Cause its a stable job with stable pay - don't have to worry about losing money cause it an't your money - probably sleep a lot better at night than holding positions with your own money - especially in the economic condition we are in right now
I personally hate it when people, no matter what field of work it is, state that something is impossible. People are able to do it...you just could not. There will always be people that accomplish success and those that do not.
Who said it was Impossible? What are you DEF? O, I forgot, Im dealing with the ET crew. I said Odds. 1%. Maybe 3% out of 100. I doubt you are putting up a half a million a year in "Gains", as your take home. But, please by all means. Explain to me the odds?
How right you are. I suspect many of these self-proclaimed successful traders, who "just an hour or two in the morning and I bank my $5-10K and then take my private jet to the yacht club; ha ha for those poor corporate rats in the monkey suits while I look down from my private mountain..." are talking about their papertrading results and pipe dreams. And searching the papers to see if they can do better than their current job as assistant manager at Wendy's while they try to save up the required $3000 to open a trading account...
I've thought about prop before, but thank god I come to my senses before I actually do it. I would like the extra leverage, and the reason I would like it is because I'm a small guy. Not too many people here want to admit it, but that's about the only reason I have ever considered trying it. And the reasons why I never do it are manyfold, but mainly because I would have to trade their way. It's their money, I have to join their program, and I don't want to do that. Another reason is I'm sure they have their "supervisors" in your face yelling at you for being an idiot if you have a losing trade. I've read on here what some of those guys do, and I can honestly say without any false bravado that I would punch the bastard in the face. And the main reason is for the reputation those places have. You know the ones I'm talking about, closing up shop with your money, making the winners loan money to the losers, running ads in the help wanted section of the newspaper for traders. it's just a scummy business, and yes I know full well that not all of them are scum bags. I'm just sayin'....
I know quite a few professional traders, all strictly daytrading, putting those numbers on the board, they trade their own capital, for there own benefit. They're styles vary from strictly discretionary, partial discretionary, partial automation, to full auto. Best part, these guys don't suffer monster drawdowns and losing streaks. They come in, sit down, trade their strategies, call it a day, and repeat it the next day. So it can and is being done and by more then just one or two traders!
Yes, On the P§L thread, Szeven made more than a million with like 10 losing days in the year, Dustin made more than 500K.. I'm sure guys like Nordik, MkSummny pull more than 500K as well... There is not just 2 guys doing it. But the simple fact that you cannot lose at a bank may be attractive as well...
It is a scam business and the prop firms are scammers and scumbags. That said, there are honest shops out there. There are places where you put your money down, you know it's safe because the firm has a shitload of traders and blowing up would not be in their best interests, and your deposit is small enough that them blowing up won't kill you, and then all you do is trade however many shares you feel like, with whatever risk profile you want, as long as it's not too absurd (i.e. 60% daily drawdowns in accounts), and the firm won't do anything. I've traded at places where they would sit there and put pressure on me to trade all day and try to brainwash me, and where I trade no now, where I feel basically totally independent. I'm paying $1200/month in commissions for some extra leverage and to be on good software and a great connection. It's a fair deal. I don't have to trade "their" way anymore than someone with an Interactive Brokers account has to trade "their way."
No one has mentioned the social side. What's more 'fun' - institutional trading floor or home office, open outcry or screen, big nights out and stories or no-one to talk to? Traders are often human beings, allegedly. I might have even been one once.