arcades and cars

[tredar]

can't stand it when i hear:

a lot referred to as a car

a prop shop in the U.S., deposit or none, referred to as an arcade.

because..

a. i've never met a prop shop futures trader on the screen refer to a lot as a car.

b. i've never heard a U.S equities prop shop trader call anything in the states an arcade.

i mean, anyone outside of these 2 contexts, sure, maybe it doesn't make you cringe. but has anybody heard either of the 2 used in the contexts above? and if so, didn't it just make you raise a brow?

 

[monty21]

Future traders in the pit refer to cars... Listen to Trade The News:

"Car-
Carried from long ago, from grains at the CBOT, in which a "Car" was a contract that represented one railroad cargo car -- and still does. We say it instead of a "Contract", as slang, since its one syllable, and as the professionals know, is the preferred terminology on the trading floor. To recap: "XYC Co sells 100 Cars not held" means they just sold 100 Contracts with broker discretion to execute the order at the market."

There is a arcade model (yes mainly from the UK). This is where traders trade their OWN cash and receive leverage... aka a leveraged retail account. That's why payout is 100%.

Prop refers to trading the firm's capital (in IB, it refers to trading company's revenues from other divisions). This is a firm where you very rarely put any of your own capital at risk. Payout ranges from 50% - 85%... based on performance.

Many of the US firms run under the "arcade" model but call themselves prop firms. It's easier to distinguish them by mentioning a arcade.

In Chicago it's common to hear about arcades.