Met a guy the other day who just got a job as a prop trader straight out of college. $2000 Max Daily Loss $8000 A Month Break Even Or Fired No Salary As Far As I Know 5x Leverage There was a trainee period Not a bucket shop so he didn't have to put up his own money No idea what his participation % is Is it possible to figure out his account size from the above info ? Say he was given a 200k account to break even at 8k a month = 4% a month/48% a year which would put him up there with the best traders in the world. So his account must be much larger than that. Keep in mind he gets 5x leverage.
My best run was 6 1/2 years without a losing month. I always judged my P&L monthly not daily because of position trading as a MM. You get a little paranoid after a while waiting for doom. I agree, you have to factor in bad months when you're at risk. I can't tell what his allocation is from that information. Just ask him. bob
Why don't you just Ask him? it's just small talk, so to speak. you're not asking him for inside information or anything. What firm is he working for...that alone would help or say alot. Those numbers are relatively small and attainable -- if he's a trader for a bank managing a certain pool of money.
I did he dodged the question and replied with "it goes by max daily loss which is 2k" Its not a bank its a prop trading firm.
Account size is very important. It provides access to an institutional broker, more leverage in a PM account, sizing options for your trading and more depth to your portfolio. The track record from a large account is also more useful in raising money.
He trades at a prop : so it is not his business to know his account size. What you might want to know is the numbers of cars limits he has on the instruments he trades. Prop have actually very deep pockets.