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ktm, Don't get me wrong. Retail firms are ok and professional firms and fees are not for everyone. 4 to 1 customer daytrading margin is fine. Well run retail SOES firms are good places to trade. My point was that if you are a "professional full time Series 7 trader", my opinion is...

andrasnm, Starting any business looks easy on paper. Just raise 1.5 million dollars , rent office space and traders will walk in-right?WRONG! Let me tell you, Jeff Dewitt , Bob Kanter, Don Bright and others who started pro firms are not just very good traders, they are smart...

The main difference between trading at a professional vs retail firm is the use of margin. In house ,traders at Broadway Trading and Pro-Trader for example, are really "professional traders" who use customer margin. The Broker/Dealer margin at professional firms is a big advantage for...

INCA is ok, but the ECN is sometimes "slow". ISLD & REDI seem to have the best execution times, with ARCA & INCA somtimes slower. INCA has great order flow in NASDAQ 100 stocks most of the time. I use INCA myself for large cap NASDAQ over 1000 shares like MSFT,DELL CSCO etc..... Good luck...

Well Put. INCA is mostly institutional order flow. Gene Weissman

The best ECN to get odd lot fills is ISLD. The worst ECN for odd lots is INCA. You can initiate odd lots on ISLD and get filled very rapidly, since you can hit a 1000 share order and get your 53 share odd-lot filled. Try using ISLD. Gene Weissman...

cmz1, Well put. I was a market maker on the AMEX floor and what you say is true. Market Makers are far from "clueless" and many times we got picked off. I just think direct access trading is a different type of trading. Trading with your own "small" capital forces a trader to trade...

cmz1, I would agree with you that your market maker experience is helpful and you may be good trader.In my experience, many who switch from market making to trading their own account do not make it. Firm Capital ,infrastructure and order flow to trade against are a big advantage for the...

If you are a successful Market Maker at Goldman or Morgan Stanley, you are trading "order flow" from customers. It's a different type of trading when you trade upstairs with no order flow to trade against.Your order flow will determine your positions and your trading(most of the time). When you...

You can't teach an old dog new tricks(most of the time). I would agree that a student who is taught the right way would have a better chance of being successful. The markets are constantly changing and you have to adjust your trading with market conditions. Most good traders trade with their own...

If you trade at a large market making firm or you are a proprietary trader for a hedge fund, you can't really day trade like you do with with a direct access order execution platform. You have to carry positions and trade against your positions. The max you can really day trade is 5000 share...

Your point is well taken. Most skilled traders would put up their own capital and keep 100% of what they make. That's what I did when I worked for myself on the floor and now in my firm. Shonfeld, Spear,Leeds & Kellogg & Market Making firms back traders. The firm gets 50 to 90% of what the...

At the present time, we accept new traders who make a capital contributions to our L.L.C. We do back experienced traders with a track record , who trade at our offices. Most of our top traders contribute their own capital to our L.L.C...

I know everyone has some course that they like. STC, NYIF and many others are all ok. I personally like the course from Dearborn Financial(a Kaplan company) at www.dearborn.com/ . They have a CD ROM that is just like the test you take at the Procter Testing Centers , which is a big help...

Tony , I agree with you that NYSE and NASDAQ are really two different markets. If you trade NASDAQ and you start trading NYSE stocks, it seems like you are getting filled in "slow motion". I would suggest traders trade either NYSE or NASDAQ, not both . If you use an ECN to trade NYSE, you...

dagve, O'connor & Assoc. (now Swiss Bank) was one of the best market making firms to work for. They are well capitalized and have a great training program. Some of the best "locals" I have ever met were O'connor trained. O'Connor & Co., L.L.C. is still in business, but they did sell...

I was an AMEX option Market Maker for 12 years from 1984-1996. Market Making used to be a great way to earn a living. You are providing liquidity to the markets and trading the Bid-ASK spread. You would hold positions and trade around them during the day and most of the time make a good living...

Jeff, I couldn't have said it better myself. I thinks it's best if we all work together. I think the negative comments and "bashing" that sometimes goes on here is bad for the industry and gives outsiders a negative view of trading community. I would also ask the members of...

ExBlockTdr , I think you will find trading for your own account alot different from being a sales trader or selling the firms inventory. As a professional trader you have no "edge" trading upstairs other than a direct access order execution platform. There is no order flow to trade...

jem, I think you made the point I was saying. The tax issue can be complicated and it's best not to go into this issue on a public forum like this for many reasons, including giving the wrong or confusing information. I gave a list of tax professionals that can answer the questions...