I posted my last post to you ( a nice one, I believe) before reading that you are trading with us (darn anonymity!). I don't want the board to think we are placing "ringers" here, but what the heck...thanks for the good words! Good Luck!!
Hee Haw...Nice post Mr. Bright. Don, what about the earlier ? of whether that $10 million is written into the operating agreement? Where is this $10 (oops sorry! I mean $10 million) now? At the Mirage? Caesars?? The Hilton sports book??? Not so seriously though: Limitdown, the only big pro a pro shop has over a reputable firm like IB is capital. You want T1 access to save 20 milliseconds? Get it yourself ($350/month or so depending on bandwidth). You want hardcopy statements (gimme a break)? Save the forests or print the darn things yourself? And is anyone suggesting that direct access shops typically sell order-flow? If so, gimme a hit of yur crack pipe. We're not talking about E-Trade here. Order flow is going the way of the mastadons and reputable retail direct access shops frown at paying for order flow. And oh yeah, stop yanking our pickles with that barnyard dung about retail shops not having "direct exchange access." Mr. Bright let's have a race to see who can get filled on Island faster. You on REDI+ or us on RealTick, Watcher, Greybox, Gr8Trade, etc, etc, etc... In a nutshell, if you keep over $25K in your account and you don't need a truckload of capital (the majority BUT NOT ALL don't) then IB offers a nice package. Although their software is somewhat cheeseball; but I guess you can't have everything. And Don, is a "ringer" like a shill...or a commercial sounding planted post?
LuvDaMarkets, My previous post was not planted as part of some secret marketing plan. I can assure you that I stand to gain nothing from posting my positive comments. I don't understand why people are comfortable reading negative comments (I think my favorite in regards to Bright Trading is "Emotional Black Hole") but as soon as someone has something positive to say, people question whether the post was placed with some alterior motive. Just take the post for what it is...my opinion. You may choose to have a different opinion and I'm not here to convince you otherwise. DarynC
I'm not really sure what point you're trying to make, but you seem to have made one of mine for me. I agree, if you think you can make any real money with $25K go for it, IB is a fine, reputable firm (and the only retail firm I have ever recommended to those who want to stay customers). The 1 cent per share, which once was a good number, is now at the higher end for nearly everyone now. The market access is still considerably different....i.e. try to go to a regional exchange price, between the markets, and get an ITS fill from NY. It won't happen as a customer. Anyway, the Retail vs. Proprietary discussion is pretty much old hat by now, and I think most traders realize the differences. Proprietary firms are set up for those who put to use some serious capital in their trading, effect current "state of the art" strategies unavailable to retail customers, and who want the tax benefits of a single reported tax figure at year end (and the other tax benefits allowed members). New people, of course, grow into the need for capital as in any other business, and many retail traders can do just fine where they are. I'm not sure what you mean by the $10Mil of minimum "owner" equity. All traders should know how well their firm is capitalized before joining up, or they risk the same fate as those at Harbor, Block, and dozens of others (and a couple "soon to be"). The $10Mil is simply a minimum buffer that we (Bright Trading, Inc. the "owner" or Class A member of Bright Trading, LLC keeps to protect the traders from losses in excess of their deposit money). Even a year ago we published somewhere around $150 million for the firm as assets (sorry, I am home,and don't have the statements in front of me), and this year we will show considerably more. This is in no way an outrageous "claim" or an attempt to put down others...it is simply a business fact (we have to show this to the new landlords when we open offices, our new traders, all members, etc.)... I know for a fact that one "major" firm chooses to take out nearly all their capital and simply leave the traders money in the LLC. This is causing them great trouble at month end (their traders are told to limit their positions at month end....how scary is that??). And, for the record, you won't see any "Bright" family member playing silly gambling games, we play (when we can get away with it) blackjack or baccarat for fun...it is obviously better than paying Country Club dues, and we get to see great entertainment! Like I've said before on the board, I am sure most of your comments were in jest, but I like to respond for the benefit of others.
Don...FYI: IB's rates are only 1 cent a share for the first 500 shares, and 1/2 cent thereafter. And they include ALL passthroughs. "High-end"??? Not. By the way how often do you trade NYSE stocks on regional exchanges? I would bet not very often. Can you even access regional exchanges at Bright using REDI+, and why would you want to go through ITS to get to New York anyways? Happy trading!
>Don...FYI: IB's rates are only 1 cent a share >for the first 500 shares, and 1/2 cent thereafter. >And they include ALL passthroughs. >"High-end"??? Not. That is such a great point that competitors like to brush off. I get so sick of all the additional fees at my backup brokers. At IB if your average trade is 1K shares or less it's tough to find an firm (pro or otherwise) that can compete. Those guys at IB don't pass NOTHIN' on. JB
Nothing personal Mr. Bright but is it just me, or did you just evade the question again? Let me ask it again reeeeeal slow. I S T H E $ 1 0 M I L L I O N I N Y O U R O P E R A T I N G A G R E E M E N T ? And please don't come back with the balance sheet thing. Just answer the ? if you'd be so kind. I hate to sound like I'm trying to give you a hard time but I also have a problem with the term "state of the art trading strategies." Opening orders, pair trading and spread trading have been around since you were a Zygote. As you "popularize" them and bring them to the daytrading masses these strategies can only become less and less profitable (market efficiency 101, 102, and 103). Keep in mind that the trader really has to know what he's doing for them to be profitable at all--even with the benefit of your $1000 classes. One last thing. As you put it "the retail versus proprietary discussion is pretty much old hat by now." I just want to remind you that YOU keep coming back to it by contrasting your firm with retail firms. So can I be free to at least retort? You da man... Luv
LuvDaMkts raises an interesting question about market efficiency and your strategies. So I have a related question. How much of Bright's volume comes from these three strategies? I just think it's pretty interesting to know how many people are trading like this. Anyone from Echo know how many people there trade these three styles?