So how do you account for those who will open two accounts, for example, the friends Alice and Bob, and just take the opposite sides and hold? If there is a good trend in either direction, either Alice or Bob will win and they will share the prize.
now Bill, there's probably some guy on this site that's already figured out if he can open 99 accounts for 10 bucks, he can turn his $990 into 1k.
Of course the example mentioned is possible however the contest consists of 5 different markets with a maximum allotment of 5 lots per market. We feel the markets selected are diverse enough to prevent the situation described above from occurring.
Right now we have more than 200 confirmed participants; we'll allow registration to continue until the 31st.
Casey I think this is a great idea. However, you need to do several things for this to be worthwhile 1. Prize money needs to be raised to at least 8k which is about the minimum that one can start trading futures with. 2. Competition needs to be extended to about 2-4 months. 3. You need to add controls that will enforce risk management and reward those that return the highest net returns within reasonable risk/adjusted limits. 4. There needs to be some penalty for losing. Maybe add in an extra mandatory $150 fee that is returned for those that don't blow out their account or structure it so that quit with less < 30% drawdown you get it all refunded < 50% get most refunded < 60% get some refunded >80% none refunded 5. Need a daily loss limit. Maybe 15%? 6. Are your fills realistic for limit orders? Are you using a 1 tick must pass rule or a realistic volume rule? As is, this trading competition is unlikely to find talent.
First, the point of the contest is promotion, the brokerage, not the traders. Second, why couldn't they find talent? You think everyone cheated the last time? There was plenty talent, 100% in 2 weeks.... Third, what gives you the expertise on this matter?