If I showed up in Chicago tomorrow

Quote from OTCkrak:

lol, i did PnL accounting in back office..
More...

Ok, I'm with you.

Here's what I would if I were you. I would make it a point to personally stop in the office, and talk to one of the traders. You probably want to do this early, or late, not during rth.

Let one of the guys there know what you are planning to do, and ask him for his help and advice. You would probably do best to let him know you'll have a nice breakfast delivered to the conference room, or where ever he wants to eat, and listen as he tells you what to do.

I'm a RIA, and also have my Series 7. Every now and then I'll get a young guy in the office who wants advice, and I always help out. I let them know that a broker is not a trader and visa versa so they don't come away thinking one thing, get in the job, and become discouraged.

Ask for help. The squeaky wheel gets the oil. Best wishes to you!:)
 
from the original post..

is it still possible to make a living as a broker at a "call center"//

any instrument... futures/commodities seem more interesting to sell IMO
 
Chicago has so much inventory that everybody is willing to make a deal as far as rent goes. A lot of condo developers are stuck with units they can't sell and are turning complete condo high rises into rentals just to get by. If you want a studio for $700 it can be had! Try the west loop - around Oprah's Harpo Studio - a lot of nice places and negotiable rents.

C'mon out to Chicago and meet some of the the boys swinging with big sticks! If you can make it in ChiTown you can make it anywhere!

But be warned, just rubbing elbows with the heavy hitters will not make you a player. I know a few playa's and it has not helped my bottom line!

e.b.
 
Definitely possible to do what you wanna do. I myself went through the same process about a year and a half ago, although I had the money to back myself if I wanted to, I wanted to go the prop route to try to learn and experience true professionals trade.

However I learned that the prop firms were really full of no better traders than myself (I was at a highly respectable one) so decided to pack it up there and trade as a local at the CBOT. Best decision I ever made.

I had nobody to help me, no family or close friends in Chicago when I first moved down. This industry is full of scumbags and most will not help you or might in fact lead you the wrong way just because they are true ass holes. However there are a few you will run across that are really good guys and will do their best to help you out.

In the end I guess im trying to say that what you want to do is extremely possible but don't expect much help......you have to go it alone most of the way.

Good Luck
 
Quote from youngtrader:

Definitely possible to do what you wanna do. I myself went through the same process about a year and a half ago, although I had the money to back myself if I wanted to, I wanted to go the prop route to try to learn and experience true professionals trade.

However I learned that the prop firms were really full of no better traders than myself (I was at a highly respectable one) so decided to pack it up there and trade as a local at the CBOT. Best decision I ever made.

I had nobody to help me, no family or close friends in Chicago when I first moved down. This industry is full of scumbags and most will not help you or might in fact lead you the wrong way just because they are true ass holes. However there are a few you will run across that are really good guys and will do their best to help you out.

In the end I guess im trying to say that what you want to do is extremely possible but don't expect much help......you have to go it alone most of the way.

Good Luck
More...

IF YOU DON'T MIND. HOW MUCH MONEY DID YOU HAVE?
chicago is a pretty tough financial environment, the cbot is known for pretty scrappy players who made it on their own too begin with. The older traders down there (cboe, cme, cbot) didnt have alot of help years ago, they don't expect to give much today.
Its easier today than yesterday.
 
Quote from wmb:

IF YOU DON'T MIND. HOW MUCH MONEY DID YOU HAVE?
chicago is a pretty tough financial environment, the cbot is known for pretty scrappy players who made it on their own too begin with. The older traders down there (cboe, cme, cbot) didnt have alot of help years ago, they don't expect to give much today.
Its easier today than yesterday.
More...

I had everything in my trading account as well as some general savings which all together added up to around 150k.

Yeah you have to respect the old timers here.....now a days it seems like everybody is a member of a prop firm and needs a salary, split, benifits, etc. Whatever happened to plunking down your own cash at a clearing firm and risking your rent and grocery money every day?? That was what made this industry so great and what it is today imo.
 
Having traded on a Full and a GIM at the CBOT back in the 90's, and knowing several traders who are still down there making markets, I can assure you there is no easy money to be had on the floors.

The fact of the matter is that no matter where Crakboy goes, he needs a viable strategy. Maybe it's an arbitrage, maybe it's a spread, maybe he is trying to pick off floor broker paper based upon the screen, maybe he buys hookers and blow for any floor broker willing to blow out his customers - who knows, but he's looking for a 'chop shop' and cheap rent because what once worked in NYC will work in Chicago, perhaps he reasons?

You do have to pay for that rent with a viable income-producing strategy, and since this is ET and he started the post he should grace us with a bit more detail on his trading strategy.
 
to the OP:


4 months ago i left all of my friends and family back home and flew into la guardia airport in NYC to pursue my goal of financial freedom. when i landed i didn't have a place to sleep for the night, i didn't have a job, i didn't even have a cellphone. all i had was the two bags of clothes, a little bit of money to get me started, and my ambition to succeed in the big city (i come from a small town).

the first thing i did when i got off the plane was look in my guidebook for a hostel dorm bed to sleep in for the night. i showed up at the hostel and booked 3 nights, my goal was to find a permanent room to rent within 3 nights. after checking into the hostel i purchased a cell phone.

lucky (or unlucky) for me i was able to find a room to rent in uptown manhattan (harlem) for $650/month everything included, even internet. i'm still here as i post this.

after applying to what must have been 20+ restaurants for a job i was fortunate to find a job as a busser in a busy restaurant in times square within two weeks of moving to NYC. the money wasn't great BUT i was able to save a little money by living frugally.

fast forward a couple months, i finally settled into my apartment and secured my job in the restaurant with steady hours and income. i browsed craigslist (also how i found my restaurant job) for trading jobs in NYC and i came across a prop firm located on wall st. that was aggressively recruiting new traders (they still are). i went in for an interview and was offered a chance to trade on a demo acct with them. i traded demo with them for 2 weeks then decided to leave because i wanted to trade futures while they wanted new traders to trade equities. i don't have $25,000 to become a pattern day trader. i want to daytrade and not swing trade. there is no minimum account balance required for high frequency futures/forex daytraders which is what attracted me to both. also, i didn't like the idea of them taking hefty commissions of my profits.

so i left the prop firm on wall st. a few weeks ago and have been demo trading the e mini s&p 500 contract at home for a few weeks with the new computer i bought recently.

also, last sunday i quit the restaurant and i am in the process of opening up my live account. just as i took a leap of faith moving here to NYC i'm also taking another leap by quitting my steady income producing restaurant job and trying to make a living day trading futures.



"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top