The new SMB 5-year career path program

A

anh_trader

If you have been looking for trading jobs at SMB Capital, you would probably notice their ad about their new job. It's a 5-year career path that train u for 6 months, let u trade for 5 years and then at the end of it u have the chance of trading their 10mm-30mm hedge fund. I was accepted to to this new program. However I was asked to pay $7,000 for the training. The original cost of the training is $10,500 and I got 3,500 in scholarship. When i asked them why I had to pay for training even when i was a recent college graduate, they said their old policy was that college grad didnt have to pay for training but now when they have combined with T3 for the training program all applicants have to pay the cost.

What do you guys think about this? Is it worth the $7,000? Are there any1 in the same boat as me?
 
It's a scam. The lifespan of a daytrader is 1-2 years MAX. I've been at this over 3 years and I'm still plugging along, I know a few people who've been in it for a decade, but the reality is 95% won't ever make money, of the 5% who do, maybe 3% will barely be above poverty... 1% will make good money for a year or two, and 1% will actually last 5 years, successfully. Probably lower. These shops don't expect to be around in five years.
 
I somewhat agree with that, the part that 95 -98% of people that try won't make it, I also think it depends on the drive of the person too, if you are determined enough you will find a way to trade better and do whatever its takes to learn this game if its your passion. In the beginning its all about preserving capital and being around to trade tomorrow so you can apply the things that you learned today.

Ok with that said, I hesitate to even post this with the fear of being flammed endlessly about this. I have paid for SMB's training program, and thought it was worth the money, again in reality its not that much money, if you can't afford that then you probably should think about trading yet. I'm not speaking to the career path as I know very little about it, this is purely to the educational programs at SMB.

I was very skeptical about it as many probably are, its a risk that you could just blow that money and walk away with the same knowledge as you walked in with. Searching the internet didn't help me either, so I decided to visit on a trip out there and was very impressed with the operation. The guys that run it Mike, Steve, and Gman are all very open and honest with their trading and their knowledge. They share office space with T3Live, run by Marc Sperling, and their traders were put through SMB's program. If I'm not mistaken Mike and Steve worked at Broadway Trading with Marc in the 90's along with some of the best traders on the street.

I have traded before, but wanted to add another tool to my tool-belt, reading the tape, and they really stressed this skill its a basic foundation of their class. The training program is very structured and is being updated/added too all the time. They have a big archive of recorded video of their trading and will walk through what they did and why. The also have a simulator where you can practice one type of trade over and over again whenever you want. I trained remotely and now am trading their money, but plan to go on my own soon as that was what I intended in the first place but was offered a spot so I'm giving it a shot. The reason I'm trading their money instead of my own is because its a 'good trade' for me, risk $0 of my money and learn with their money until I become consistent.

I will say that the program isn't easy and I have heard only about 20% of the people that complete it are offered a spot. I probably put in about 80hrs a week working on the material and practicing what they were teaching. When I was going through their program there were a guy that ended up leaving early. He didn't put in nearly as much work as I have, so maybe he would think its not worth it, but for me it absolutely was. They are heavy in making you consistent, that is their overall goal.

So here is my defense of SMB and T3Live, if you put in the time and want to learn then its worth the investment, its not much anyway lets be honest...
 
Quote from anh_trader:

If you have been looking for trading jobs at SMB Capital, you would probably notice their ad about their new job. It's a 5-year career path that train u for 6 months, let u trade for 5 years and then at the end of it u have the chance of trading their 10mm-30mm hedge fund. I was accepted to to this new program. However I was asked to pay $7,000 for the training. The original cost of the training is $10,500 and I got 3,500 in scholarship. When i asked them why I had to pay for training even when i was a recent college graduate, they said their old policy was that college grad didnt have to pay for training but now when they have combined with T3 for the training program all applicants have to pay the cost.

What do you guys think about this? Is it worth the $7,000? Are there any1 in the same boat as me?
More...
Aren't these the same folks that appeared on Wall Street Warriors, Season 2 (WSW2)? I wasn't too impressed with their auditioning of their traders nor with their supposedly the head trader. And why the hell would I want to train with them for 6 months without a strong track record on their part that would suggest I will be able to successfully trade on my own at the end of that time?

Be that as it may, you're fooling yourself to think that you'll master the craft in just 6 months. I have no idea what they exactly teach, but from the snippets I saw from the WSW2, I wasn't too impressed. But what do I know?
 
Quote from schizo:

Aren't these the same folks that appeared on Wall Street Warriors, Season 2 (WSW2)? I wasn't too impressed with their auditioning of their traders nor with their supposedly the head trader. And why the hell would I want to train with them for 6 months without a strong track record on their part that would suggest I will be able to successfully trade on my own at the end of that time?

Be that as it may, you're fooling yourself to think that you'll master the craft in just 6 months. I have no idea what they exactly teach, but from the snippets I saw from the WSW2, I wasn't too impressed. But what do I know?
More...

I don't see where he is saying they expect you to master the craft in 6 months, or that you would be able to trade on your own after 6 months. I agree, 6 months isn't enough time to master anything, read The Outliers... From my understanding, the first 5 weeks is the Foundations class, then the next 4 months you trade live with the firms money learning the skills they teach, their goal is for you to be net positive, not to master daytrading.. Again, they stress consistency during their program, not huge swings in P&L. I believe they were on WSW2, I didn't see it so I can't be certain. Eitherway from my interactions with the partners (Mike, Steve, and Gman the head trader) they are stand up guys and want to teach what the market has taught them, thats all.
 
Quote from KingDong130:

Eitherway from my interactions with the partners (Mike, Steve, and Gman the head trader) they are stand up guys and want to teach what the market has taught them, thats all.
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They also want to make money right? It's not a non-profit educational organization. The easiest way to make money from trading is to teach, publish, or charge commissions. The question is, is the $7,500 a fair price for the training?
 
Ok here's my 2 cent. I have been following SMB Capital closely on their blogs, reading their posts, watching their every move on WSW2 before applying there and I would say they are a legitimate group of trader. They emphasize on controlling your emotions, being discipline, hard work, taking your time to learn the skills etc. I dont know if any of you have read excellent beginner trading books such as A Beginner's Guide to Day Trading Online by Toni Turner or High Probability Trading by Marcel Link or trading for a Living by Alexander Elder (all rated very highly on Amazon) etc. and what they emphasize in their books are exactly what I see from SMB (discipline, controlling ur psychology etc.) I would really love to train with them. However $7000 is just too much considering I'm going to have to support myself in my first year.
 
finally someone with realistic statistics, praise to you!


Quote from NY0BScalper:

It's a scam. The lifespan of a daytrader is 1-2 years MAX. I've been at this over 3 years and I'm still plugging along, I know a few people who've been in it for a decade, but the reality is 95% won't ever make money, of the 5% who do, maybe 3% will barely be above poverty... 1% will make good money for a year or two, and 1% will actually last 5 years, successfully. Probably lower. These shops don't expect to be around in five years.
More...
 
lol, a guy pulling in 15k/day who watches Wall Street Warrior and knows the ins and outs of arcade gambling halls? Very interesting, lol!!!


Quote from schizo:

Aren't these the same folks that appeared on Wall Street Warriors, Season 2 (WSW2)? I wasn't too impressed with their auditioning of their traders nor with their supposedly the head trader. And why the hell would I want to train with them for 6 months without a strong track record on their part that would suggest I will be able to successfully trade on my own at the end of that time?

Be that as it may, you're fooling yourself to think that you'll master the craft in just 6 months. I have no idea what they exactly teach, but from the snippets I saw from the WSW2, I wasn't too impressed. But what do I know?
More...
 
Quote from Retief:

They also want to make money right? It's not a non-profit educational organization. The easiest way to make money from trading is to teach, publish, or charge commissions. The question is, is the $7,500 a fair price for the training?
More...

I agree, and personally it was worth it for me, I can't speak for someone who didn't take it seriously or only had $10k to trade with anyway. FWIW SMB covers all the commission/fee's..
 
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