#3. Not sure where you got this, but Echo has a 100% payout. Also, no lock up. You do need a 7. I don't know anyone who thinks their cash at a prop is insured. I'm sure Don can add some details.
- only retail accounts are SIPC insured. Not prop trading accounts. Whether Bright, Echo, etc. (exception - sub-llc opens retail account and structures it to operate as a prop for their traders - owners of the master account are SIPC covered but not the sub accounts. This is really no longer much of an issue since most of these setups have begun to disappear.). Every b/d however pays into SIPC fund. Futures firms do not because they are classified as FCMs, not b/d's. - CBSX lock-up of funds - most CBSX firms do not have large capital base for their operations so they book your deposit as firm capital. Because of this, funds are locked up so they are not classified as deposits. Firms like Bright have more than sufficient capital so they don't need to book your deposit as capital. - if you move from a CBSX firm to Echo, Bright, or any other firm that requires the 7, you still need to take the test. Process is just a litle easier since you are already fingerprinted and in the system and have your CRD number. All you got to do now is study and schedule a date.
It's a "retail vs. professional" type things, similar to odd lots trading etc. Pretty much down to zero these days. Don
Absolutely. Gives me a chance to travel around, meet the traders, have some fun. National efforts help too. I will say that it's hard to compete with our remote network since we are all online every second of the day with one another. But, many do like to go to an actual location each day... nice to have a choice. Don
Pretty much all has been said... Bright: No lockup, series 7 required. I will refer to this again for the newer people. http://www.traders.com/Documentation/FEEDbk_docs/2009/10/close.html Don
Thanks to Don and others for their responses. And here's an excerpt from Don's article worthy of posting: "Other methods abound of circumventing Pdt rules. Some groups claim that you will be trading with âthe firmâs money,â thus placing you into a quasi-employee status. Their deal is to charge you $5,000 to $15,000 or more as a training fee. Then theyâll let you trade in very small increments until you lose a bit and then theyâll let you go, thus keeping most of that fee. Caveat emptor, indeed." I can vouch for the above statements from personal experience with VCM/Team Trading, as that was their original model, except for the "they'll let you go" part. They folded, and many traders had already quit or had moved on.