I will start with the "how we got started" (I tend to write and speak in the collective "we" since my brother and I are usually answering questions together, sorry if that bothers you).
We started on the Options trading floor (PSE) in the late 1970's .., then, we started doing brokering on the equities side for ourselves and other professionals on the floor, to save costs for our own trading, and to improve on the "fill" quality. My brother went to Chicago when they started trading the S&P 500, and traded on the CME and the CBOE. I stayed on the PSE, and went to Chicago when we were doing "upstairs" trading and doing "across the street" arbitrage (basically futures and options on futures via the OEX and baskets).
Long story short, we both stopped around 1989, and my brother got back into it with a longtime friend and trader, and started Bright Trading in 1992. I came back aboard in 1995 to help with the growing of the business, provide the training, and to, of course, trade myself.
We have done extremely well, have hundreds of traders in 42 trading rooms in the US and Canada.
I took some "hits" when getting back into trading, since it was a lot different than floor trading in so many ways. Options and futures where great on the floor, we had an "edge"...but the "edge" came full circle back to equities around the time that the "bubble" started, because so many new players came into the game who had no idea about how the markets worked (ala SOES, SOES bandits, SOES busters, and that whole "electronic" trader game).After "getting back to basics" myself, and combining what we learned on the floor with the technology, we were able to "lead by example" and actually show people what worked in real life. We did well as a firm (because our traders did well, much better than the "norm"). We outlived many firms who were preaching nonsense (IMHO) about how to make money, simply because we had the experience of trading various markets, and saw how the whole game was played from the Specialist on down through the brokerages, clearing firms, etc. Again, IMHO, there is no single strategy, piece of software, or any "buy when green, sell when red" gimmick out there that can beat plain old trading tactics.
As far as the $$ per share and all of that, I simply used the facts from our trading firm...not a big deal, just simple facts.
(sorry if I was too long winded)