In my humble opinion, if you have to generate commissions, you should do it using the house's money, not your own. The only prop firm that I know about that wouldn't take your money is Shoney, and they seem to be dying. Market knowlede, Discipline, emotional control, and money management are the hallmarks of good trading; "having to generate commissions" runs contra to that ideal.
I disagree with many of these statements critical of prop firms. First of all, their intentions or expectations about how often you trade are irrelevant. You are free to trade as much as you want. If you get any crap about it, there are plenty of other prop firms that will be happy to have you. Second, while they do prefer scalping over longer-term trading, scalping is lower risk due to the shorter holding period. IMO it is also better suited to the prof trader who needs to make money every day. The additional leverage, time to prepare taxes, and lower cost of entry are better than if you went retail, not to mention the fact that your losses are limited to your cap contribution, unlike retail trading. For all this, you would think that you would have additional cost going prop, but the lowest prop firm commission fees are the same or LOWER than the lowest retail fees. I don't think there is any question that the existence of prop firms allows more people to make a living trading, which is in the best interest of all of us. Those who bash prop firms or threaten litigation because, basically, they can't trade and lost their own money - are not doing us any favors. We would find a much more difficult environment if prop firms were to go away.
If your afraid your firm is trying to get you to churn, goto a firm that charges a Seat Fee, or a Office Fee, whatever. 300 bucks a month and it'll shut up those managers breathing down your neck. I've spoken to several branch managers of variety of firms and those that charge seat fees don't give a damn how many shares you trade. They make money off of you whether or not you are there! Not to mention, their aren't a whole lot of new traders out their, and these prop/pro firms are pretty much willing to do business with anybody, as long as your paying enough to keep your ass on the seat. xbrxx