trainee trader- opinions needed

J

joethepro

I will try and keep this short and sweet. Any opinions gratefully received.

I began a graduate trainee trader program based in the uk 3 months ago and have since been taught to trade on 2 markets- ftse future and german bund. I have spent the last 2 months practicing what was taught in the classroom in the first month on a trading sim and i have produced in my opinion pretty good results. I actually went two weeks without a losing day.
Now I have just been made 'live' and given a small amount of capital to use as margin.
However, instead of letting me trade on the markets on my own screen with my own parameters like ive practiced I have been told I have to put all my trades through one of the other traders and I can only have one lot on at any one time. I have complained about this approach but my boss has said that the investors who put up the capital feel that i should only trade one lot and not on my own screen due to the renewed volatility in the markets.
Personally I think it is a joke- if i was going to teach beginners to trade the stock market, i would make sure everything that they had practiced stays the same when they go live. Confidence is everything in trading and you need all the tools you can. you wouldnt give a builder a hammer and ask him to build a house would you? Ok crap analogy but..

My past results have been abysmal and I am already down 20% on the initial capital. Obviously I am fuming because I feel that I am trading in a style that I am not used to and it has really affected my results and confidence. Before I liked to make several trades throughout the day and found it imperative to act instantly to news etc and now i feel like that is impossible.

Anyway i was just wondering what people think of this treatment. Do you think this is stupid? Or perhaps do you think i am just whining and if i am any good at trading i should be able to make money using this method?
cheers
 
It is total BS. Volatility is your friend. Trading is easier when the markets move.
 
So let me get this right, you don't even have a pc, you have to ask some other guy to place the trades for you? What a f@#king joke!!

Care to name and shame the firm?
 
Assuming you were successfully trading sim by trading small, following your plan, not overtrading, not moving stops against you, maximising profits as much as possible etc, then I cannot see any justification for doing this to you.

Too Small Trading Account - It's psychologically difficult to do this. A £50 loss is much easier to cope with on a £10k a/c than on a £1k a/c.
Passing Orders - Psychologically very difficult to do this.
Volatility - If its a problem, why didn't your boss ask you to trade low volatility instruments like the Schatz? Or low volatility strategies like Calendar Spreads? Ask this question.

If you had been trading genuinely successfully on sim, then for some bizarre reason they have no confidence in you and think you're going to blow up the account. They are treating you like a child.

Unless they treat you with respect, get the f*** out.
 
cheers for all your replies. completely agree and im totally frustrated right now. ill reply again later
 
I looks like a f***ing scam to me. can u tell us the name of the company? Shame on them.
 
Do you have any screens or systems you can use at all or do you have to look over the trader's shoulder to perform your analysis too? If so, it sounds like they are trying to save money on both the analysis software and the trading software which can be anything between £1K - 4K a month depending on your setup. They shouldn't be doing this though.

I can understand the 1 lot, however. If you can make money with a 1 lot, they give you a 2 lot, then 4 and size you up on success - that's fine IMO. But not having your own systems to trade off is wrong.
 
joethepro said:
I will try and keep this short and sweet. Any opinions gratefully received.

I began a graduate trainee trader program based in the uk 3 months ago and have since been taught to trade on 2 markets- ftse future and german bund. I have spent the last 2 months practicing what was taught in the classroom in the first month on a trading sim and i have produced in my opinion pretty good results. I actually went two weeks without a losing day.
Now I have just been made 'live' and given a small amount of capital to use as margin.
However, instead of letting me trade on the markets on my own screen with my own parameters like ive practiced I have been told I have to put all my trades through one of the other traders and I can only have one lot on at any one time. I have complained about this approach but my boss has said that the investors who put up the capital feel that i should only trade one lot and not on my own screen due to the renewed volatility in the markets.
Personally I think it is a joke- if i was going to teach beginners to trade the stock market, i would make sure everything that they had practiced stays the same when they go live. Confidence is everything in trading and you need all the tools you can. you wouldnt give a builder a hammer and ask him to build a house would you? Ok crap analogy but..

My past results have been abysmal and I am already down 20% on the initial capital. Obviously I am fuming because I feel that I am trading in a style that I am not used to and it has really affected my results and confidence. Before I liked to make several trades throughout the day and found it imperative to act instantly to news etc and now i feel like that is impossible.

Anyway i was just wondering what people think of this treatment. Do you think this is stupid? Or perhaps do you think i am just whining and if i am any good at trading i should be able to make money using this method?
cheers
Click to expand...

joethepro, I am in a somewhat similar situation as you as I have related in my Potential Setups thread. Unfortunately I do not have the time right now to write a lengthy response. If you wish to PM me I will give you my number and you can call me to chat about it.

Tom
 
About that - could you not just trade with market grid instead of the ladder?

It'd give an interface more similar to spread betting...
 
trader_dante said:
joethepro, I am in a somewhat similar situation as you as I have related in my Potential Setups thread. Unfortunately I do not have the time right now to write a lengthy response. If you wish to PM me I will give you my number and you can call me to chat about it.

Tom
Click to expand...

TD I read what you wrote about your own situation in another thread and I think this is actually verry different. From what I recall you are phoning through orders to prevent you from getting spooked by the ladders, whereas this guy isn't getting the option as his firm are too tight too fork out for a TT licence for him.

Yours is to help you, his is a massive hindrance.

Joe,

Trading is tricky enough anyway, with jokers like this you've really got a pretty slim chance of getting anywhere. There are much better firms around. Name and shame.
 
cheers guys. They are definitely trying to save a few quid but i wont name the firm as im still hopeful of coming to an agreement.
One of the problems is the investors and office manager see all this going on in the media about the credit crunch and the markets and they get spooked.
Its always good to have people who don't trade make your trading decisions for you. :(
 
fibonelli said:
Assuming you were successfully trading sim by trading small, following your plan, not overtrading, not moving stops against you, maximising profits as much as possible etc, then I cannot see any justification for doing this to you.

Too Small Trading Account - It's psychologically difficult to do this. A £50 loss is much easier to cope with on a £10k a/c than on a £1k a/c.
Passing Orders - Psychologically very difficult to do this.
Volatility - If its a problem, why didn't your boss ask you to trade low volatility instruments like the Schatz? Or low volatility strategies like Calendar Spreads? Ask this question.

If you had been trading genuinely successfully on sim, then for some bizarre reason they have no confidence in you and think you're going to blow up the account. They are treating you like a child.

Unless they treat you with respect, get the f*** out.
Click to expand...

Cheers Fibonelli. I think I know what you mean but could you elaborate on your point- passing orders is psychologically difficult?
I agree with the statement, just wondering what your reasons behind it are
 
They're clearly taking the preverbial.......

No doubt you paid for your course as well and if so, and in fact, they are actually using your money to trade with anyway.

I would like to know who these people are if you would care to share your information.

Darren
 
no i didnt have to pay for the course. its not a scam imo just very unprofessional
 
Joe, just tell them at every opportunity what the problem is. keep it succinct and don't bother elaborating on it to them, they obviously don't agree. just keep nagging them and in the end they should give in and let you onto a live screen. then if you've got the touch, you'll be successful enough to get the F. out of there. Meanwhile keep learning and assimilating, and good luck.
 
joethepro said:
Cheers Fibonelli. I think I know what you mean but could you elaborate on your point- passing orders is psychologically difficult?
I agree with the statement, just wondering what your reasons behind it are
Click to expand...

Glad to. What I meant was that action of having to walk to another trader and ask them to place an order is psychologically difficult because it demonstrates to everyone and yourself that you are being treated like a child. Therefore, you will become upset/annoyed/distracted by this and will not make the correct decisions when trading.
 
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