Hi cartm... 1. Schindler Trading is both a CPO and CTA for the Schindler Fund. Sometimes the CPO and CTA will be different firms. Since we are both, the NFA said we only needed to register as a CPO. We are not a registered CTA. 2. Not that I've ever heard. 3. These are good questions, perhaps, for the FFastfill people. I've never used X-trader or the FFastfill lite version. I like Interactive Broker's platform better than FFastFill's (less bandwitdth, better design, API, better protection against trade errors), but the lower commissions and better customer service at FFastFill more than make up for the platform's disadvantages. 4. If you, personally, want lower risk and lower drawdowns, you should invest less money with Schindler Trading. You can choose whatever risk level you like by putting part of your portfolio with Schindler Trading and part in a money market account. No need to pay us fees on money sitting idle. 5. Sharpe ratio is just a measure of reward versus risk. It can be used for any risky investment. The Sterling ratio is similar but uses the average max drawdown rather than the standard deviation of returns in the denominator. Both have their uses and weaknesses. Because of our uncorrelation with equities and bonds, Schindler Trading has an extremely high Treynor ratio, which looks, not just at the reward versus risk of an individual investment, but how the reward versus risk of one's entire portfolio will be affected. 6. I have tried discretionary trading with my own money (never for Schindler Trading). I don't have the stomach for it. I tend to cut my winners short and let my losers run based on a psychological aversion to turning paper losses into actual losses. 7. We are making some headway researching strategies for the Globex traded currency contracts. Good luck trading, cartm!
I'm not sure what you are getting at. Give me a bit more to go by and I'll help you "fill in the blank." In the past 3 years, I had one drawdown of about 25% and a few around 15-20%. I was able to reverse all of those though within a few weeks or about 2 mos. max. So far this year, I really have not had any drawdowns over 3% I believe. I have been very fortunate. An overly large cash position, 50-65% on average overnight, and low leverage usage intraday has helped reduce drawdowns.
Our maximum drawdown to date was 26.0%. That is much smaller than we would expect to have had with the amount of risk we assume. A 40% drawdown would not be unexpected. Yes, our 2002 return, from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31st was 97%. This is net of 2% management fee and 20% performance fee. Additional performance statistics are available on our website at www.SchindlerTrading.com.
disagree on the less is more philosophy. one can not have too good data, too fast computers, too many screens, too good of a news feed, et al . i started out charting by hand then graduated to an ancient laptop with fm radio quote feeds, so i have been there. there is no need to handicap ones self any longer with inferior equipment. it's hard for me to believe that gary smith trades on a single laptop--- geez ! best, surfer
It's real time for the indexes. I just use quote.com for the charts to see how the market is doing for the day. I actually trade off the real time futures quotes FfastFill provides via their trading platform.
It varies widely. Some didn't do any. Some want subscription documents and check on registrations. Morgan Stanley wanted: audited financials, to talk to the manager, to see the fund documents, and to check on registrations. If they do any due dilligence, the databases are just looking to see that a fund exists and is on the up-and-up. They just catalog funds and, in general, pass no judgment on the quality of the fund. The investor needs to do their due dilligence as to the suitability and desirability of an investment for their portfolio.
I agree, if you study the field of Knowledge Management it is very clear that information overload actually hampers performance. For us traders I think we have to make the distinction between doing research and the actual trading. For brainstorming purposes one can justify five computer screens and go through hundreds of charts to let the ideas bubble, but when you finalize your strategies then I believe less is more. This is actually turning out to be a pretty good thread, as another poster said a good conversation.
Well, that might be true in a strict sense, but a lot of hedge fund managers net worth is tied up in the fund they are managing. Victor Niederhoffer's lost everything when his fund blew up. He had to sell his mansions, paintings, silver collection, books, arts, antiques,etc. Most hedge fund managers have almost all of their net worth/assets tied in the funds they are managing. How else would people believe you if you can't even believe in yourself? They can't put 95% of their assets in a savings acct earning 1% when they claim they are swinging around the market making good returns.