The general rule they are(were?) using is that if a trader has a negative capital balance and he/she does not make $2000 gross(before commissions obviously) per month averaged over a timeframe of 3-6 months, that trader will be asked to put up an amount at least equal to the amount the trader is negative in his/her capital balance. The $2000 figure is what management claims it costs them per month to give a seat to a trader. So if you make $500 gross every month and have a negative balance, they'll be losing money on you since they can't collect the commissions you generated until you go positive again. The rules as we know it have changed. They simply aren't taking any chances on people who are not profitable to the firm as they have in the past. On the bright side, I hear that they may stick with the current core of traders that are there. Thus, there will be far fewer firings from here on out.
What do you mean, "Getting quotes from a secondary provider, instead of getting quotes directly from the NYSE" I get quotes from Realtick, sometimes AT financial. I used to trade at Echo and we got quotes through Sterling. Are these seconday quotes? ANd if so, how do I get direct quotes and which firms provide them. I know at Andover, most traders buy a charting package with the hammer platform. Does the hammer platform provide direct quotes? Thanks, This whole networking issue is so complex
I don't know anything about the held brothers. As far as Worldco they are the biggest crooks and liars. Walter and his brother Peter seem nice. But watch your back and don't drop the soap; they will rip you off one way or another. One week they will ask for $1000 dollars and then switch it to $10,000.
I don't know the deal with every firm but for instance realtick gets their quotes from either hyperfeed or comstock so they are not getting direct quotes from the NYSE either. So hyperfeed and comstock get the direct quotes from the NYSE then resell them and pipe them to many other firms. It is a cheaper way for a firm to get quotes but seems to be a lot less reliable -- meaning the quotes are delayed more and seem to go down or experience more problems. Basically they are less reliable. For some styles of trading it is not that big of a deal. However with the lower liquidity and for other styles of trading such as scalping it can be quite difficult to trade on. Also if you have never been on a system that has direct quotes then you probably don't know what you are missing. The firms that I know of that get secondary feeds such as comstock or hyperfeed are protrader, hold brothers, and realtick. I currently have friends who trade on all these platforms that I talk to almost everyday and many times they experience problems all at the same time because they are getting their quotes from the same secondary providers. Other then that I don't know much about the other firms like echo. I know Andover (by the way I trade there so I am somewhat partial to them, but then again this is part of the reason why I am there) has direct lines but I don't know who else gets them. I am sure there are some others that do. Hopefully that helps.
I toured the andover office in NJ and a good # of their traders use Realtick for charting and hammer for exec so why do you think the realtick at Andover are direct lines as opposed to other RT installs?
I was not talking about the Realtick for charting. That is the same everywhere. I am talking about the quotes used on the execution platforms such as greybox, gr8trade, and realtick are not direct but are integrated from quotes they get from secondary providers. On hammer they get their quotes direct.
I am the best source on answering worldco questions. I have been with the firm for many years and I am think of jumping myself. But not for the reasons you think. The Good points: Great systems, IT dept, help desk, agency desk, etc. They created a new trading platform that can virtually do anything. Since its in house they are always making changes. All traders now have a direct plus acct. Also, there are many groups you can join to learn from experienced traders. The bad points: The deal may not be the best. It all depends on how good of a trader you are. Thats really the case with all trading firms. They can offer you the world or nothing at all. I will tell you, that wldc asks for 5k a trader now regardless of how good you are. If you are good then you have the $. Hands down. Just fight for a non-deferral deal with a high payout and commissions at least .01 or lower. wldc offers 500 share bullets now. all in all they are pretty good. the reason they are cutting is because the way they self clear. they act as a "trading firm" and not an llc hirer such as adnover, generic, etc. They should have never grown so fast with shitty traders that eventually hurt the firm. we got about 400 now and wldc will probably see a huge change in their net capital by getting rid of the "trash" Hold brother cannot go as low on the rates once you are a good trader, but i hear good things about them. got a lot of friends there. just try to get in a firm that does not require capital up front if you are a new trader. That is the most important thing in these mkts along with someone to hold you hand for a while.