Would like some advice on proprietary trading firms.

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Quote from trader99:

...With no experience and pressure to pay back loans and bills for a new college graduate, his probability of success is small.

...To make ANY kind of good $ in life, you gotta work hard. There's just no way around it unless you won the lotto, but that's not work!

haha.
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Didn't say you dont need to know what you are doing: you will need to learn the ropes somewhere.

My point is that there are different ways of doing this: you can work 70+ hour work weeks or you can work a more reasonable 40 or so hours a week. The myth that is propagated is that you need to work like a dog to succeed. You can work reasonable hours and still have a life and still be successful over a few years time.

After 3 - 5 years of time invested in a job it makes a big difference
if at the end of the time period you have an ownership interest in the business you helped build. If you come out with only your paycheck then IMHO you didn't prove to me that you were very smart ....
 
Quote from CalTrader:



Didn't say you dont need to know what you are doing: you will need to learn the ropes somewhere.

My point is that there are different ways of doing this: you can work 70+ hour work weeks or you can work a more reasonable 40 or so hours a week. The myth that is propagated is that you need to work like a dog to succeed. You can work reasonable hours and still have a life and still be successful over a few years time.

After 3 - 5 years of time invested in a job it makes a big difference
if at the end of the time period you have an ownership interest in the business you helped build. If you come out with only your paycheck then IMHO you didn't prove to me that you were very smart ....
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But you still haven't answered my question.

WHY WOULD TRADING BE EASIER?!! What is it about trading that people think it's EASIER??? Read how many newbies are floundering on this board to tell you how difficult it is?!!

If you want to SUCCEED in TRADING, then you'll STILL HAVE TO PUT IN THE TIME to FIGURE it OUT?!

Trading is more than working 6.5*5= 32.5hrs/wk. It CAN be that when you figure our your edge. But BEFORE that you gotta put in the work. If all you need is a $25K acct and 32.5hrs/wk to trade and make a $450K/yr then I'm sure EVERYONE would do it!! But the fact remains is that 99% of the people who tried just FAIL, because like Monroe Trout in Market Wizard said, they underestimate the difficulty of the game. No edge/strategy can be figure out by just glancing at a few charts on the weekends.

And we haven't even begin to talk about DRAWDOWNS that could either 1) blow out 2) not getting paid for a while 3) not blowing out but low enough that you don't have enough capitalization to come back.

Trading is DECEPTIVELY simple, but it's NOT simple. Nor is it EASY.

For me, I put in tons of hours in research and thinking and MENTAL PREPARATION or rather MENTAL CONDITIONING(very important) before it became easier.

But for a trader who "mastered" his edge, his mental faculties, his risk mgmt, his money mgmt, his psychology, then it DOES NOT matter. He can trade anywhere, anytime and with even a small to medium acct and can crank out $ like it's not even funny.

But before (and IF ever) you get there you gotta know the risk.
 
Quote from trader99:




But for a trader who "mastered" his edge, his mental faculties, his risk mgmt, his money mgmt, his psychology, then it DOES NOT matter. He can trade anywhere, anytime and with even a small to medium acct and can crank out $ like it's not even funny.
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Hell ya. Preach on brother. Only you forgot one thing. Once you have a solid hold on all of the above mentioned you can trade ANY market..and that is the icing on the cake!
 
Quote from indahook:



Hell ya. Preach on brother. Only you forgot one thing. Once you have a solid hold on all of the above mentioned you can trade ANY market..and that is the icing on the cake!
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indahook,

I think 99 has a point. I'm a newbie trader and I'm STRUGGLING. Just read my other posts. It would be nice to have a backup plan and be realistic.

I know i want to trade. But some does every Joe Schmoe on this board. But that doesn't put the "odds" as 99 puts it in my favor necessarily. If i don't have an edge or can't find one or underfunded or not mentally "conditioned" or have bills to pay then, then I ain't going to make it. Despite all the prop shop hype and daytrading industry claims.

I just hope I can make it. 99, can you help me out in exchange for profits? I know my acct might be too small for you or whatever or you dont' want to reveal your methods or whatever. But if you just do general coaching then it would be good.

thanks

misc
 
Quote from StuckeyBowler:

Thanks. I've turned down quant college grad jobs at major brokerage houses to pursue proprietary trading. I hope I'm not making a big mistake.


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LOL, that is just TOO much. Is your last name SCHILL, and your first name OBVIOUS ? How much do they pay you ? Whatever it is it isn't enough, think about your integrity.
 
Quote from dotslashfuture:
LOL, that is just TOO much. Is your last name SCHILL, and your first name OBVIOUS ? How much do they pay you ? Whatever it is it isn't enough, think about your integrity.
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You rang?
 
Quote from dotslashfuture:



LOL, that is just TOO much. Is your last name SCHILL, and your first name OBVIOUS ? How much do they pay you ? Whatever it is it isn't enough, think about your integrity.
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What does this has to to do with integrity? It's not like he's a pimp. LOL!

he's just a lost college kid trying to figure what to do. Maybe he doesn't even have an offer. He just going on here to BS. ROFL.

He hasn't told us what firm, what pay, what kind of work, etc.

maybe it's sour grapes! haha
 
I don't seem to follow you. Yes, I didn't follow the path of going corporate. It's my choice. Please respect my decision rather than insult it. Thank you.

Quote from dotslashfuture:



LOL, that is just TOO much. Is your last name SCHILL, and your first name OBVIOUS ? How much do they pay you ? Whatever it is it isn't enough, think about your integrity.
More...
 
It seems as though the discussion has gone a bit off-topic.

Anyway, I stopped by both Assent and Worldco offices today.

Here is the breakdown:

Assent: Lovely office in midtown Manhattan. All the managers look fairly young and are super nice. Other than the managers, it seems as though there are about 7 or 8 other consistenly profitable traders. I noticed most of the other traders looked primarily retail and trading 100-200 share lots. They say I will be sitting next to one of their "top guys" when I start. There is no formal training. Here's the deal breakdown:

$5,000 capital contribution
$0.012 per share commission
$0.035 per share (married put)
100% payout
Sponsorship for Series 7, 55, and 63 (I believe I must pay for the registration fees)


Worldco: Dropped by the main office and one of the young ladies took me over to one their "new" floors in another building on Wall. I was pretty impressed by the size of the floors. I got introduced to a small group of 6 traders, all Ivy grads (one from my school), who recently moved over from another firm. The head trader is a Dartmouth grad and used to trade bonds for Saloman Brothers. I'm assuming my training will be centered around them. Here's the deal breakdown:

$0 capital contribution (supposedly I'm getting the Ivy grad deal)
$0.010 per share commission
$0.030 per share (married put)
90% payout
Sponsorship for Series 7, 55 (i'm not sure if they require the 63, but they never mentioned it).

All in all the deals seem to be pretty even. Worldco has lower rates, but offered less payout. I would really appreciate some comments from folk who've worked at these two firms. Feel free to send me a private message.

Thank you
 
Stuckey have you been smoking too much crack at Princeton?!?!?! Or are you recruiting for Lynx and Worldco??
Graduating from Princeton, and turning down a real Street Job to go to Andover or Worldco??? This is too funny. If you had at least said you were thinking about FNY or Schony, maybe... maybe... maybe I could understand. I have a lot of good friends at Andover and I'll tell you now it's the last place you want to start your career, not knowing anything about trading. the 'Ivy grad deal' I love it!
 
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