Quote from MichaelPatak:
ScalperJoe- 1. Why do you require the IDT course to be taken PRIOR to the Combine to get the 70% vs. 60% payout?
There is NO incentive to pay for a course if the passing rate of the combine is low. The fee was also raised from $250 to $300. And having that extra cost just adds fire to gmst's case that TST is more about fees than actually backing profitable traders. The course is optional, however a trader has no access to gaining a check until they actually get a live account and prove themselves by building the cushion. Why not allow a new trader the option to take the course AFTER they make the live account, and then have the payout switched from 60 to 70%?
mp- We do not require IDT. It is an option you can take to get the 70/30 split right away. We partnered with Ray who teaches this class. We believe in the class as it teaches intuition and anticipating opportunity and responding. We recommend recruits finish this class prior to going live as it will help your learning curve and development. We want you educated and in-tune BEFORE ever trading real capital.
As for the price going from $250 to $300 for a particular Combine. I believe you are mentioning a time when we raised this about 6 months ago. We raised this due to our increased cost. Since we started the Combine we have added many tools to help traders develop while working towards a funded account, due to this we raised the refundable deposit amount.
ScalperJoe- 2. One trading collegue asked me how his live account would be protected if the 5k cushion is held by PTP?
In other words, since PTP is willing to shoulder the burden of risk for all of the unprofitable traders, what happens to the 5k cushion if PTP fails to meet its financial obligations? If the trader doesn't give it back to the markets and actually maintains it in order to collect distributions on amounts above the cushion, does the trader have to agree via contract that those funds are subject to the risk of not only the firm, but also of other traders who lose money in their live accounts? For example, a prop trader at an equity firm has to sign such an agreement, but there are oversights in place via regulations and net capital requirements. Does PTP have to maintain any net capital requirements if they offer sub-accounts?
mp- As with both clearing firms and prop trading firms they are subject to the risk of another entity creating massive losses that could cripple them. That is why we have two levels of risk management within our firm and a risk manager of the clearing firm watching all our account at all times to ensure we avoid this situation.
ScalperJoe- 3. Since a Series 3 license does not require sponsorship, is there any benefit to taking this exam before joining TST/PTP?
mp- There is no benefit as you do not need to have a series 3 when you are brought up to trade on a funded account. Since PTP is strictly proprietary capital their traders do NOT need to be to be licensed.
ScalperJoe- 4. Maverick and I have exchanged posts regarding the profit cushion. Maverick has explained why he believes there should NOT be a cushion. PTP has explained why they require a cushion. I posted that PTP could lower the cushion to match the profit objective of the combine ($2,500 for the 10-day/30k account, $3,500 for the 10-day/50k account, etc). Since PTP claims that performance drops off when a trader goes live, why not lower the cushion to allow a trader to gain a check faster if they're profitable?
mp- We want our traders to build capital and not continually keep their account low by drawing checks. This does not help a traders mental capital as traders do go through slumps from time to time. The cushion of $5,000 or $10,000, depending on what Combine they completed prior to going live, helps the trader to stay confident during these times.
ScalperJoe- 5. Does the platform have an "auto liquidate" feature to cap a trader's loss intraday which can be set BELOW their daily risk such that a trader can minimize their draws while improving their trading discipline?
mp- Our program (the Combine) looks for traders who have this downside control. There is nothing in the trading platform that we currently have that does this. We are adding Ninja shortly and I am not familiar if their platform does this either. A trader can build their our trading app to do this but ultimately we like a trader to manage this as this teaches and instills discipline when you learn to shut yourself down manually.
I hope that helps. Let me know if I do not cover a question well enough for you.
mp
