Here is the math: With a $2,000 account there are numerous firms that will allow you to trade three ES. That is well better than $200,000 in notional. Do you want/need more leverage? I'm suggesting you not only don't want or need more leverage I am suggesting only an insane rookie would use that much leverage. Put up the 2G's and take a blood oath not to move up to a two lot until you have AT LEAST 5G in the account. You will still be over leveraged but at least the men in the white coats will not show up in the middle of the night to take you to the freakin' nut house. That is what I mean by not using all the leverage you have available. Prop, contrary to what some seem to believe, is not appropriate for novices and not generally available for directional future's strategies. Most succesful prop traders are using methodoligies involving spreads and/or access to cash treasuries etc. and need capital and a setup that is hard for most retail traders to replicate.
S&P futures are the most liquid instrument I can think of. Since you're profitable and trading your account is providing you with a nice income, why not simply add contracts each time you double your account? Why would you want to share your profits with a prop firm?
If you look at the web sites of top tier prop firms almost all their traders are either Ivy Leaguers or from other top tier universities eg Duke, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Cal etc.. On the other hand prop firms that accept deposits do not usually accept a thousand or two and are quite expensive eg you will have to join an exchange, monthly software fees plus you will have to pass series 7 or 56 which are not free i.e. large chunk of your cash will be gone before you make even make your first trade. Thus my best advice is finish your degree and keep trading your retail account, till then.
Money made from trading can be wiped away but a college degree will be here to stay. Don't throw away educational opportunities. The markets will be around but it is a lot more difficult to attend school when you are older. If you can attend school and not go into debt I would say go for it. If you can work a little on the side and save up some cash you can always open an account down the road. To trade at the expense of a degree when you can wait and trade and have a degree, this one seems to be a no-brainier. Get the degree do the best you can in school if you are still interested in trading then go trade.
thanks to everyone who has posted thus far all the advice has been really helpful. Those of you telling me to continue my career at school are definitely right it is absolutely the responsible move as I am still very young and have much to learn about myself and markets and what not. Those of you telling me I don't need anymore leverage are also right. Truthfully I have had an excellent past few weeks and think I may have gotten a little ahead of myself. people telling me I know nothing I think are judging my post a little too quickly. I think I have a pretty decent grasp on the market as I have traded these macro instruments profitably for several months now so its not like I just go long every tuesday. I like economic history and read quite a bit so I do recognize the distortion in markets these days and continue to trade very cautiously albeit I know there are endless intricacies in the market for me to learn about. I think from here on out I'll tone down my trading and obsession with following markets, make sure i have a good plan for my last two years of school and maybe find something else focus some of my attention on. You guys really helped me reassess my situation and I appreciate that
Several months does not make you an expert in trading; if u think it does go take a cold shower and wake up. I'm being blunt cause that is what ur young mind needs. Get your degree; be grateful for having that opportunity.. Markets will be there when u get out of school. Think about this: what happens if u get married, have a kid, and go through trade slump where no income is coming in (believe me it happens) and your watching your hard earned money go out the door day after day. The psychology dealing with that is so f'd up u have no idea.
Its pretty much why I stay in school...I dont really want to be sitting in class listening to some teacher run his mouth. But it really does take the pressure off of learning to trade. I don't feel like I have to take a trade every day, and I can keep my size small enough that im not eating my nails when my stop buy gets triggered. When I'm done with school I should have no debt and maybe even a nice chunk of cash. I don't see the point of putting that much pressure on ones self, especially if your only bankroll is 5-10k. I have experience in going all in too, I opted out of university directly out of highschool to travel and play poker., while I managed to carve out a backpackers salary playing poker, I knew I couldnt live in south american youth hostels forever and I always failed at moving up to the higher buy ins in the poker world. I enjoyed life on the road, and my 800-1500 a month poker winnings, after 3 years in hostels and month to month rentals all over the world, I decided its best to come back and get a degree. Now I'm about a year into trading, with 8 months spent on a demo (could not do that without being a student and living with no pressure), hopefully when I finish my degree I will be good enough to continue trading, if not..I can say I did give it a shot going mostly full time, and I will have a degree to do something with. My life experience, hope it helps someone