A trader who is serious about his work will do his due dillegence and gather information about the firm he is interested in. If a trader wants to blindly put down his own capital into a firm that is risky that's his own issue. That being said any previous poor encounters should definately be noted on this site.
Exactly what I am aiming to do. I hope everyone realizes, I have only updated this website twice, and it's been awhile since the last update. I have finally reinstalled Windows XP and will be installing my web design software so I will be updating the website, will add some more firms and divide the sections better for specific type of trading and such. All these ideas about finding out who is registered and all that will be a timely matter so that will have to wait. I'm more interested in just listing all the prop firms I can find first and organizing them. Objectivity is my.... previous life's middle name, lol. I try to maintain objectivity when I write things, as I have always been interested in journalism, and and would love to write reviews for the likes of PC Mag and such. I'm currently helping at a game review website with writing reviews and do that in my spare time. Anyways.... I'm just here to organize all the prop firms I can find, and note the offers and major issues or incentives of each firms. No matter which firm you go to, you always need to realize your money is on the risk and bankruptcy by any firm is always going to be a possibility. I try to ensure people are not putting their money in a place where they will never get it back. Perfectly objective information on each firm to help a trader determine if that firm is for them would require a lot more help than I can provide, and is going to be impossible because firms are battling for publicity, so adding user reviews is pointless and making up stuff about a firm to make it sound good reliable or good is not an option either. So I show the offer I have recieved from a firm, or make a good estimate of what a trader might recieve and such to increase competition amungst firms. But no matter where you put your money, it's always going to be at risk. Doing research on the firm via ET could be a good start. Common sense is also another good one, and reading the contract you sign when you join a firm is definately a plus. You should always due your own DD when joining a firm, I offer a starting point, but to make your decision purely off what I say on my website is definately not recommended for someone completely new to trading. If you can't afford to put 1k - 3k in a firm and afford to lose all that money, trading may not be for you. Any firm that requires more I'd definately pass on as it's just too much risk for a newbie trader to take on. So my goals with this website in order of importance: Compile a listing of all firms, or as many as possible, mostly focusing on remote trading possiblities, and as a secondary, firms that offer in office trading only or both. Be able to provide a link to these firms so new potential traders can locate it for remote trading. Learn of any major complaints/issues with the firm and make users aware. Learn of a basic offer for a decent sized volume trader at any firm I can find and post it on the website. Of course this section is more than likely going to be the section that will be influenced by many things and is hard to work on, but that is my goal with the website. Like I note on my website, the offer I display on my page isn't necessarily the one you will receive but could generate a general idea of the commission structure such as per-ticket and/or per-share deals and such that you might be offered, and you might even deserve a better offer if you do a very large amount of volume. Learn of a general % of payout received for a new trader at the firm and possibly maximum payout %. A lot of firms are starting to go to a split, but offer some amazingly low commissions. You have to determine what is right for you and be able to do some math to figure it out. Learn of any software/desk fees for trading at that firm. Note any great things that I feel, or I believe others feel about the firm either by personal experience or the experience from others that I know trade there. Gather a listing of software/charting/trading platforms. For the near future I'd like to post a listing of Forex brokerages and possibly futures and options. Everything else after that is possible, but not my main goal at the moment as I have just started this, and there are some things I'd probably like to just completely remake so I can display the data easier and provide seperate pages for in-depth information if needed and other things like that. It's a project that I have taken on. I'd prefer if someone else did it that had time to dedicate for it, but I figured it wouldn't be done so I just did it one rainy day. Maintaining it might be an issue but I have said I will try to update it at least once a month, and I intend on doing that. I'm only 19 so I'll try and stay on top of it, but I still have to act like a 19 year old sometimes and enjoy the outside life I will figure it out though, I still get my inbox full of suggestions, comments, and many thanks about the website. So I still got some work to do with it. I'm currently moving to my new firm and have just mailed in the funds so I'm excited to get back to trading ASAP as it's been awhile now.
Good job so far. I just have an intuition that because you've found a certain niche that hasn't been filled efficiently you will probably get some degree of reward. Try putting some Google ads up, at least. I once had a friend who came up with a novel software innovation and made a website, and random kind souls donated decent sums to him from time to time. Whether or not you feel suited to trading will be your own discovery, but I have a feeling you might have a certain practical knack for filling certain niches like these.
Hey guys.....question if I may ask. When you put money down at a prop firm is that all you are liable for? Or are you liable for your "deposit" plus additional losses? I understand from my readings on this website, good job JWMowery on yours, that you will be canned no matter what if you are losing money. It also appears from all of my thousands of readings of posts that prop traders are one of the two groups that really make money trading on this website. That must be due to sheer volume, but does it also have to due with the fact that you aren't trading your money, trading in a more emotionally detached way? I hope I didn't hijack this thread. Good trading to everyone. Dan
There is definately a need for this objective information...it's great to be able to compare/contrast. Mowery continue when you can, no pressure at all but as you've noticed this information is precious and might have value to it. Especially since the competition between prop firms has been starting to heat up (remote or not) An experienced trader in Canada really has alot of options. Please traders if you're going remote, research the firms you're looking at. Peace to all. Mowery, don't grow up to quickly..lol
Well Dan, I think you're in trouble if you lose more than your deposit at any firm (just a hunch, never been there) ummmm, other than that day-traders make money on the stock market because that's what they do but that's definately a different thread
Our traders are only liable for the amount of money that they put up, thus the term "Limited" in the LLC. This is, of course, unless they violate the rules of law or agreements. FWIW. Don
A friend of mine is thinking of going to a firm called Golden Market Management, or something like that. Has anyone here heard of them?