Are there any miscellaneous fees at prop firms I should be aware of? Are there any fees other than commissions and desk fees? For example are there fees for the firm holding your series 7 license?
Besides the market difficulty... - outdated computers - poor connections - unreliable software - unruly trading environment - lack of genuine training etc. Do your diligence on where you trade... $600/mo desk fee is the highest out there.
Some firms will charge a License fee, quote fee, obviously commissions and other fees for tools that they may provide regardless if you use that tool. AVOID THESE THEY ARE NOT INTERESTED IN THE TRADERS BOTTOM LINE! If the prop group is serious they will provide all the tools needed to trade their strategy successfully (without the added fees). If they don't they probably don't have faith in their traders or strategy.
Due diligence is key when picking a firm, and I have posted many of the things you should look for doing so. No ECN fees (and other hidden charges). Our desk fees are $400 ($200 remote) with rebates at a very low volume number. Check all financial statements, be sure the owner's have at least a few million of their own money in the firm (not just the traders money). Check compliance issues, be sure they are "above board"... Training is very important (just for an example: our traders come back for advanced training as often as they like, free of charge...many come back 3 or 4 times a year)... Don't be swayed by "bells and whistles" some "brand new" firms may have expensive new equipment (paid for by other peoples money), whereas the firms who have been in business a long time, have stable, quality equipment that is being updated when necessary. Good luck in your venture... Don
My trading style is to buy weakness and sell strength. Almost all my buys are on the bid and my sells on the offer. Wouldn't I benefit from a firm that charges ECN fees for taking liquidity and gives the ECN rebates for adding to liquidity?
"Don't be swayed by "bells and whistles" some "brand new" firms may have expensive new equipment (paid for by other peoples money), whereas the firms who have been in business a long time, have stable, quality equipment that is being updated when necessary." new equipment is better than old equipment(provided it works equally) "updated when necessary" = we'll upgrade when it no longer works.
No kidding. What could possibly be more important than having the best equipment. The hardware and the software you are using doesn't need to just "get the job done", it needs to at the very least keep pace with what the best traders are using. I'm not talking flat pannel monitors vs. the regular fat dat stuff either, I'm talking about the stuff that matters, RAM, Hard drives, processing power, etc. Some of these firms have some really old setups from what I have heard. If your at a firm and the computer they give you has less than say 256K of ram I think you have to ask yourself are they looking out for your interetest. We have all seen the price of ram lately. I traded at one place a year or so ago and when my computer started to bog down, they suggested I close some applications, that I had to many charts open. TOO MANY....I had 4! Amount of ram in the box.....I kid you not, 128. The MINIUM required to operate XP alone. That think took about 3 minutes to reboot too. The difference between a 1 minute boot and 3 minute boot if your computer locks up at the wrong time. Lot of $$$ if you ask me....and it will happen.....you trade a few years, you'll lock up intraday sooner or later. Sad that some firms focus on only providing adequate equipment. Were not secretaries doing word processing here folks.
Trading styles change with the markets, and we teach our traders to rarely "buy on bid' sell on "offer"...since one of the primary points to trading is to follow momentum....(We do "make markets" as you describe when the market dictates). If you pay ECN fees all the time, and get paid a portion back sometimes, this doesn't make sense. All those rules on Isld are changing anyway...so we'll see. Don
Just in case some of you mis interpreted what I said prior....BT keeps replacing all equipment whenever necessary....and since our traders success continues year after year, it is just obvious. I look at it this way, we all drive "indy cars" and with that being equal, it is up to the trader, with the firm's support, to make money.. Don