Well it's only day 2 of unlimited trading and it sure is nice being able to get in and get right out of a trade. I'm so used to 3 trades a week and trying to squeeze the most out of each trade and sometimes losing the profits altogether that its nice to be in and out and look for another.
Getting started with a Prop Firm (My experience - ongoing!) Lake Street Trading
- Thread starter Dusky323
- Start date
Why do you use prop firms if you can trade futures.
Futures give you:
unlimited number of trades,
leverage,
day and night trading,
and many more....
Tell me just one advantage of a prop firm? Anyone?
Futures give you:
unlimited number of trades,
leverage,
day and night trading,
and many more....
Tell me just one advantage of a prop firm? Anyone?
confused with ES, CL, YM, etc? better tax treatment, no wash sales, easier accounting, very liquid RTH and AH.
3 contracts of ES is 6 bucks with IB one way.
Quote from Dusky323:
I didn't make any phone calls while researching. I on-line chat'd with my contact from Lake Street before I filled out the paperwork. I called this same guy before I wired the money.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I dont care about the money, if I really felt I was just throwing it away than I clearly wouldn't have wired it. However, if something does happen then at least its just 5k. I'm not anticipating anything happening so its easy to say, if and when it does I'll be more like "holy shit! I just lost 5k"
There is a penalty for closing the account within the first 3 months. When 3 Months get closer, I may look into other options. I know so much more now than I did before I started this thread.
Hi Disky,
You might do an ET search on "Tuco Prop Lescor" some good traders got trapped by an illegal prop firm and lost money.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=124131&highlight=tuco+prop
Good luck with that.
To the original poster:
If you buy 100 shares and sell 100 shares, do you pay $13?
I'll just say the following: if you are indeed a true newbie innocently blogging about your experience, you have gone down the wrong road. If you are even remotely serious about trading or making money, STOP TRADING, wait the 3 months, eat the data fees, and prey you can get your money out.
The rate you're paying, especially with a $6.50 per trade minimum, is between 10 and 150 times (yes, one-hundred and fifty) the rates that a trader should pay.
Of those paying 1/10th to 1/150 of you, very very few make money. Those who do make money daytrading, however, (with significantly lower rates) end up giving up between 10 and 50% of their profits towards commissions.
Do some math based on what I just said and there's only one conclusion you can make...
If you buy 100 shares and sell 100 shares, do you pay $13?
I'll just say the following: if you are indeed a true newbie innocently blogging about your experience, you have gone down the wrong road. If you are even remotely serious about trading or making money, STOP TRADING, wait the 3 months, eat the data fees, and prey you can get your money out.
The rate you're paying, especially with a $6.50 per trade minimum, is between 10 and 150 times (yes, one-hundred and fifty) the rates that a trader should pay.
Of those paying 1/10th to 1/150 of you, very very few make money. Those who do make money daytrading, however, (with significantly lower rates) end up giving up between 10 and 50% of their profits towards commissions.
Do some math based on what I just said and there's only one conclusion you can make...
You have the option at the start to either choose $6.50/trade or .0065/share. There isn't a minimum or anything, you simply choose one way or the other. I chose the $6.50/trade because it seemed to work better for me since there are many times that I'm buying more than 1000 shares of something. I've been paying $10/trade with TD Ameritrade for the past 2 years so I'm fine with $6.50 for now.
Back to my original subject of blogging my experiences with Lake Street. I did run into a snag this morning (Day 2 of Trading). I carried a trade overnight and at the beginning of the trading day today my Buying Power was out of whack and it wasn't letting me buy anything until the prior days trade was settled. I contacted Lake Street by e-mail and they re-set my BP and also gave me the link to the address to be able to reset it in case it happens again. This link was in my original "Welcome" e-mail but I didn't realize it. I would have been able to trade at the Market Opening if I would have notified them sooner but being Day 2 I wasn't sure if it would just correct itself at the Bell. Now I know. I think I'll save my overnight trades for my TD account and leave Lake Street for Day Trades only.
This is the post I was referring to earlier...I did this when I was considering joining Lake Street and ran (not walked) away as fast as I could!!:
Before joining any firm that is not an SEC registered Broker Dealer, please call the Office of Interpretation and Guidance of the SEC at (202) 551-5777. Tell them this: I want to join this firm and trade stocks. They say they don't need to be registered. The name of the firm is (fill in the blank and direct them to the firms website). I pay them a commission, send money as a security deposit, am responsible for all my losses, and they pay me out 100% of my profits. They claim they are exempt from SEC registration of Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Section 3(a)(4)(A). Also, they solicited me on a public forum. I am concerned that they are operating an unregistered Broker Dealer"
I urge anyone as part of their DD to do this for any firm they wish to join that is not a SEC registered BD. It will be a real eye opener!
Also, this will put them on the SEC's radar.
Before joining any firm that is not an SEC registered Broker Dealer, please call the Office of Interpretation and Guidance of the SEC at (202) 551-5777. Tell them this: I want to join this firm and trade stocks. They say they don't need to be registered. The name of the firm is (fill in the blank and direct them to the firms website). I pay them a commission, send money as a security deposit, am responsible for all my losses, and they pay me out 100% of my profits. They claim they are exempt from SEC registration of Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Section 3(a)(4)(A). Also, they solicited me on a public forum. I am concerned that they are operating an unregistered Broker Dealer"
I urge anyone as part of their DD to do this for any firm they wish to join that is not a SEC registered BD. It will be a real eye opener!
Also, this will put them on the SEC's radar.