We all trade different strategies. This is my preferred style. Nobody else trades like me really. Most of the other good traders are primarily low float traders.
I used to primarily focus on SSR stocks, but my edge in those kind of dried up. They flip through bids like nothing now. I think people are illegally trading multiple accounts is why, but nothing I can do about that so I had to adapt to a different style.
Thanks. I’ve been on here for 8 years and I’ve been told to spend my time doing something else more than I have gotten useful answers when I’ve asked questions lol.
There are probably several of us here that would like to get the full tour of a few propshop corner offices (OPM capital sources). Would be instructive to see the journal entries they made to get to that level.
Well, I don’t journal. I rely mostly on memory, but I do compare charts. The one second charts are very helpful for my style, they are my lower time frame. The L2 is mostly fake now. The micro level is very important to me, because it lets me know if the market making HFTs are in control or not. It’s a much smoother ride and easier to add when they’re not. I started as a scalper so it’s more like playing a sport for me. My trades are more impulsive/feel-based and it’s more like muscle memory. Not sure everybody is comfortable with that style though. I trade from my apartment with 6 monitors now. I am trying to trade a longer time frame to expand my versatility, but it’s not my bread and butter. I have trouble with exiting on long time frame trades. EBAY on Friday was a perfect example. I saw the momentum on the one minute chart, then it flagged for a bit, but I was watching a really flashy/dirty tape in it. If I held all day that would have been my best result, but I didn’t trust it, because I felt the HFTs had too much control of it which means it’s going to move more randomly. While demand was clearly exceeding supply overall it wasn’t enough for me to trust it as something I could believe in to keep continuing. I didn’t think it would take much for a fuck you stop out kind of move.
first, let me congratulate you on your success second, what is a risk bank and how is that different from a capital infusion? third, if you are money good why hand over half of your profits to your bosses? why not trade your own PA. 1-2MM in intraday buying power is not that much.
If you are excellent trader, trading with millions and millions of OPM is more profitable than trading with your own (limited) capital. Plus your losses (if any) are paid for by your own boss, so your risk is zero. Of course you must build a solid trading record first (via websites like Collective2 or TradingView for instance).
right but OP stated that he’s using 1-2mm in buying power intraday. for someone starting out with no money that would make sense but if OP is making 700K he can get that in a reg t account. not sure about zero risk if he can lose the ‘risk bank’ whatever that is
A risk bank is an amount I have contributed to overtime with profits I’ve made for them. This protects them if they pay me and I lose a bunch after my check. It’s similar to a capital contribution, but the difference is it didn’t come out of my personal bank account, just my trading profits with them. A capital contribution is usually something you put up before you ever start trading so that a firm doesn’t take any risk ever. I actually started at 40% with no risk bank, then went to 45%, and went to 50% when I agreed to contribute $25k to a risk bank (which I contributed to a portion of my 50% over several months). I have access to a lot more resources trading with them. We have commission free direct market access with routing through most of the major players, multiple 7 figure traders to bounce ideas off of, access to capital I couldn’t get on my own, and the fact that once I’m paid my funds are secure. I think if I had a few million dollars saved up and was trading a longer time frame where routing wasn’t as important it might be time for me to go on my own, but right now this is clearly what’s best for me.