Best Prop Firms For A Beginner

You're misunderstanding me..... There are a ton of NO CAP UP firms that will let you come on, you just will have to build up a bank before they let you sling around big size. But at the beginning making money comes before putting on big positions anyway.

Like I was saying, I'm not going to suggest or promote any firms on this site, I'm just informing you guys that there are plenty of opportunities out there where you're not at risk if you can't make your way into one of the bigger day trading shops. There are plenty of shops out there where you can trade 500 to 1000 shares with in the first month or two and still make enough to pay the bills while you learn. Worst case scenario is that you should put up a 5k deposit if all else fails.

But training fees are absurd, no matter how good the training. And a 25K deposit is also absurd. I trade my own money currently and am paying a little under a dollar per thou or .00085 a share. I trade straight thru a clearing house. If you're going to go out on your own make sure there's no middle man. Don't trade at a B/D unless they're self clearing, don't trade at an LLC and have enough put away that you can trade a 4 to 1 account with your own money. If you don't have enough to do that then you should still be trading another person's or firm's money. But if you do go out on your own, go right thru whoever is clearing the trades, that way you avoid all the middle men from jacking up your comissions. For example in a Sub LLC Group you are paying the clearing house, the B/D or main LLC, the Sub LLC Owners and possibly whoever brought you into the firm assuming a trader or recruiter brought you in and you didn't go straight thru the owner. That's alot of unnecessary mouths to feed.
 
Why would you recommend not trading at a firm thats not self clearing? Many firms arent self clearing these days, even Schonfeld isnt self clearing any longer. The other criteria about not trading at a sub llc and cutting out the middle man is good advice, but self clearing shouldnt necessarily be a consideration.
 
Mews.... I said you shouldn't trade thru a B/D that doesn't self clear IF YOU'RE TRADING YOUR OWN MONEY. If a firm is backing you, like Schon then it doesn't matter b/c they're putting up the money so they should profit on you.

No matter how you cut it your commissions will be better straight thru the clearing house. The B/D is there as a middle man to make money for themselves so I'm not really sure what the reason would be for using one if you don't have to. If you're at the point where you're trading your own money in a 4 to 1 leveraged account then the clearing house or self clearing B/D really has no risk and will work with you on commissions b/c they're not really taking a risk on you with such low leverage.

All I'm saying is don't pay someone something for nothing.... Why not just go right to the source if you're not using a B/D's leverage and all they're doing is tacking on extra charges to your commissions.
 
I can't see how much of this matters, it is all up to an individuals business model. Making 50% cut with someone on your case all the time, trading your own money at 4:1 and keeping 100% assuming profitable or trading with Bright and managing risk vs. using all the leverage you can until wiped out, there isn't much a difference. At least with 100% payout, and the ability as with Bright to step on the gas when you are correct and seeing a trade clearly has plenty of advantages. Fees are a cost of doing business, and a little higher commission with excellent firm risk management, vs. sub llc losses such as TUCO should give one pause. I am not a Bright family member, but do trade with them.
 
Out of curiousity, I'd like to know how much the training courses are and what the standard comission is for a beginner there. Thanks.
 
I do hear that if the clearing firm is a software provider as well and you are trading your own money via a retail account, like Assent for example. But you may have to get your own software deal on top of the clearing deal and that can cost money as well.

Win it all....what clearing firm and software do use if you dont mind revealing it?
 
My stuff is a little bit different b/c I don't only day trade. I use sterling and laser to day trade one is automated the other is not. I also use Redi and clear GS but it's expensive b/c I'm paying for information mostly, but that's much more of a swing trading and long term.

Two of the platforms, Redi and Laser are attached to clearing houses. Sterling is my favorite platform that I actually day trade on b/c it's the only one I've found so far with a decent charting passage that you don't have to link up everyday. Alot of people have told me they had problems with sterling but it's always been fine for me as long as I've had a T1 Line.

Sterling is a stand alone platform and is under 200 bucks a month. Hope this helps.
 
All that happens if the clearing house is a software provider is that the software comes free since you're clearing thru them. For example, as long as you're licensed Assent acts as both a clearing house and execution provider in one. When you use a stand alone and a clearing house that is when you incur fees although they're usually nominal.
 
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