The default ToS sim account gives you delayed futures data (you have to request real time.) You can game that thing all day long and "make" millions. I've also played around with TradeStation's sim, and it's STOOPID about flies; you can show a couple of hundred $K profit just by buying a bunch of them for a penny apiece right before the close. @MarkBrown - if you're actually any good, there's no reason in the world not to trade real money and show the results. Or you could just admit that you're not at poopy's level and walk away with at least a shred of integrity. But digging this hole you're in any deeper than you already have... yeah, not all that impressive.
My new thing is an arb less correlation but in all top ten caps on the SN-side. I am open to adding people to this comp if they are willing to make it interesting (side action). I am going to play 21 at 9PM tonight with another counter if anyone wants to play the BP and can play decent basic strat.
Poopy wants other competitors to put up a Stake. We'll have to pass the Collection Tin around for @SimpleMeLike . Someone start a GoFundMe page for SML. (I'm assuming All-you-can-eat-Buffalo or Crack-Whore phone numbers don't qualify as Steak/Stake?)
Christ, the damned greeks again. I bow to your knowledge about that stuff. :-( (No, I am not going to look that one up again!) Snoopy blah!
If you are trading different instruments, then the competition is meaningless. And it is meaningless to force one person to trade the other person's preferred instrument, since they wouldn't normally trade that. And even if both people trade the same instrument such as ES futures, they need to be trading the same general strategy: comparing a scalper versus a swing traders is non-sensical. Just give up the idea of a competition. It doesn't provide any information.
If you say that you're a faster runner than I am, and it turns out that you can run backwards faster than I can normally, the competition would not be "meaningless"; you'd be proving that you do indeed run faster than I do. Unless you use some sort of mechanical aid, the comparison would be a fair one. Since the underlier here is the same for both regardless of the method - profit in dollars - the information it would provide is whether one person is a better trader than another. What's being compared isn't the instruments but trading ability. I'm not sure why that bothers you; I, for one, would enjoy seeing it.
Why are people overcomplicating this shit? To say it's meaningless unless they trade the same instrument or the same way is dumb as fuck. - Start with the same LIVE account balance. - Trade whatever the fuck you want to...however the fuck you want to. - highest % increase at the end wins. Win or lose, any competitor deserves respect just for the balls to compete.
Umm... you do realize that there is an entire industry that exists to ensure comparability of returns? Have you ever heard of a firm called Morningstar? They exist to put funds in certain return, risk and style categories so you can actually draw meaningful inferences. Sure, if the two participants just want to treat the competition as good old fun, have at it. But based on this thread, it is obvious the two participants are treating this competition as a way to declare absolute superiority in trading ability. Meh.