TopStep Trading Journal Tips: Futures Combine Data You Should Track
Futures risk is fast. If your journal treats ES like a slow stock swing, you will miss the sessions that actually cost you the combine.
Profit AI Research · 8 min read · Updated Table of contents
TopStep traders live in MES, ES, NQ, and CL. Point value and tick risk differ. Your journal should know the instrument, not only a generic P&L line.
Fields worth tracking
- Contract and tick value
- Session (Asia, London, US open, midday, close)
- Planned vs actual stop in ticks
- Combine phase (evaluation vs funded)
Profit AI imports TopStep trades by CSV (Tradovate and NinjaTrader exports are recognised), so you can keep one journal if you run multiple evals.
Combine-specific habit
Pick a max trades per session before the open. TopStep rewards consistency, not hero days. The journal proves whether your hero days are paying for your bad Tuesdays.
Frequently asked questions
About the author
Profit AI ResearchTrading Research TeamProfit AI Research is the in-house team behind the analyses, journal models, and Trader Score methodology used by 200,000+ traders. The team combines active discretionary traders, quantitative researchers, and ML engineers focused on price action, market structure, and prop-firm risk modeling.
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