Nitro you make it sound like they know what others don't. That's not true. I used to work at CME for 5 years and most repeated mantra was "have no opinion". Firm I was working for, when they decided to put you in the pit, all they wanted to know when you got there, can you take a quick small loss? So when you ended up in red for a day due to lots of small losses,as a beginner, you were doing OK. If you proved yourself unable to get out quickly you were out of the program. The notion they know something more than you can find out on your own is not true. Having to "pay your dues" working at the exchange for lousy money in order to make it in trading is BS.
Professional traders on exchanges buy/sell when they get paid to do so. If somebody can explain to me what it means I would appreciate it. When I get in I never know if I am going to get paid or not until I get out. At the exchange, it works exactly the same way as far as I know.
Cesko, There are lots of places that throw you into the lion pit, and you never really understand why markets move. I assure you, there are firms that make a fortune with very specific strategies. You are not really a trader in these firms making decisions, you are more part of a team executing an entire strategy for the firm. Those places are nothing more than chop shops. The only edge you had there was order flow and possibly information. Those edges are disappearing where the lone gunman comes in and makes a fortune. It is team trading that is the future. I guess I should be careful, but I thought I had already stated as much: Just because you are down on the exchange, with a firm or not, doesn't mean you have a clue. There are however, firms that make money every single day. How can this be? What are the differences between these firms and the firms that throw you in the lion pit and tell you the way to make money is as simple as having no opinion and taking small loses? You can't just work for any firm. You have to find the right ones. You chose poorly, and formed an opinion based on that one experience. nitro
1. Pay 1.00 / share commision and you can make a ton Front running like SAC. 2. Give special access to trading one owns account and charge exorbitant commisions to place trade before mutual fund adjustments, like Merrill Lynch. 3. Have people in the govt who make policy and call in before making important announcements, like Goldman Sachs. 4. Sell arcane mortgage backed derivatives at exorbitant prices to ignorant foreign funds, like Bear Stearns. etc ... or 5. you can cross your fingers and short sell naked puts like victor niederhoffer and hope you get enough lucky breaks before the inevitable wipe out.