I'll give my usual advice Ask other traders in that office how they feel about everything? You might have to take them out for beers --get them away from the office-so they will talk openly. What is the turnover of new guys? Are they happy? What other deals did they consider? Are they profitable? Are there any term in a contract they wish they can get removed now that they know more about the firm? That's the true test Robert
I am sure you probably took the initiative tolook up the threads anyways but here's the links again. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9432&perpage=6&pagenumber=1 http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8518&perpage=6&pagenumber=1 http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9945 perspective is everything!
MACD Thanks for the links Was just reading some of the other threads in the links. It was never clarified but what happens when you only make $4999? under the $5000 mark. There was a rumor of no pay at all? It's a really Sh*tty deal if you don't get paid for just being slightly under that mark. Not sure if it is true though. But I'd check/verify that one for sure Robert
5000 shares in one position after 3 months of traning????? That is a suicide unless you are talking about LU or KM or something. I would make sure to not sign something that locks you in at anything. Besdies...you can ALWAYS renegotiate anything. It always comes down to how good a trader you are. If you are "valuable" enough to them, they will work with you.
Tharpy, Its no rumor it's true. If you don't hit 5G's for the month you get nada! Head office apparently is pretty strict about it too. I know of a case where a guy was a $ 100 short on the month.... guess what? As I understand it they have had some other pretty shitty rules in place in the past as well. The crazy part about the 5G's thing is that 1 marginal dollar means the difference of getting paid 30% or getting zero. I guess life always comes down to a matter of seconds and inches!
Doesn't matter. If you were being charged for commissions, $4999 in gross P&L would equal negative P&L (unless you only wrote a handful of tickets, which is unlikely) so you wouldn't be paid anyway. Again, this is still a great deal for a beginner, better than any other deal out there. Which other firm gives you zero exposure? Maybe First New York Securities but I don't know if they still pay you to trade. In my opinion, $5000 in gross P&L per month is a piece of cake. It's the charges that kill you!
Exactly....have to agree with goldenarm's comments above. if you are thinking of taking that deal don't let yourself get hung up worrying about that gross p & l number. The difference between grossing 5K and netting 5K per month is like the difference between between making your highschool football team (about everyone can do that) and making it to the NFL. The fees are what you have to watch. Over a full year tiny fractions of a cent add up to thousands and thousands of dollars. Good luck.
Okay, even if grossing $5k in a month is doable, what can hurt me are the pass throughs.... right? Therefore, can anyone tell me roughly what dollar amount pass through's add up to in a month, assuming: 400 trades per day * 5000 shares per trade * 21 days = 42mm shares per month (these assumptions are what the ST HR-guy told me). If the assumptions are way off, feel free to state you own. Thanks again everyone; I'm learning a lot.
i am self-taught. im 47 yo, but im thinking of going to a prop firm just for the experience. i also run my own business/professional office and i am successful. in 1985, i quit a job that paid like $80,000 to go to work for $6/hour with no overtime premium. i slept on my buddy's couch for 3 months until i was pretty sure i was gonna make it and worked night and day - literally i just worked and slept and went body surfing - the office was in del mar - oh yeah, i went to the race track too. 6 BUCKS an hour and i am grateful to the owner who let me get my foot in the door. today, +/- 17 years later i am pretty much independent and my children's lives are about 100x better than i had when i was growing up. i/we have made a "generational" leap. that deal sounds fine. you sound younger than i am, so let me give you some general advice. this is the same advice i would give to my son. the money in the first few years of ANYTHING is not important. just plain unimportant, irrelevant, whatever - not even an issue. what is very important is that you get good quality training... see, that is really your pay.... if you get good training from ethical mentors, then in a relatively short amount of time you will be independent for the rest of your life. what a deal! so i would tell my son to get the best training possible and to work with the best - because as time slips by it gets harder to make and accept change. bad habits are a lot harder to break than learning the right habits from Day 1. i am lucky that i can make a change as i approach the magic "50," but believe me i have worked my ass off, lived below my means and invested, so ive earned the right to make a change. ask around and see how many guys under 50 yo are VOLUNTARILY making a career switch. not many, most have a ton of bills and are in dead-end jobs. i believe the training is your pay, so get the best training you can find and as you become more skilled as a trader, the money will come to you!