I'm just now getting started with my first Prop Firm. I'm writing this Blog just to give others some reference who might be thinking of getting into a Prop Firm and might have some questions. My Experience Prior to Prop Firm: I've dabbled off and on for the past 10yrs with short term trading and limited day trades. I've never carried more than 25k in my account so my trading has always been limited. I've mostly used TD Ameritrade throughout this time frame. It wasn't until this past year that I got into trading on a regular basis. I kept around 15k in my Trading accounts and therefore even went as far as splitting it up amongst TD, E-trade and Scott just so I could make 9 roundtrips a week. I decided a few Months ago to start looking into Prop Firms and I began following twitter posters that also day traded. I began following the "Bulls on Wallstreet" folks quite a bit and really enjoyed their day trading chat room (14 day trial). I decided that I would go with the Prop Firm that their members use (Lake Street Trading). The following posts and replies by me will be about my on-going experience with Lake Street. As of now I'm not sure if it will be a positive or negative experience but it should make for a good reference point for others in search of a prop firm.
Jan 23rd: Wired Money to fund my Lake Street Account. So I have been a part of the Bulls on Wallstreet 14 day trial for about 10 days. I really like everyone involved with Bulls on Wallstreet. The actual Prop Firm they use/endorse is Lake Street Trading. I haven't had nearly as much response with the actual Firm as I have with Bulls On. Honestly it delayed me funding the Lake Street account just because of the lack of response from them. After much research and reassurance from some people in Bulls on Wallstreet I finally wired the money to Lake Street on Monday, Jan 23rd. I kept it at the minimum 5k, mostly because this is my first time funding a Prop Firm and the minimum is what I felt comfortable with. Also, the support from Lake Street over the weekend has been much more prompt. Even prior to them getting my money. I'm not sure if it takes them a while to decipher real future customers from the fake ones or if I just caught them at a bad time last week but they have been responding much more quickly than before. The folks at Bulls On WS even provided me with a demo DAS platform to see if it would work for me since I was used to using TOS from TD. Now I wait for all of the paperwork to process and my account to be created. (Mon, Jan 23rd)
I was contacted by e-mail Tuesday night (Jan 24th) that the funds have cleared and my account is being setup and my account information should be arriving soon and I will most likely be able to begin trading with Lakestreet on Wednesday morning.
WARNING: Lake Street Trading is NOT a Prop Firm. They are an illegal LLC that is acting as an unregistered and unlicensed broker dealer. These firms are getting shut down left and right by the SEC and traders are losing all their money (Epiphany is the latest). Do your due diligence and call the SEC and inquire if this type of LLC is legit.
Well since this is a thread about my on-going experiences (both positive and/or negative) with Lake Street then I will surely post it here if that happens.
Wednesday, Jan 25th. Everything was right on schedule. My account was ready prior to the Market opening and I was able to trade throughout the day. So far so good! My next big test will be withdrawing money but that will be down the road a bit. In the mean time I'll keep posting positive/negative experiences that may occur. p.s. oh yea, before I wired the money I told Lake Street I did not want to start until Feb 1st to avoid the January Platform fee's. They informed that since it was near the end of the Month I could go ahead and start and wouldn't be charged for January. Added Bonus!
Can I ask why you would risk your money and hard work with a LLC that will probably get shut down by the SEC. Why wouldn't you join one of the many legitimate firms. You are either a shill or someone who doesn't care about their money.
you can ask all you want but why not ask me in a PM? The only intention of this thread was to post my on-going experience with Lake Street Trading. It may turn out good, it may turn out bad. In the mean time I'm just collecting info for other people that have similar interests. Feel free to PM me with your questions and advise, I'd like to keep this thread strictly informative on my experiences with them.
The blog is a clever idea & the detail your providing is quite helpful. I been looking @ these guys along w others. Please share the following: 1. Buying power (intraday & overnight) for traders? 2. What are their commissions & software fees? 3. Do traders keep 100% of profits? 4. What has Lakeside said regarding SEC crackdowns on LLCs such as theirs? Looking forward to reading more about your experiences w them.
I think it's a good idea. I'd like to see more of this about props. It may be a better idea to start a blog on Wordpress or something like that instead though. You will drive more traffic from people looking for that type of info.