with TopStep Looks like...
The Result of Highly Volatile Day. Blowing Up The Express Funded Account.
Real-World Experience: Testing the SwingArm Pressure System on a Funded Account
Over the past few days, I’ve been actively testing a range of automated strategies powered by the SwingArm Pressure System on an Express Funded Account. The objective was to refine strategy calibrations, identify high-probability setups, and observe how the automation performs in live market conditions.
The results were eye-opening.
On the days when the automation was not active from the beginning of the European and U.S. sessions—essentially letting the optimal entry windows pass—the system still managed to perform exceptionally well, capturing powerful, high-probability moves.
However, one critical mistake changed everything.
After missing out on a few strong sessions due to delayed activation, I decided to turn on the strategy earlier the next day—just before the U.S. market open—out of fear of missing another opportunity. That emotional decision to enter early during pre-market hours led to unfavorable results.
That session turned out to be highly volatile. The system quickly hit its maximum stop loss before I had a chance to adjust stops, severely damaging the account. The next day, with very little drawdown buffer remaining, even a small, well-structured trade resulted in a complete stop-out. Ironically, the signals that came afterward were spot-on and highly profitable—but the account was no longer positioned to take advantage.
Key Takeaways
- Consistency is crucial. Automation must be active ahead of market movement. You can’t selectively choose when to engage based on hindsight or emotion.
- Monitor and manage. Only intervene when long signals occur at extreme resistance or short signals appear at extreme support. In those cases, it may be best to pause or manage the trade manually.
- Trust the system. Once a trade triggers, manage risk by adjusting the stop to breakeven plus as soon as profit conditions are met. Then, shift focus to profit management.
- Scale matters. Starting with a small position size (e.g., one contract scaling up to three) can limit your potential on trending days. Taking partial profits too early may lead to missed opportunities on big moves.
The SwingArm Pressure System is designed for both precision and automation. But as this real-world test shows, discipline and consistency are just as critical as the signals themselves. When the system is trusted and used as designed, the results speak for themselves.
Trading with Purpose: Coordinating Strategies for Dynamic Market Conditions
Currently, I’ve developed three automated strategies, with a fourth expected to launch next week. Each strategy operates on a different cycle and follows its own unique set of entry criteria. This diversification creates more trading opportunities throughout the day. For example, while one strategy may enter a long position from a key support level, another might add to that position at a later, more optimal entry—or even initiate a short trade once a resistance level is reached.
This approach allows for both trend-following and countertrend trades to be executed within the same session. As a trader, you can then actively manage multiple opportunities and scale profits throughout the day. While this process does require trader involvement, the profit potential is significantly higher.
Once you’ve met your profit target for the day, you can pause the automation and reactivate it after the Asia session begins. This ensures the system is ready to capture setups during the London open and continue through the U.S. session, maintaining consistent trading coverage across global markets.