Let me share actual trading events from our prop desk this week. It’s Tuesday, the market is selling off hard and Trader A thinks the market should bounce and VXX decline. He fades the market and VXX all day for a net result of -10k. Let’s call this The Sloppy (in his trading). It’s Thursday, the oil has sold off … Read More
The unique trader
We as a firm were studying our top five traders this week. Each of them trade a very different style. Said another way, each of them is unique. One is a scalper. Another trades momentum. Another is an inefficiency trader. Another is an arbitrage trader. Still another trades low floats. What is more interesting is that each of them trades … Read More
Meet Mr. Excuse trader
*inspired by 18 years of trading I lost money because of that damn Jim Cramer! No you lost money because you followed his advice on a trade not best for you. I lost money because the damn Fed keeps inflating prices. No you lost money because you didn’t follow the trend created by the Fed keeping rates low. I lost … Read More
Back against the wall trading
I get a lot of emails from prop, hedge fund, and retail traders confiding: I have to make money now! Their back is against the wall. Your first reaction may be that they are in this position because they did not seek help earlier. But that would miss the point of this post and the lessons we can learn from … Read More
This is what a professional trader looks like
It’s 7:27PM EST on Thursday night, I throw my backpack over my shoulder and head home for the night. As I close my office door at our proprietary trading firm, I notice a trader still at the office. That’s him, last night in that picture above. This is what a professional trader looks like. Let me be clear about … Read More
How I Became a Consistently Profitable Trader [True Story]
I spent 25 years working for a big company. It was a great job, but like most big company positions, it eventually wore me down and burned me out. I happened to talk to my dad one day after a particularly stressful day, and he asked me about work. I told him, “I can’t do this anymore.” He asked me … Read More
Wall Street Firm’s Strategy: Hiring Retail Traders for Remote Trading
Retail traders around the world have always kept an eye on Wall Street. After all, it’s the center of the financial world. Most traders can only dream of trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange or at a big Wall Street proprietary trading firm. What most retail traders don’t understand is that The Street has a new address. Most … Read More
What this College Trader Can Teach You
A graduate of our college summer training program pinged me about visiting. Hi Bella, I’ve taken the SMB Foundation for college students last summer with RJ, Dan, and Andreas, opened up an account (edited) and have been trading since September. I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m the guy from Toronto who plays ping pong. I’ll be visiting … Read More