Prop vs. Arcade

Quote from traderpro:

I agree. If a trader has the A/ Desire and B/ Motivation the sky is the limit. And the most important discipline.
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That there is one of the most informed and enlightened statements on this board. Agree 100% - especially with the most important being discipline.
 
Quote from Mom0/pH0x:

don hi,

do you have any documentation of the fact that most of your traders have been with you for 5+ years? if you do, i find it rather surprising that you haven't spammed the hell out of ET with it as it would be the most dramatic marketing tool you could hope for...
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It is possible that whenever someone closes an account, or blows out he keeps it open with a balance of 10 cents... thus half the accounts could well be more than 5 years old.

Very few last 5 years in this business under the absolute best of training conditions, trading platform, and commission rates.
 
LOL, no, I don't think we keep accounts open since we must file paperwork and pay fees for everyone. And, since every post is read by Compliance (Hi Diane), and the Regulators, I just double checked by sorting active personnel by start date (before posting). I won't put out the exact number of traders we have, for various reasons, but the percentage is 53% with us 5 years or more. A "good" stat for long term trading, but what I like is that the retention overall is getting better. A more "serious" type trader seems to be coming on board the last few years.


All the best,

Don
 
Quote from Mom0/pH0x:

so can you verify any of this information at all? or do you simply expect everyone to trust your reputation for solid ethics and being forthright? surely you must be prepared to somehow validate this claim if you are going to make it...
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I have no desire to post on the public board. Come by my office and I'll show you however. I don't see why you think it's such a great number...a lot of floor traders have traded for decades.

All the best,

Don
 
All I can say is what is. We have traders with us since 1992-93 era. Nothing to "exploit" that I see. We've had this organization running for 16 years. I feel "good" about our retention, but always working hard to improve it.

All the best,

Don
 
Quote from Mom0/pH0x:

sure, lots of FLOOR traders have, there are also lots of articles in the news about how they are now dropping like flies and buying fast food franchises.... and although there are several floor traders who fit that description, i think you would probably be hard pressed to find an entire firm that does, with few caveats, i would be REALLY suprised to find that even ONE pro/deposit taking firm to fit that description... i can't imagine why you wouldn't exploit that to the fullest as a marketing tool if it were true... you yourself ascribe to the 5%-10% theory, that being the case, you would have to be an absurd statistical anomaly to produce such a record....
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I have the reputation here on ET for being hard on Don in the past, or at least a reputation for ensuring that he doesn't post uncontested misleading information here.

That said, I see no reason to doubt his statement that over 50% of his clients have been with the firm for 5 years or more. I'd be very surprised if this wasn't the case (while Don can be misleading and a spinmaster, I've never seen him be outright dishonest).

Please note what he is saying: 50% or more of his clients have been with Bright for 5 or more years. He is NOT saying that a trader has a 50% chance of surviving over 5 years.

Even assuming that 90% of their new clients blowout and close their accounts within 2 years, it is still not hard to imagine that he is being 100% honest with his statement. It's really not a surprising stat, given how long they have been in business, IMO.
 
LOL...."thanks Eric" (I think, LOL).

That's what I was wondering, even if we did have a "normal" attrition rate for the industry (which we don't...according to the "spinmaster" LOL)....we had 8+years to acquire and keep a couple hundred traders...as I said, "good" but not "extreme" or anything..... always room for improvement.

Don :)
 
I think for the most part Don really trys to call it like he sees it. He posts his trader retainment % for traders with him over 5 years and some can't believe it when in reality it may not be that impressive.
Just to throw out #'s and not to try and discredit Don in any way ( I think you're a asset to the board ) but only a few know what the actual #'s are. What if Bright brought in 100 traders a year since 92 and what if 9% of the traders brought in during the first 3 years stayed with him and 12% for the next three and 15% for the next 3 and 18% for the next 3 that have been trading there for 5-7 years. I think that totals 162 traders over 5 years. Now what if the first 5 years are 20,25,30,35 and 50%.
Now do the math and add in a couple family members and your around 53%.
You could skew the #'s any way you want to make it seem better or worse. What if Bright took in 0 new traders for 2 years and then said 100% of our traders have been with us for 2 years or more and some of them have been with us for 16 years?
 
You know, it's funny, all these years with discussions about traders "making it." Trading is simply a business, you find the best firm to fit your needs, work hard, and you have a chance at a lifetime business venture, with limited downside.

Anyway, the numbers are simply what they are. My only point was to say that this can be a long term career.

All the best, thanks everyone...

'Don
 
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