I don't think they are trying to scam people, I think it probably showed no marginal improvement in revenue for either the trader or the firm.
Oh, my other favorite topic came to live, let me get my popcorn first!! [getting popcorn] OK, so where were we? Oh yes, we have still been waiting for some schmuck called Godot to come here and finally tell us that he has been a live trader and he got at least 3 checks with at least 4 digits on each from TST. That's what I would call success, everything else is just balderdash. But since Godot isn't coming, let's beat the dead horse a bit more, because I think I just saw a movement. Generally I agree everything what Austin said, so there is no point repeating that. The number of Combine passers is rather irrelevant, because that is just the first step towards the checks (ultimate goal) and we don't know what the failure rate is in the LTP (Live Trading Preparation, the second step). Nor do we know the failure rate of the Live traders, although we do know their numbers, because we keep getting the updates on them. TST still claims 2-3 new Live traders per week, when their last year average was something like 1.3 per week... That is some Arthur Andersen accounting rounding right there. Lately looks like they have been passing less than 1 per week. Anyhow, who am I to mess with a good business model? I will just go and look for that Godot fellow....
So why make an already difficult goal even harder by placing guidelines that keep the odds tilted in favor of failing if your true intent is to back profitable traders and not just churn them through a combine that separates the dreamers from their $ ?
Yes, but only for people who can find their web site. (Damn, the mean people are getting to me again...)
Most of you guys still are not getting it. And no surprise it's the same ones as before that didn't get it. The success rate at TST is no higher or lower then the success at ET or the retail population in general who trades futures. That's the point. Therefore TST as a parameter to evaluate anything meaningful is useless. Where the value is, is that the 95% or 99% failure rate of "futures traders" have a higher expected return with TST. How? Some simple math will solve this. Since the avg retail trader has a negative expectancy and assuming the same expectancy of TST clients, since the losses one will experience are less at TST then their retail account then expected return, or in this case, their expected loss is less negative (higher). Therefore TST offers more value then the alternative. And no, I don't expect most to understand this, I doubt math or numbers is a strength for most around here.