There are margin issues with the way I trade. I dont want to put my entire savings into a trading account.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
My trading story (need advice)
- Thread starter cltrader08
- Start date
There are margin issues with the way I trade. I dont want to put my entire savings into a trading account.
Quote from cltrader08:
... and was provided firm capital to trade energy futures / options after a year or so. I did very well from 2007 - 2009 having returned 1.5 million of which I was at a 60% split of profit ...
Just curious, how much capital did you have at your disposal?
Not sure if my experience will help, but here it is. I have been working on corporate side in treasury for years, but had passion for trading. I traded personal funds for years - first I lost several small stakes at the end of 90s, then became break even, then marginally profitable with mediocre returns for years. In the beginning of 2009, something finally clicked, I became consistently profitable futures trader. I returned ~ 180% in 2009 starting with a small $50K personal account. So with verifiable track record in my hand, I proudly sent letters to hedge funds, wall st. firms, prop firms, coled called wealthy individuals, and tapped my network to talk to people with money. I had multiple conversations / presentations, and zero commitments. People listen politely some ask good questions, some dumb - such as "can you guarantee the returns?", or "where do you think Euro is going to be 3 years from now?", but nothing ever came out of it.
May be it is lack of marketing skills, may be the fact, that I trade of technicals, may be because I am discretionary trader and not a geeky quant, or, most likely, because I have never worked on the "street" (this was actually implied more than once).
So pretty much gave up on trying to find "trading employment"and registered as a CTA, to trade my own and family money (may be some of the friends will chip in as well). I am already registered and will start building "official" track record as of Aug 1st. If good track record continues, I hope investors will come. If not, I have a good career going as a hedge.
Quote from cltrader08:
I put it all in the post, "Then in early 2010 I had a small account debit ~100k and was informed I was going to be let go."
"I did very well from 2007 - 2009 having returned 1.5 million." (250k - 2007, 750k - 2008, 500k - 2009).
your story makes no sense why would a firm fire people who never lost money? if its true i would put 200k up and trade for myself. even if you have less buying power the 100% will even it out. good luck
Quote from DVB:
Just curious, how much capital did you have at your disposal?
Not sure if my experience will help, but here it is. I have been working on corporate side in treasury for years, but had passion for trading. I traded personal funds for years - first I lost several small stakes at the end of 90s, then became break even, then marginally profitable with mediocre returns for years. In the beginning of 2009, something finally clicked, I became consistently profitable futures trader. I returned ~ 180% in 2009 starting with a small $50K personal account. So with verifiable track record in my hand, I proudly sent letters to hedge funds, wall st. firms, prop firms, coled called wealthy individuals, and tapped my network to talk to people with money. I had multiple conversations / presentations, and zero commitments. People listen politely some ask good questions, some dumb - such as "can you guarantee the returns?", or "where do you think Euro is going to be 3 years from now?", but nothing ever came out of it.
May be it is lack of marketing skills, may be the fact, that I trade of technicals, may be because I am discretionary trader and not a geeky quant, or, most likely, because I have never worked on the "street" (this was actually implied more than once).
So pretty much gave up on trying to find "trading employment"and registered as a CTA, to trade my own and family money (may be some of the friends will chip in as well). I am already registered and will start building "official" track record as of Aug 1st. If good track record continues, I hope investors will come. If not, I have a good career going as a hedge.
I am in a similar situation. What time frame did the funds insist you become profitable in? I was told I had 9 months to produce pnl, at the latest 1 year.
Quote from brokerboy:
your story makes no sense why would a firm fire people who never lost money? if its true i would put 200k up and trade for myself. even if you have less buying power the 100% will even it out. good luck
His story makes sense if the risk manager felt like there were better places to allocate capital, and I suspect that's the case. He may have been a marginal producer for several years and they didn't axe him because he was profitable, but not a loss. At -100k, it may have been prudent to let him go to allocate capital to better performers.
Inside firms, these things can also be political. Sometimes overhead and investment may make some players just less efficient allocations of capital. The question is whether his edge can be exercised in a cost efficient manner somewhere else.
And I don't think it's as trivial as just putting up 200k -- a good chunk of his money likely went to the government, so he may have just enough to live but not enough to trade without any distractions.
Quote from brokerboy:
your story makes no sense why would a firm fire people who never lost money? if its true i would put 200k up and trade for myself. even if you have less buying power the 100% will even it out. good luck
Exactly..... I never lost the company a dime. The first time I was down money I was let go after a consistent 3 years. Couldn't figure it out either believe me.
Quote from directionless:
I am in a similar situation. What time frame did the funds insist you become profitable in? I was told I had 9 months to produce pnl, at the latest 1 year.
Some asked to checked back in a year, others were not interested period. Also, I had a feeling that small account size was an issue, big issue.
As I mentioned, I am starting my own shop, so I will be able to advertise the results and have access to bigger pool of potential investors.