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@Nick77mc Yes, of course. It can happen but it is not likely. There are certain restrictions and rules you would need to avail yourself of. The idea the OP has is a good one: basically, the idea is that if you can make a significant amount on a small amount then there is far more utility to make it on a larger amount and take a cut.
However, from my experience, there are not "firms" out there seeking the super star trader. That part is the myth. I know because I had a very good prediction record. I also took my real money futures account from 6k to 12k in just a few months. Even with my real money record and two of the top ranked C2 systems, I tried to shop that around to virtually every prop firm in existence: zero interest. Many of the firms that talk about seeking traders are really just educational fronts. Some of these firms might even talk about trading futures or whatever but they do not even have a futures desk.
It seems the higher probability route to investors is to sell signals, self-promote, take a OneUp trial, etc. See my prior list for ideas. You might get more interest from "investors" if you are trading more significant amounts of capital. I think you might start to get more interest if you are returning close too or over one million in a year with a return of 70% or better on capital implemented with good risk management. But, the lowest level most will consider would be probably around 25k. So, sure there are investors-- friends, family, other traders, etc. But, what I think the myth is that there are institutions that would consider a paper record: they will not even consider a real money one. So, that is the myth. As well, most of the institutions, prop firms, that did this in the past did not even require track records. The more important part in their mind were (1) are you local, (2) do you have enough capital to support yourself for a year without an income. It is the right idea: leverage your ability. However, the specifics and details matter and every path suggested has its own set of difficult problems.
Think about the word credit: cred, believable. What does it mean, "you won't get credits for your class"? Does it mean you don't know the material or that your not intelligent? No, it simply means you aren't given credit. Think about the phrase, "took credit for my work.". Why is it important? Obviously, we are a credit based society. Now think about the word "incredible". Root word "in". Think about other words that start with "in" such as indecision: not decisive. Indeterminate "not determinate". Now, think about the phrase "incredible track record", implies a not believable track record. The lesson: in a credit based society, it is not the incredible, but the ones that have the most credit that are most likely to be successful. The lesson is you need to get credit for everything you do.
Below is a formula to to get yourself financially capable of trading:
1. Go to college/university earlier. Why? Because we are a credit and not a performance based society. Wrong notions on the nature of capital can be a root hindrance to obtaining it. You need to pick a career that has at least a decent 6 figure income possibility. If your career isn't going to allow you to make 6 figures then don't even bother.
2. Now, you must get in a near zero cost living situation. Move back in with your parents, rent a room, or take on a roommate. You need to get your costs down to as close to zero as possible. The big three costs are housing, education, and healthcare.
3. As soon as you have credit to buy a house, you will want to buy the largest house possible. If you can get a multi-tenant property it is worth considering. The more units you can get the better. You must do the math to make sure your rental income will be greater then your housing costs. Do not settle for a mere 2 units. You must get more units.
4. By this point, you will both be accumulating wealth in the form of the house and also in a more feasible/subsidized living situation. Congratulations.
5. You can now leverage to buy more properties and/or start a small trading account.
Investors can come in the form of retail who diversify into Managed Futures, or Institutional money that expand into pools, individuals CTAs, etc. In the retail space, the sophistication level can vary from one investor to another. However, the sophisticated ones along with institutional money would look for the length of track record, drawdown, scalability, admin costs, execution, etc. At the end of the day while track record matters, they look at other variables that give them a clue as to the long-term viability of the trader. After so many years in business and providing allocation, they know who they should give money to or should not. There is a methodical way to evaluate traders. It even touches on personality traits.
I have come across very sophisticated individual investors with precise criteria in selecting new traders. They put the time and effort looking into emerging and experienced money managers and exploring whether they could add them to their portfolios. Again, their criteria extend beyond a short-term track record.
Lastly, there is a misconception amongst retail traders how rigorous the process of selection is when it comes to selecting traders for prop and money managers for allocations. They draw conclusions based on their individual experiences without knowing the selection process and what it entails.
If anyone interested in exploring money managers, CTA,s etc. I would be more than happy to assist.
There is a substantial risk of loss in Futures trading. Past performance is NOT indicative of future results
Matt Z
Optimus Futures
Trading futures and options involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. You may lose more than your initial investment. All posts are opinions and do not claim to be facts. Please conduct your own due diligence. Use only Risk capital when trading Futures.
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In conclusion, we are born with sin but I'm not God.
This is good information provided, although looking back I would rather the thread not be, bad reputation/poor communication (especially second post where I'm defending myself and someone quoted).
More positive information welcome or deletion is cool to save name as I do want to invest in site (someone spammed my other, organized, well put together journal thread). Energies today have also been kind of harsh, respecting space and stuff.
Well OP, you are not the first "expert" wannabe trader with "awesome ability" to post at this site expecting heaps of praise for some paper trading acumen, while ignoring legitimate questions asked of you (which you deride as "spam"), disregarding helpful advice and rebuffing constructive criticism.
The markets will treat you much, much worse than anyone here who has replied to you in either of your threads.
Drop the illiquid markets from ur performance man. Those are useless in sim account. U will never get the fills with a real account that you can get in sim. The slippage will kill u
So far, Palladium is number 1 practice trading. The currencies have +value, and spreads are advantageous as each market has a consistent repeatable pattern or style that is specific to it. Flip through each100 times and you'll gain an intuitive feel of what I'm talking about. I've plotted them as data 3-4 times, 20,000+ data points, since 2011. There is so much volume, practice is the same as real trade, I think. Metals too, although I've been neutral predicting these. +predictor in Softs, Cattle(best), Neutral(maybe negative) Grains. Treasuries have proven to be predictable in the short term. No ego here.. I'm just trying to get things moving as my energy is,
