I went in to check out their shop about a year ago and I wasn't impressed. They provide each trader 2 puny 14" dell monitors with no filters or any other tools. The trading "floor" or the size of a larger bedroom was supposed to fit about 25-30 traders. It looked quite pathetic. IMO if a firm has real traders pulling in real dough they'd at least have a half decent looking trading floor. Despite that, they seemed to really look after their traders and take interest into training them correctly since I went in to see them operate on a live trading day a couple weeks later. Sitting next to one of the partners trading 1500 shares of GM to me was a big waste of time. The was they traded seemed structured to some degree but not definitive. Not saying not to check them out, but from what I've seen there are much better shops out there.
Without disclosing how much you made, would you say you made back that 4k training fee the time you were there? Or if you didn't could you see yourself making that up in a few months?
No definitely not. As far as in a few months, it is hard to say. I have a really hard time trading only 4 stocks a day, as I like to be very busy. So I end up making bad trades that aren't part of the plan and losing my profit back. And this means I have very small profit, so my risk limit is kept small. I think if I focused 100% on trading the best I could and not making bad trades to stay busy I could make that money back in a month or 2 on the account. But I have another business I do online that makes so much more at this point it just isn't worth the time for me. It is a much better use of my time for me to just go straight to my own money now and get up to higher risk levels as quickly as I feel comfortable. Once I am trading my own money though, I expect to make that 4k back very quickly with lots of extra on top of it. I can say with 100% certainty I have learned to be a winning trader from them in 3 or 4 months, and that is invaluable to me. If you can learn to be a winning trader, there is plenty of leverage out there, and the money will come.
And I've got a great "deal" for you.... Seriously...as far as I can see, Keystone's great flaw is they do not recognize anyone with experience. In fact, it's so apparent...I filled-out an application, gave my experience,....and never got a call or acknowledgement. Nothing. Zip, zero, nada..... Bottomline: they WANT that $4k fee. They want "newbies" only. That's it. If it was really different, I'd be trading with them right now. Again, as always, with Prop firms....be careful out there.
Listen-up...if you are daytrading in today's markets without PROGRAMMABLE alerts or automated trading capability: QUIT NOW. Or you will lose money. Total guarantee. Trust me on this. GM ? Really ? GM ? "Not Definitive" ? Oh, that's a "Tell". My take: Pathetic. I was trading IPIX back in 2004. Rockin stock back then...BAABEEE. Wow, talk about fast.... Some days: 35 million shares traded Of course, it's gone now. But that was then, and this is NOW. However, fundamental stock daytrading hasn't changed much since 2004: 1) have a great strategy 2) have a platform that supports programmable alerts or programmable orders 3) have a reliable, fast (little lag) data feed 4) have a reliable trading platform with API 5) trade with the high flyer stocks Now you are a winner. I'll bet few of you get past #1 and #2. Am I right ?
I agree with you on programmable alerts. I've been configuring trade ideas to scan for my setup, and I am ready now to make my trade all day long in stocks that move a bit more than GM. I disagree that you need to trade high flyers, something with a reasonable range is really all you need.
So basically to go trade for these guys you have to pay the 4k and go through their training program regardless of your experience/track record? That sounds nuts. I guess they only want guys with zero experience.
That's exactly right...anyone with experience is "tainted". It's their way or the highway....so keep on movin-on.
Thats on odd way to build a firm.....but whatever works for them. I always wonder about firms that actually charge people (especially new guys) money to train them. Usually those are the last guys that have the money to "pay" for training. Makes me wonder if they are taking out insurance/hedging their bets. I have traded on a few prop desks and they NEVER charged new guys to train them. They made sure during the interview process that they were getting the good candidates. You train them well....give them an excellent setting/great technology...they make lots of money for you. Pretty simple....
4 thousand per person .... then the firm can borrow on margin to double that, plus im sure can borrow in other ways to increase capital Then it sounds like you can only trade a small portion of your 4 thousand per day. Who gets to trade the rest however, sounds like good basic training to get started.