As they say - there are old traders and there are bold traders, but vey few old bold traders.
That's not because only few of them make money.
It is because they have plenty of money to buy a wig. You don't see they are bold.

As they say - there are old traders and there are bold traders, but vey few old bold traders.

If you need 20x intraday leverage to make money it is only a matter of time before you run into real trouble.
In order for that to be correct the beta of the concentrated positions would have to be 8 times the beta of the 400 stocks. That is somewhat hard to believe.This is also not accurate, if you have a strategy where you put on 400 individual names equally long short and hedging sector risk holding nothing overnight is less risk than being 2 or 3x leverage holding overnight in concentrated positions.
No matter how skilled you are there is still a degree of uncertainty in predicting stock moves. That high amount of leverage makes you much more susceptible to the inevitable black swan event that blows you out.Not the leverage is the problem, but how the trader handles it. A skilled trader can take 10 times higher leverage then an idiot who has a 3K account but who thinks he is a trader. And the real risk will still be smaller for the skilled trader.
No matter how skilled you are there is still a degree of uncertainty in predicting stock moves. That high amount of leverage makes you much more susceptible to the inevitable black swan event that blows you out.
Not the leverage is the problem, but how the trader handles it. A skilled trader can take 10 times higher leverage then an idiot who has a 3K account but who thinks he is a trader. And the real risk will still be smaller for the skilled trader.
In order for that to be correct the beta of the concentrated positions would have to be 8 times the beta of the 400 stocks. That is somewhat hard to believe.
That would be true if these guys were index arbs. They are not according to the videos. The top trader there describes how his latest trade is in TLRY. At 20x leverage that sounds like a recipe for disaster.That is not true at all, and your missing a fundamental point where I could buy the 500 S&P 500 underlying stocks and replicate the index while shorting the futures for a hedge and the basis risk is almost zero. If I did this as 20X and then only had a difference of one name that repeated .5% of the portfolio to capture an arbitrage strategy the risk is very minimal. These don't make you rich instantly or cause the blow up your describing.
I think important for traders to realize all leverage is not created equal so you need to take an honest look at how spread out that risk is and how it would respond with large moves.
Yes I would agree, I was responding to one of the benefits of prop firms is it allows traders the ability to do these types of strategies that are arb based since it provides leverage. People reading these threads should understand the firms exist for a reason but never think they will just teach you everything and sell you the key to riches. Better to go there if you have a strategy already and then keep it a secret too.That would be true if these guys were index arbs. They are not according to the videos. The top trader there describes how his latest trade is in TLRY. At 20x leverage that sounds like a recipe for disaster.