Thanks so far to everyone who's replied. If I short equities (both nasdaq and nyse), do props offer an advantage as well? I got a sense from reading other threads that props usually have alot of short inventory available, and, specific to NYSE stocks, they don't adhere to the uptick rule. Is this true?
Props don't have inventory. You use bullets or just hit the bid on a SHO stock. It's all about BP, BP, BP - oh and having someone pay all the fixed costs of office space, equipment etc.
Not true, the firm I work at has inventory on probably 100+ NYSE stocks that allows you to short on downticks. They charge a fee for using this firm product, but , believe me, its worth it when you wanna get short.
"If the arcade provides 50% margin, you only keep 50% profit - yet still have to pay the fees." That doesn't make any sense. Or, maybe I got lost in the translation.
Say you put in 10k, the arcade also funds you 10k. So your account is 20k. Say in the first month you make 2k. Your account is now at 21k because... You keep 1k, the arcade takes 1k (50%). Out of your 1k, you must then pay desk fees, platform fees, commission etc. Say in the first month you lose 2k on that 20k. Your account is now at 18k, but you take the full 2k hit, so your split of the account is at 8k, the arcades is still at 10k. Out of your remaining 8k, you must pay desk fees, platform fees etc. I hope thats clear. Of course i would imagine the accounting varies slightly between arcades, but this is how it was explained to me at several when i applied. This is why i never joined an arcade (what you americans call prop) I should point out though that all arcades in london tend to trade interest rate based futures as their bread and butter. I know of only 1 arcade that lets you trade stocks. In the usa it seems to me that most arcades are trading stocks or equity futures.