The downside of all of this is that if you take a Training course you probably only get approximately a 50/50 profit split, which is steep for a beginner. The only time that you should be willing to give something like that up is if you're trading somewhere like first new york and they're bank rolling you with a 20 million dollar line. Taking 50% from a guy who just starts out trading makes it extremely difficult.
I firmly stand by my belief that you should NEVER EVER PAY FOR TRAINING ANYWHERE AS A CONDITION OF JOINING A PROP SHOP. You should only put down money when it is counted as a risk deposit or initial deposit, any other type of capital you pay.... no matter what the firm says, you can be fired at anytime and lose it. If you're going to be trading your own money you should be taking atleast 90% home, for non-licensed guys the only legal way to trade prop is that the firm has to take a small piece, and to have your money credited in your account. If you go to a Keystone, Velez or any of these other firms that are talked about in these threads when scams are refered to, you will see that your starting balance after sinking 5K in your account is ZERO. I have never traded through any of these shops, but I challenge anyone who just started at any shop like this to show me an starting balance with 5k in it. Infact I'd be shocked if anyone could show me a starting balance above zero.
I GUARANTEE YOU THAT YOUR STARTING BALANCE IN YOUR DAILY REPORT WILL BE ZERO, even after you just handed a 5K check over. That means you have waived your right to your own money and only paid for training. Firms can now limit you as they see fit b/c in theory you only paid for training.
I would like for some people who work at some of these firms to reply and tell me if when you started your account had a zero balance or whether it showed the money you paid in it. If it doesn't have a positive balance and is not a Chicago member then the shop is behaving in a way that the SEC is opposed to.... this is the very reason that they have to mask your deposit as a traing fee.
I would like to hear from some guys who work at one of these shops. And other posters PLEASE DO NOT ATTACK THESE PEOPLE AS THEY'VE DONE NOTHING WRONG..... THIS IS A DISCUSSION, NOT A PLACE TO RIP APART GUYS WHO ARE TRYING TO LEARN IN THIS BUSINESS. SO LET'S KEEP THIS AN IMFORMATIVE DISCUSSION AND NOT A FIGHT.
