Input appreciated on these three firms as far as trading remote. Strengths/weaknesses of each firm, reliability of quotes/feeds/platforms, bullet formation (hotkey or separate platform), fees, overall experience. I have Series 7 and 10K to contribute. My volume would initially be low (100-200 share blocks) as I will be trying out strategies I have been successfully papertrading. This is a tough decision to make and would like to hear from those of you currently trading with those firms.
Ditch all of them.....go with Bright.....stronger firm....and never trade remote in a prop account.....out of sight out of mind..
have some specific goals in mind: 1. what kind of leverage do you expect to have? 10:1?, 15:1?, 20:1?, 25:1? at 20:1 you would have $200,000 trading buypower / haircut ..at that level you would not be able to hold positions overnight ..at that level you would not be able to use more than 10% - 15% in any one position ..at that level you would have to get your first 8 or more trades just right, or have to earn back where you're starting at with even more success ratio than 8 out of 8 trades ..at that level of $10,000 you would need to watch what your minimum "all out of the pool" mark is at, usually this is $5,000 2. have you paper traded with 1,000; 1,200; 1,500; 2,000 share position sizes? in order to properly utilize your leverage 3. have you formulated a plan to earn more than your desk fee? / market data vendor fees? which might total over $650 monthly all said and done 4. have you formulated a plan to cover your minimum capital contribution expenses? For regular salaried individuals, this is the same monthly earnings one needs to carry one's expenses. See this comment regarding this issue: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16614&perpage=40&pagenumber=2 the advise to use Bright is really worthy of consideration above and beyond your expectations...
-- quote from previous referenced thread --- Say that your TCO (total cost of operation) or expenses average $3,000 monthly (rent, transit, lunches, phones, etc.) * 9 months without earnings = $27,000 add to that the initial desk capital contribution of $25,000 or so now you're looking for individuals with $52,000 risk capital or higher and you offer them no guarantees (not that any firm could) of success For one thing, this form of trading is not investing, its actually being a MM (market maker) in the case of the scalpers holding for <5 mins. trading NASD being a Specialist Assistant in the cases of NYSE stock trading knowing that going in tends to provide a truer picture of what sitting on these propretary desks are really all about ------- so consider having considerably more than just $10,000 available to use
Hes just asking opinions from people that trade at thses firms...not criticsm from guys that think new traders are stupid give the guy a chance and answer his actual questions.
you will probably get the lowest rate through Andover (hammer is also lightening fast), GTT seems like its run by a bunch of go-getters who are on the ball, and ECHO is a place you can get extensive training. If I had to make a choice, Id find out which platform best suits your workstation. Trading remote- YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN so dont put up with buggy software.
Yes, reliability of software is my main concern. Tenths of a cent commission differences are not critical at this juncture as my volume will initially be low. So how do I find out "which platform best suits (my) workstation"? I've got a P4, 2.26, 512MB of RDRAM running on W2K and a Verizon DSL connection with a 1MB download.
I trade remote with Echo and have done so for the past year. I've been very satisfied with the use and execution of the Sterling Pro platform. It's been very reliable and I can't remember a time system was down. Most of the time any problems have been with the ECN's especially ARCA but don't get me started on that. I have high-speed DSL and this meets my need with no problems. I have also traded from an ECHO office and actually if there are any quirks during the day they have happened while I was there and it only cost me one time for which I was reimbursed. Software charge is $200/month but is rebated entirely if you trade 200,000 shares or more during the month. Trading cost is a penny/share and again lower for higher volume. Trading/software issues are only a toll-free phone call away and technical and trading support has been excellent, with no waiting. Biggest shortcoming I have seen is lack of education on different strategies, what's working and what's not altho just recently ECHO has introduced workshops and live feeds during the trading day geared toward helping on intra-day scalping. See their website for more info. I'm not familiar with Andover or Greentree but I also interviewed Bright,visited their Vegas office and attended their week-long workshop. You may want to do the same and then decide, but if you're coming in with 10K you would have to trade out of their office in Vegas or have 25K to go remote with them. I haven' t bought bullets in awhile so I can't tell you what current cost is but I do remember process was quick, easy and cheap. Let me know if you have any other ?'s that come to mind. By the way I agree with your approach on starting with 100/200 shares. I started the same way; protecting your capital is very important!
No agenda - Just saw previous post. I have virtually the same system. Works for me except I do need to add another monitor.