Does anyone know if it is still Bright Trading's policy to keep 25% of a trader's profits if a trader leaves the firm before the end of the year? And does anyone have any experience with how long it takes to get your deposit back from them. Thx.
I talked with 2 traders last month who confirmed it. That is their golden handcuff policy. They take 25% of your capital and lock it away for a year collecting interest for themselves. Kinda lousy if you ask me. 5% guaranteed on $100,000 for a year can pay for a few things. rtharp
Bright only keeps 25% of your profits (over your initial deposit). So if you don't make much money it's not a big deal. If you make a lot of money then you might want to stick around anyway. The other side is... Echo doesn't keep any of your money... and that's the best deal of all. At some point Bright is going to have to cut a better deal or risk losing a lot more traders. Fletch
Echotrade No Way Why would anyone want to trade with them? All they are is a bunch of traders that couldn't make it as traders at Bright Trading. If any of you are really serious, they are a death trap. Ever hear of Harbor? That went down, and every trader lost their capital? Give me a break. I bet that you couldn't even call them to get a copy of their financials. I am just warning everyone of the risks. Not only have they have very limited capital, they also copied word for word on how Bright has set up their operations. Might as well goto Bright, where the big money is. Bright is very very secure, and not one or even two people can ever take the firm down. Also, Bright does not keep 25% all the time. They had over 50 million in profits last year, trader wise, and you actually get to keep 100% once your reserve has reached $50,000. Thats no biggie if you can produce the $$$. Echo's technology is pretty weak, and with the latest release of REDI Plus from Goldman Sachs/Spear Leeds, there is no way to keep up. Stick to where you can goto sleep and not worry about the guy next to you, or even better, the CEO taking risks with everyone else's money. I have seen it before, and it will happen again. Why be foolish? Bright is a great company. You can never get everything that you want. the 25% does come back to you after the first 200,000 you make. other than that, commission could be a tab lower, but very fair for a firm that puts most of the leverage up, and has plenty of cash. Oh, they also provide alot of haircut relief to the traders, which could add up to thousands. So be smart, and don't be scammed. Also, you have to wonder about thier clearing firm, PAX. If they were a serious firm, then they would be clearing through SLK. Also, I heard from someone that they weren't able to get the REDI technology, which may mean that SLK didn't want them to clear there?
Ok guys, I've been holding back for a while. There seems to be a lot of Echo hyping going on here. The truth is that Echo is a small firm started by former Bright traders and guess what there is almost no difference between the two firms. However there are small differences are what keep me at Bright. 1. Bright has over 450 traders and a lot more capital than Echo. So if there were large firm wide losses, you have more risk having your money at Echo. 2. Echo uses there own execution system, which maybe not as widely used as RediPlus. That could be a negative or a positive. 3. Bright holds back 25% of the profits withdrawn untill the end of the year, which is really not a big deal. 4. Bright has over 40 nationwide offices, with some great traders around. To me Echo maybe a great firm, but they are just playing catch up to Bright.
I'm not a prop trader (don't have Series 7) and have no affiliation with Echotrade, but what's this implication that because Goldman Sachs/SLK is behind it, and it's the latest release, "there is no way to keep up" with REDI Plus? ROTFLMFHO.
Here are some other things to be aware of at Bright... On the negative side: I know a few people at bright that recently had to quadruple their minimum account balance because they had a trading style that some other people let get outta hand. They had been trading the same way for almost two years and never had their accounts drop below the minimums. Generally, they were very careful traders and were profitable. The reserve limit of 50k was also lifted. Bright may be safer because they are larger... but that also means more traders that could blow up any given strategy. The bottom line is they have close to 200k at risk at Bright and under the same circumstances they would only have 25-50k at risk at Echo. I'd rather have 50k at risk with either firm than risk losing 200k. Personally, the whole "reserve account" doesn't make sense to me. If it's really risk related then why do they pay it out in January and then have almost no reserve? Are people more likely to blow up their accounts at the end of the year? On the positive side: If you are a fairly good trader, on Bob's good side and happen to blow your account there's a chance he might still fund you and help you to get your (and his) money back. Of course, there are no guarantees and a he's not going to do that for everyone. I doubt Echo would be as likely to do that... they seem to have tighter controls on their money, where Bright is run more like a mom and pop shop. I guess this is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your perspective. As far as the execution systems... it seem like everyone is splitting hairs... I just can't see that one system is going to be THAT much faster or slower than the other... this isn't rocket science. But, I'm hoping to arrange some realtime speed comparisons between the two systems in the next few weeks. I also don't care where a firm clears as long as I can get the shorts I want and they know how to add up numbers. From what I hear both firms are fine in that respect. Fletch
I think rtharp posted a link to a copy of Bright's Trader Questionnaire recently; it's exactly (except for maybe one question) the same as ECHO's.
keepingitreal, Oh stop, you're killing me I can't take it! Please! Redi plus better than anything is the biggest joke I've ever heard. Seinfeld, is that you? Are you a daytrader now? 450 traders? More humor, you are a funny guy! You better do a recount, from what I hear guys are running for the exits like it is Titanic II. By the way, if you are wondering who has the potential to be the next Harbor, tag you're it. Bob Bright has told everyone that he will only cover the first $10 Million of a traders loss, which A: Is nowhere in writing, he could balk if he wants to. B: From what I know, Harbor's loss was $14 Million. So tell me, where is the extra $4 Mil going to come from. That's right, YOU!!! Oh, yeah, 1 more thing. If you trade at Bright the chances are, you stare at First Alert all day. Click around in the open menu, you see all that order entry stuff. Wanna use it??? You can't!! Know why, Bright doesn't have the technology to do it. Echo does. You are clearly someone who has never traded at Echo. Oh yeah, and getting back to the point of this post, Bob Bright can and will keep your 25% if some of their stringent conditions aren't met, even if you are a profitable trader. There are many people who have never got there 25% back. I pose this to anyone, call Bob Bright and ask him if this has happened. It happpens a lot. No thanks, I like to keep my hard-earned money. Bright's days are dim, don't be the last guy caught holding the bill for 40 unused offices. We'll see how long they can support that.
If your a serious trader I would think twice about going to Echo with their most recent policy change. It looks as though their having problems recruiting traders with any substantial capital as their allowing traders to start with 10,000. Individuals on this board talk about all their risk management capabilities but who really knows what they do. When you think about it, how do they afford to monitor 10,000 account traders when their trading small amounts. It just doesn't make sense. If it came down to the two of them I would trade at Bright. Steve