Hey Donny boy. Looks like you are getting your sea legs back eh? I knew you would get back into the swing of things here. It's like riding a bike, you never forget.
You know it's funny, I was actually going to start a prop firm 101 thread over the weekend as I saw so many threads being started asking the same things over and over again.
The prop business is very big and diverse and I think traders need to understand where their place is in this business. Everyone wants to marry the supermodel, but most of us won't. We get what we get. And that is the same with trading. Everyone on here thinks their special in some way, they can read charts, they are passionate, hungry, etc. The truth is almost everyone in this business is, so that really does not separate the wheat from the chaff so to speak.
This business is about as competitive as professional sports and I don't think most guys on here realize that. For the record Don, there are more then a "few" firms that pay salaries. Chicago is still mostly a "true prop" firm town. Although technically it's a draw, not a salary so you have to pay the draw back from your future profits plus very steep desk fees. So they pay these kids 40k to 55k a year in draws, with desk fees of 2500 to 5k a month and they get a split from 20% up to maybe 60%. But here's the thing, for every guy these firms hire, they toss 100 resumes into the trash. It's that competitive. A lot of guys think...oh yeah, I'll just go work at one of those places. That's not how it works. You are going to be one of 400 guys getting looked at and maybe they choose 2.
They prefer guys that excelled in both academics from a top school and someone who played sports at a competitive level. I would venture a guess that 98% of the guys on ET would not qualify. So where do the rest go? They to places like Bright Trading, Echo, VTrader, etc. It's not sexy, but it's a start. Yeah you are going to have to bust your ass and take some risk. Put up your own money and probably have to teach yourself, but that is life. No one here is entitled to work for Transmarket Group or Gelber or Breakwater or Chopper. The fact of the matter is, Bright serves a niche in the business. My firm serves a niche. Echo serves a niche. All the independent shops that are still around are around because they found their place in the prop world where they can survive.
And to add on to what you were saying Don about the profit splits and risking capital, most firms now they offer splits defer compensation to some degree meaning you actually DO risk your own capital, just not on the first day. But I've got news for all the guys that think you can just walk into these places and lose "their" money. These firms have absolutely no patience for under performers. You are going to be sitting around jocks who are going to eat your lunch. If you can't hit par, you'll be gone in months if not weeks. There is a lot of pressure. Like the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.
