Hi, a simple question (didn`t find an answer in the other threads): What is the size of your account when you begin and later when/if you are hired (for stocks, nasdaq) at Swift. And you can trade every stock YOU want or not (i read a comment that sounded to me like you have one ticker symbol only in the beginning) ? thanx for comments from a newbie!
Go over the swift threads again using the search function....you'll find the answers you're looking for.
yes, there are some infos, i think, i read them nearly all... but, e.g., when a user says most trader make maybe 4-8k a month - what buying power do they have? (with 200k buying power so they make [only?] 2-4% a month or are there any other overhead costs?) And your "first" 3000$+ that you should make as trainee- what buying power do you have then? (in the postings i found only something unspecific like 10k-300k)
Buying power is based on the discretion of the branch manager where you trade. Swift is pretty generous with giving buying power, but to get a definitive answer call up the contact person you've been dealing with.
Thanks for your replies. I was interested in buying power to determine the performance you have to make so that you could get hired and so that you can live from trading e.g....
For most you need to make 3000$ in a month with a 100000$ buying power. If you calculate it that means 36000$ a year, so a 36% ROI in a year!!!! (you get paid a third of that) Man, if you're able to make that kind of return consistently, start a hedge fund and people will call you god!
buying power is determenned upon your needs and how well you perform in the firm. I started with $10 000. Currently my buying power is $600 000, and it does not fluctuate on daily basis whether you make money or lose money. With regards to stocks, generally once you are hired you can trade whichever stocks you want and as many as you want at a time, although in most cases, we, as daytraders tend to consentrate on one stock at a time, as it is very difficult to trade few stocks at once. Most stocks that are being traded within the firm are those that are most volatile, since that is where the money is. Such stocks incl. MSFT, INTC, CSCO, SIRI,... You must realize that certain things that you would do there, you wont be able to do on your own. SO, with regards to a hedge fund, it's easier said than done. Hope this answers your question.
It depends on the stock you're trading. QQQ trainees get 100k buying power, while jdsu trainees start with about 20 k when you're trader your buying power depends on your results. If it goes well you can ask a lot. Average trader has 400k buying power
When I used to work at Swift I would post many oders at once. Ie order for 10K shares on all 4 ECNs. I was looking to get filled through them and out on the specialist. If they got filled chances are I had already made my money ($100), but more often than not they didnt get filled. Anyway to make a long story short, I could have had 150K worth of orders out, but on average a typical trade for me was about 30K in value.