This is probably a stupid question. I read all the threads in this forum and, from what I understand, there are firms that will train you to trade, give you money to trade, give you the software and links needed to trade, plus you keep a percentage of the profits from each trade and get to do the trading from the comfort of your own home. All this in exchange for passing a test, putting up as little as $10K (which still remains yours to trade), and paying $200 to $400/mo. What's the catch lol. you have to be profitable.if it was easy everyone would do it.
What's the catch... The reality is that the Prop firm like all businesses is trying to make a profit off of commission, etc. It is worth the risk for a Prop firm to provide the SW, links, margin, small upfront stake, and % of profits... on the assumption that they will make money from the commisisons that are generated. Many of the good Prop firms have recognized that if they provide good training & support then the traders & firm will have a mutually beneficial relationship that will be profitable for both over the long term. The current times are very different then two years ago where daytrading shops opened on every corner, did'nt care about the traders, and only wanted to make make commisions off of scalping while the newbie traders went broke... after all there was always a new set of suckers to fleece (two years ago). The current trading firms that survived for the most part are more professional and focussed on making their traders successful with training and a support network. They hope that word of mouth of positive results will bring people to the door. just my .02.... - Greg
Curious to what time horizons the traders of these firms focus on. Is it all scalp/tick trading or do they allow position trading as well? Sorry for the stupid question.
Thanks for the response. So you are saying that I pay them a commission on trades using the money they staked me? Seems like a good deal to me. As far as being profitable, I have to be. It's either that or get a real job. The problem I have is being limited in the number of trades I'm allowed per week. I continually pass up small profits because if I close position and have only 1 daytrade remaining (only get 3 per week) then I would be unable to get back in and would have to resort to using options (no trading limit, but much harder to get out of quickly). Therefore, being able to have the required capital to trade freely would be great. Is there a book or website that explains the particulars? From previous posts I read that Don Bright has a training class, but I am unable to find any details on his website.
sunfair you can listen to brights every saturday morning here. http://www.kfnn.com/listen.htm they answer any questions you may have.
sunfair, I assume you're talking about the pattern daytrading rule. If you're at a professional firm, then those rules don't apply and you can daytrade as much as you want.
The catch is, once you lose the $10Gs you put up, you're out. The other catch is most of these claim they will train you, but they couldn't give a shit if you're putting up money. It doesn't matter anyway, you have to be able to train yourself from within.