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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:
Things that I wasn’t as keen on:
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 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.
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
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.
- 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
- 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
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.
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.
