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I use IB's API, and I have been very happy with it. There is an active developer community working in several different programming languages, so there's a lot of independent help around. http://www.interactivebrokers.com/index.html [Richard]

BGB, You haven't said whether you plan to manage individual accounts or pool investors' money. Probably the lowest cost approach is individual accounts where you never have access to client money. If you have more than one investor, and you plan to make block trades (one trade aggregated for...

I registered as a CTA in 1996 and withdrew in 1998. I had a pretty good one year return in 1994 (108% on $50k), followed by some pretty good simulated returns using AudiTrack (http://www.auditrack.com/) in 1995. My problem, and the reason I left the money management business, was that I have...

I did a quick scan of the Web site and couldn't find it. I think they still have copies if you call or send email. The current edition is a 2000 reprint of a book developed from a series of seminars held in 1992-1994.

The CME (http://www.cme.com/) has a free booklet entitled "How to Become a CTA". I highly recommend it. The most common forms of CTA compensation are management fee (based on assets under management) and incentive fee (based on net gain in the value of the assets). Investors tend to prefer...

That's correct. You will get a statement from your broker by the end of January. You then copy a number from the statement to the Form 6781. Then copy a number form the 6781 to the Schedule D. It's pretty simple for Section 1620 contracts (i.e. futures and index options). For stocks, it's a...

I use DataSharks for that purpose. It is shareware, so you can try it first: http://www.datasharks.biz/ [Richard]

I don't use it, but I have heard favorable comments: http://www.aiqsystems.com/

I use TradeKeeper (http://americanware.netfirms.com/) for tracking gains/losses and tax reporting. It's free, but they accept donations. For futures and index options gains/losses, you do not list individual trades on U.S. taxes. Instead, you include Form 6781. [Richard]

How oftern does your Internet connection drop? I am using IB & Comcast too (Mountain View California). A few days ago it dropped just as I was about to click "send". I raised hell with Comcast, and they sent a tech out to replace the modem.

I am hearing that work permits in western Europe (and other desirable locales) are very hard to get nowadays due to the recession. Of course, you could always marry a local. If you speak a foreign language, you might consider teaching or tutoring English.

The $100k could be "notional" funding. Futures are so highly leveraged that traders seldom commit more than about 20% of their capital to margin at any one time. With notional funding, the allocator provides some amount, say $25-50k, with instructions to trade it as though it is $100k. It's a...