Where to go for leverage... and other questions

Quote from lescor:

I don't know why people make such a big deal about the series 7. You buy the books, put in a few weeks of studying and write a multiple-choice exam. It's not rocket science, the material is easy, there's just lots of it.

If you feel the pay off for trading how you want isn't worth the effort, then you just don't want it bad enough.

Lescor, thanks for your response. It is not so much the calculus of the payoff- isn't- worth- the- effort from which one can conclude "I don't want it bad enough." Rather I am weighing several options of getting leverage-- some that cost $$ (a fund) vs. some that cost time (prop with series 7). I definielty want it bad enough, but have different ways to skin the horse to use a lame metaphor. This (new to me) idea that I can get leverage from a prop firm with neither aforementioned "expense" (time or money) is what I am trying to explore here. Where do you trade? Do you like them?
 
Quote from Samson77:

150 k with 2:1 :confused:

Any firm will give you 4:1 with over 25k.

Overnight Samson? The intraday leverage is pretty useless for me since on average I hold positions 1.4 days. If you mean that pretty much any prop firm will give me 4:1 overnight with no series 7 with 25k can you give me a few names?
 
Quote from marketsurfer:

excellent book reccomendations, izzi. among the top 5 trading books ever written.

my question to you--MOST brokers provide 4/1 leverage, this seems like plenty. if you need more, there are many prop type firms that do not require series 7---

surfer

Thanks for the reply surfer. I use IB right now. The intraday leverage is pretty useless to me. The key for me is overnight leverage. Thus, the need to get another solution than my retial acct despite the intra-day 4:1.

In terms of prop firms. I litteraly never considered a prop firm, or knew virtually nothing about them until yesterday when my friend said I should look into it. So that is why I am here, to get a few names (and hopefully wisdom on pitfalls of) of firms that will give me leverage for: (a) overnight, (b) remote trading. I am just so fresh, other than google (which is how I found this forum) I don't even know what firms to begin looking at. Where do you trade surfer? Do you like them?
 
Quote from marketsurfer:

excellent book reccomendations, izzi. among the top 5 trading books ever written.

surfer

btw surfer, you clearly have great taste in books :-) What other three would make your list?
 
Quote from izizi:

btw surfer, you clearly have great taste in books :-) What other three would make your list?


thank you.

the other top 3 in my 5 all time top trading books:

market wizards 1 & 2---schwager

equity markets in action-- schwartz,francioni

practical speculation--niederhoffer.kenner



and if i had 6 to list:


coulda, woulda, shoulda--cottle


i don't trade with a prop firm presently, however, many here do and you should get some decent suggestions.

surfer
 
Quote from izizi:

I trade my own acct with about 150k. I do well but I need better than 2:1 leverage to get to where I want to be sooner. I am happy to put up capital ...
...

(4) Any other advice to a prop. newbie :-)

Thx!

You can trade Single Stock Futures electronically on a subset of equities that have high volume. This will get you 5:1 leverage on some individual equities (IB trades these). (the bid/ask moves nicely with the underlying even though there are few trades). Each contract is 100 shares. And, yes, you can trade Google ;)

http://www.onechicago.com/030000_products/oc_030101.html

I would also look at trading equity index futures - the eminis. which are the futures contracts corresponding to QQQQ, SPY, DIA, IWM, and MDY (NQ, ES, YM, ER2, and EMD). Here each contract represents about a $60k position. Interday leverage will be about 40:1, while overnight 20:1.

But, be careful.

It seems to me you have a very reasonable money management and trading system with reasonalbe exposure. By increasing your leverage, I am curious, which parameter(s) in your system are you going to change? ... and how will this effect performance?

best of luck
 
Oh, my! ALL edges eventually dry up? In my recently acquired senility I guess I must have missed the demise of screaming trends due to buying or selling frenzies. Or of price and volume anomalies. Or of volume blowoffs. To mention just a few edges at least twice as old as I am.
 
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