Sure, I can poke holes all over your theories. For one, you are missing some key points here. Once a guy is funded, TST has ZERO, repeat ZERO ability to generate revenue from that trader until they fund them because the combines are now all free. So it's pointless for them to try to block these guys from funding because technically it's costing them money at least on the software license and the trader is no longer paying them for any service. So there can't be any scam or conspiracy on why they are using the weekly drawdown for junior funded traders.
As for why someone should pay $175 for a 30k account. If that's not obvious to you by now then the conversation has to stop here. TST is not marketing itself to people with 100k portfolio margin accounts at IB. They are marketing themselves to people who have ZERO money. It's not that some guy can't afford to fund a 1k account at Amp Futures. It's the fact that that account at Amp is not going to cost a new trader 1k, it may cost him 25k or 50k or 100k or whatever he is going to lose. He'll go through that 1k in a week, refund it, go through that in a week, refund it and go through that in a week. I've seen guys fund 1k accounts and lose 25k or 50k of their savings. At least with the combine they are out $175 and if they qualify for rollovers won't pay another dime. But even if they don't. That's even better. Why? Because if they are actually losing money week after week after week, then it's almost a mathematical certainty they would be losing more then $175 at Amp, they would probably be dropping 1k to 2k for every $175 they give TST.
That's what you guys are not getting. Look, if you have the goods, go to DRW, Chopper, ITG, TMG, HTG, these are all respectable prop firms. Bring in your resume, your track record, whatever. TST is not marketing itself to the UC grad with a degree in Economics or the guy who has a 100k account who has 3 years of consistent trading under his belt. They are marketing themselves to people who either have never traded futures before, have no money or no track record and no degree. That is a pretty big market btw and to be honest with you, it's most of ET.
You guys keep acting like some kid has the choice between Goldman and TST and he is choosing TST. No, the kid who is trying to make a go at it with TST has NO other options. I mean listen to some of those youtube videos of the funded traders. There is no one there who left TMG to give TST a try. It's some kid with a few hundred bucks that is tired of working fast food because he didn't go to college and he is going to give this a shot.
If anyone came up to me and asked me if they should do this, and they have, and they have NEVER traded futures before but thought it looked easy I would tell them to try this. I've said this before and I'll say it again, most guys do NOT make money trading and certainly even fewer making money intra-day futures trading. But they come to ET and read about all the billionaires that hang out here taking 5 handles a day out of the ES and think it's easy. Well, TST is perfect for those guys. If they are smart and they realize how tough it is, they will look for edge somewhere else, like where there is actual edge. They won't be trying to scalp the most efficient market in the world that is 10k up on both sides with a one tick spread.
