i am dying to get in the pits
- Thread starter scurtin3
- Start date
Agree, but it sounds like he works for a living. Doesn't have a lot of time to waste on us.
Must be true, that those longer term members with very low post counts are the ones to listen to. Uh oh, how many posts do I have...
no sympathy whatsoever.
your still referring to yourself as traders.
guys on the floor are not traders.
they front run orders.
guarenteed outs on customer orders.
watching for a decent order to come it to get some idea of direction.
thats not trading its piggy backing.
trading on the screen is for real traders.
level playing field with no free run on where the market can go.
its you and the screen.
thats trading.
That's complete bull shit. They have their edge, you have yours. There are more ways to make money in the pit than just front running orders. If it's as easy as you make it seem, everyone would be doing it.
Maybe it's a little easier for the guys in the pit to see the orderflow. But when some directional trader on the screen has his reason to go long because he thinks a buyer will come in, to who he can sell to again, that's not front running, right? Then you call it speculating??? In the end, it's just providing liquidity!!
Like all the locals in the pits make money?!?! Yeah right! Out of all the new guys, 5% give or take a few will make it in the end. So don't make it seem too easy.
-SL
Maybe that's why so many hopefuls try shoving their resumes, offering to buy locals lunches & taking them out for drinks, desperately trying to get a chance trading in the pits. Maybe that's why hopefuls exercise their connections to the fullest. Maybe that's why such high barriers to entry exist when it comes to situations like the CBOT, NYSE and the likes, because the edge is that lucrative. Cause even a cocaine abusing white trash acting high school dropout can make millions with such an edge, and I just happened to meet him once. Not a good experience.
Oh yeah, I know someone who did get a chance to work the pits, and was doing very well till the time the Spoos gapped down overnight astronomically back in 2001. His ex-boss was willing to bail him out by covering his position "off-market" but the exchange would not let them. The ex-boss was short, the guy was long, but the big man's position was so big that it meant nothing for him to cover some of it and help out his apprentice. Apparently it's been done before. Quite an interesting perk, I wish that was possible in screen trading.
Strangely enough, he did not do too well behind the screen, he did not blow out dramatically, but he certainly could not make a living and even used to talk about what a different game it was trading in the pits. Apprently stocks even a few years back were way too tough for him, so were the ETFs and even E-futures. He always had a chance to go back to the floor, even his ex-boss said he would bankroll him again, but I guess he was a little too scarred from the experience, on top of other personal problems he encountered after that incident. He is a good and really cool guy, I was really rooting for him to make it screen trading, but hey, I guess it's a totally different edge when there is almost no barrier to entry.
Look, bottom line, whether you want to face it or not, it's not fair competition to get on the floor, the edge is way too lucrative, the risk/reward is to die for. Greed makes sure that the racket is held tight, it's the same for NYSE, the same for NYMEX and was the same for NASDAQ. Don't assume that some of us do not know the very interesting games the locals play on the new guys and the unwanted ones to preserve most of the edge among certain cliques. Some of us know a lot more than you realize about various exchanges. Some very interesting stories.
the facts speak for themselves.
90 percent of floor jockeys are not successful traders on the screen.
the reason for this is what i stated earlier.
if they were so successful due to great trading then why cant they make it on the screen.
conclusion - they are crap traders.
by the way. there is no edge on the screen. you are right or wrong.
I got the point guys! Indeed, most of the floor trades can't make the transition to the screen, because the game is played totally different. But I just don't agree with the fact you call them crap traders. They are good at what they do and preserving their edge. Wouldn't you do the same thing.
But before they were this big. They had to work their way up. None of them made money from the get go.
None of the screen traders make money from the get go. When you develop an edge, then you'll start making money.
And there are guys on the floor that trade the spreads, options, arb the bigs with the minis.
There are also some big locals, that'll try to run the stops. But what do the marketmakers in equities do then. Exactly the same thing. An edge is an edge. If you can successfully trade your edge, you're a great trader. Not a crappy one. That's just my point.
-SL
But before they were this big. They had to work their way up. None of them made money from the get go.
None of the screen traders make money from the get go. When you develop an edge, then you'll start making money.
And there are guys on the floor that trade the spreads, options, arb the bigs with the minis.
There are also some big locals, that'll try to run the stops. But what do the marketmakers in equities do then. Exactly the same thing. An edge is an edge. If you can successfully trade your edge, you're a great trader. Not a crappy one. That's just my point.
-SL
I'm guessing the whole "barrier to entry" concept completely eludes you.
The edge of the floors, no matter what product, is pretty hard to get access to. It's easy to develop and execute.
The edge of screen trading is very easy to get access to. Just very hard to actually develop and utilize.
Thats why barriers to entry exist, are put up and defended for as long as possible. This is a basic business concept.
If you can make money on the screen, trading on a floor is like a godsend. Does not seem to be the other way around.