MBA Project

[mschey]

Quote from Ripley:

What if you never find a successful trader?

Trust me.. With the time, work, effort, mental agony etc involved, all the traders, even those rare successful ones are net negative.

Have to disagree.....I may put in extra hours of R&D every single day, but trading is still a great and profitable business. Any time I feel slightly burned out, worn down, or beat up, I just go to my back yard and dig a ditch for a retaining wall and It reminds me what real work is.

 

[ssternlight]

As a side note, there are plenty of studies of CTA's and their longevity, and of course, more recently some have been done on hedge funds. You might find comparing your statistics to those a useful benchmark -- or at least the source of something more to pad a presentation with.

 

[Albert]

Yes, I am studying it- that is the returns of CTAs, hedge funds, etc. Actually, pretty easy to come by for the winners. Survivor bias, I guess.
I've gotten pretty revved up by the whole thing. I am thinking of hiring some Psych or Business Grad. students to flesh this all out for me in the future. I just need to research it a bit further. Hell, might even learn a little about myself in the process.
http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=399580
Albert

 

[FaderTrader]

Albert - if you want to learn more about how prop traders make their money and how thier success is measured (I assure you it's not ROI), go to www.chimeracapital.com and ask them if you can just interview one/some of their traders.

 

[Albert]

Thanks, Fadertrader. I'm there!
Albert

 

[Albert]

Final phase of data gathering. I'm looking for 8 more traders. Yes, I know the survey could be better but I was limited to 10-12 questions. Throw me a bone.
Albert
http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=399580

 

[Albert]

Great! Going into the weekend with just 4 more responses needed. Thanks, everyone, for your help. Just a few more entrants and we can then talk results. Still interesting, even if not perfectly scientific.
Albert
http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=399580

 

[FaderTrader]

Albert - again: By asking what percentage return someone earned, you're eliminating almost all prop traders, which is the population to whom this site is geared.

 

[bjb1963]

yah, percent of return is not a good question.

I keep 10K in my account and swipe profits twice a month. YTD I am up just over 40K. So I answered over 100%- but not really the best indicator.

 

[Albert]

To Fadertrader:
Yes, I know, you are right- again. I emailed Chimera and they didn't really address the question. They said that all those that trade for them are employees and that there are no accounts to blow through. If I'm ever in town and need a job... yeah right!

To bjb1963 :
Great job! You're right that you made over 100% the last few months. Did you do that last year? If you duplicated that pace last year then you made 120k. Not bad. I make that in my day job by April this year. Not gonna give it up for a good plumber's salary.
But I do hope to make a high six figure gross this year trading, just not going as planned right now. (damn you, HGSI and Crude oil)
Albert