I've called a few Prop Firms and here is what I think..... I first spoke with JCTrading Group. They made is clear to me that $10K is the minimum deposit or excuse me "capital contribution". This runs counter to a few of the posts I have read on here. I could hear the energy leave the conversation the second I told them that I dont plan on trading more than 3 or 4 lots per day (300 or 400 Shares) with only 1 trade per day. My next call was to Star Alliance Capital. The girl who picked up the phone could speak english clearly but she lacked energy. I know times are tough but put some coffee in the office so the people answering your phone dont sound completely uninspired!! I left my contact info with the girl and never heard back from them. I had a few questions and she recommended that I speak with one of the traders. I'm still waiting...... Star Alliance Capital has a $5k minimum capital contribution. The upside to both JCTrading and Star Alliance is that they do not require a Series 7 to be taken. I should note that I have spoken to EchoTrade multiple times. Echo has impressed me the most. Their follow-up to any questions is lightning fast even when they know you will be a small fish with them. The downside to Echo is that they require a Series 7 and there is no change in sight on that requirement. If any of you could recommend a CBOE/CBSX registered firm I would appreciate it. My main requirement is that the minimum deposit be $5K or lower. I know Star Alliance Capital might not have the best communication skills in the world but I still might end up going with them. Let me say before I go that I could care less about a firm's training or coaching programs. I built a trading system so I really dont need insights in psychology.
FWIW, CBOE/CBSX is going to start requiring traders to take an exam/test similar to the Series7 shortly - in the Feb/March timeframe (Feb-March 2011).
Damn....Are you sure about that??? I might as well just go with EchoTrade then. This means that Echo will be the very last prop firm that does not take part of your profits???? All of the Canadian and CBOE/CBSX firms take part of your profits. I know Bright Trade takes profits as well.
take the exam. the reason these prop firms require series 7 to make sure you trade with ethics and not trade like nick leeson who brought down baring bank during the 90s. they don't want dummies, thieves, and criminal.
what about advantage, IB, or thinkorswim? it seems to me you are looking for a broker since you are putting up the capital. but what people see when you are only putting up 5k is a guy with no clue.
id look into avatar....Ive been doing this 10 years and have never seen a more professional environment
Look at his OP - he's looking to put down $5-$10k so no PDT and at an average of $40/share 300-400 shs/trade means he needs $12-$16k in capital. Reg-T would work (and probably be better IMO) but he's not over $25k.
When people hear that you only want to put $5K down or less and only want to trade 300 or so shares a day with one trade they think you are a rookie that is not worthy of their time. Trust me I get it. My system holds a position OPEN to CLOSE. It takes a directional call (Long or Short) on daily direction with an accuracy rate or 60%. Over 1200 backtested trades going back 10 Years for each stock with a Profit Factor of 1.6 to 1.9 depending on which stock is being traded. It does not work on all stocks. Many stocks are not worth trading due to high Bid/Ask spread. Out of the 6528 stocks in my database it is only suitable to trade on about 9 high volume stocks. It beats buy & hold of the same stock 90% of the time. In terms of risk for max draw down peak to valley and draw down in monte carlo simulation it still holds up with a Risk Reward Ratio with reward being greater than either draw down type. My average win is greater than my average loss. Wins happen more than Losses and the distribution of Win Streaks is greater than the distribution of Loss Streaks. I'm better than a coin flip including bid\ask and slippage. Its time to take my system live. It trades across a defined time period (Open to Close). If thats not a definable EDGE then I dont know what is. I'm not looking to be a gun slinging day trader reacting to news or break outs. I'm looking to manually trade my system. What I have found proves to me that it is possible to be a day trader or take "intra-day directional guesses" and be profitable. Thanks, Matt