Since I spent some time awhile back defending the Topstep Trader Model. I thought I would share this. It's different, but similiar. I'm sure the naysayers will come out screaming devil be damned. https://www.trakinvest.com Here is a brief description of it. http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/14/tr...-trading-platform-that-can-lead-to-real-jobs/ And the usual disclaimer, I have absolutely no affiliation with this firm. Essentially you trade and put some numbers and you will have the chance to get real internships at real trading firms that will lead to real jobs. It's geared towards kids in college but they are thinking about offering a "fee based model" for you older home gamers that want a shot.
I'm having trouble with this one. Do the top performers get access to capital or is it strictly to attain an internship and/or be allowed to attain to obtain a following to earn commissions? isn't this more similar to SeekingAlpha or Benzinga or am I missing something here?
No access to capital. Internship which leads to access to capital. Now, the devil may be in the details. It's implying these are high quality internships which they may not be. If the internships are legit then this is a good opportunity for some of our younger members here. I think the other stuff on the side is there to generate some income for the site obviously and make it more fun and interactive. However there is nothing unique there. There are tons of social media/fantasy trading stuff out there already. So this is a different approach. Again, beggars can't be choosers. I know everyone on here wants to take their fantasy hypothetical backtested trading and find someone to back them with a billion dollars and a 90/10 split and a salary, but they have trouble finding that. So we have this.
I like these sort of things. Looking back at my trading battle over the last year, the TOpstep program looks like it would have helped me learn to control risk a little sooner, even if I failed it I think something good would have come out of it. I have become profitable after several months of battling in equities, but futures has got my interest now. I might jump into the topstep program after I study the futures charts a little bit, I figure the best thing that can happen is I get more screen time with a little pressure/incentive under my belt for a few hundred dollar entry fee. If I do good, I might even get some money to trade with in the future, if not, you will lose alot more then the combine fee trying to go it alone, that is for sure!
It says the internship is with their company which does these social media investment ideas. I don't see how that's any better than earning per page view or per word for your writing. Maybe I'm just not getting it lol. There's big money in crowd-sourced original content. Sites like Yahoo, Google, Etc. pull it news from sites like Benzinga & SA. Perhaps this is the end-goal here - to create a independent financial news site using crowd-sourced content. The question is whether or not the earning potential is comparable to the other sites. I still think starting from research and publishing is a better idea than jumping in head first into licensing and what not. These are ways to earn income with no risk of losing money and no capital upfront. The issue is people have no patients these days and don't want to start like that. They want to trade real capital from day 1.
IMO, This is one of the main benefits of training program and training with a group like that over trading your own account. I've said before - traders managing their own risk are their worst enemy. Beginning traders need a 3rd party to help manage their risk. No amount of studying can replace real experience and the risk-management is the difference between a down day and the day that your account goes to 0.
Well, I saw this: "TrakInvest is finalizing details with banks in Singapore and Hong Kong" Again, who knows. I'm not endorsing them. Will be interesting to see if they get any connections at those banks.
I joined the site to see what it was all about, but there are not a lot of details. They don't talk about shorting stocks so i'm assuming its not allowed. You also have to trade stocks in the singapore or indian exchange to be elligable for the internship. For guys like me who have spent the last few years learning how to trade and finally figured it out but lack the capital companies like this are pretty much the only option. I wish there were more options but as many of you know the industry sure is not in great shape. I have contacted a ton of prop firms and offered to trade on sim while they evaluate me but have not heard many responses.
Something I just thought of. There may be a reason why they are choosing Singapore and Hong Kong. The regulatory environment is much friendlier and you can probably get a lot more creative over there with these types of trading schemes. Certainly you get away from all this series 56 BS.
Mav: I did not visit their site, but I think what the idea might be. It is to get a crowd/traffic for free, and monetize it (The wheat with money management, the rest of with ads). FaceBook: photos then monetize. Linked: CVs/links and then monetize, etc. Same game played with different ponies.