At our office you could make your own hours, take days off, read the paper. Pretty much anything went as long as you were not bothering other traders or hogging the bandwidth. Of course, the equity markets had a lot to say about your hours - no trade, no dough (or maybe more dough on some days). Note this was a capital upfront - 100% payout prop. It likely is different at the no capital/profit split shops.
LEt me clarify I was with a prop firm wherein I deposit $ to trade remotely. The only disincentive for me in taking a lot of days off is when I trade less than 400k shares per month, they will impose a desk fee of $200 ( I think) not to mention I don't make $.
You must be up set because a scam like yours may become exposed. The problem is the firm could care less if the trader makes any money. I trade prop for a small group of investors, they give me full rebates on all ecns and I pay $1.00 per 1000 shares! I feel that other firms taking advantage of the trader should be exposed. Who would pay for a training course to trade prop?? Some of the best traders we have are fresh out of college, no money so they couldn't afford to pay for a class, let alone any other gimic fees. Paying for college prepares people for careers that have potential for a guaranteed slary, not an income based on probabilities
by freedom I don't mean vacation time, I mean the freedom to trade as you please. Most real prop firms (the ones that actually hire you and pay you a salary plus %) only allow you to trade their style, which can be limiting. Let me clarify, Bright is not a prop firm, it is a retail firm where your money isn't insured and they give you 10-1 margin. 4-1 is plenty margin for most day traders. Most guys that are using 10-1 margin don't have the skills to use this margin and that is why they don't have the capital to day on 4-1 margin. By the way, when I did work for a Prop firm vacation was limited to 3 weeks a year and we were treated as regular employees, probably this is why we got a salary.
by the way, I pay less than half the per share rate that Bright charges and my account is pure retail. There are plenty of deals out there. Don argues that all retail firms are not direct access because software checks buying power before order goes out. He is right, funny thing is that the software I use is 2-3x faster than Brights, imagine if Bright had to check buying power. Also, would you really want software that lets you put out a market order for 25,000 shares of something by mistake when you have $50K equity, I would rather have the security.
All the points made about pro(p) vs retail are true. The main reason I stay with prop is that (1) I would never put my own money at risk if I didnt have to. Why would you if you didnt have to? This is not to say Im not confident about my trading capabilities. Ive been trading for living for 3 1/2 years and now I know I can do this to make a living. (2) A huge benefit abour prop is that even if you blew out your capital and went negative in your account, you can still trade and take home some minimum paychecks from the firm until you can get back on your feet. Also, if you are down and decide to walk, no firm will ever come after you unless you somehow managed to lose some ridiculous amount....which, at that point, they wont even have money for lawyers...! Bottom line is, for traders who are used to doing huge positions...for MOC's, for example, propr firms offer the best option. If you want to trade 50K, $100K, $200K positions, then go retail and get all the freedom you want.
if you think all retail traders trade $50K, $100K or $200K positions then you have a lot to learn. When I say retail, I mean people that trade their own account FOR A LIVING, not $50K account E*Trade traders.
OK, who do you trade with? $.001 per share is beyond excellent. What monthly volume is required, and what level is paid, when that volume is not reached? Do you watch the pershare counter all day/week/month? Also, now that you've exposed "THEM", whom did you really mean in particular? I have often exposed Onsite Trading LLC / AB Watley Trading LLC. They are no longer in business, and I hope their dicks wither and fall off, but that doesn't change how twisted and vile they were. Those same bustards are still out there, and in here also. So after exposure, then what?