New traders at SMB have a very structured environment when they start their trading careers.\u00a0 During their first five weeks every minute of each day is planned.\u00a0 When they begin trading live in week six they are assigned a mentor who will review their work on a daily basis.\u00a0\u00a0 They begin by trading 100 shares at a time.\u00a0 Their ability to trade larger positions is determined by objective performance criteria that they receive on day 25 of their initial training.<\/p>\n
They are considered “trainees” during their first six months.\u00a0 After six months if they have demonstrated consistent profitability we start to give them more autonomy.\u00a0 If they are interested in trading with more size or having a larger daily loss limit they typically will send me an email.\u00a0 When I am deciding whether to approve their requests I consider several factors.\u00a0 One, has the trader demonstrated a level of consistent profitability with their current risk parameters.\u00a0 Two, in the past how has the trader responded when given greater leeway.\u00a0 And three, has the trader provided me with thoughtful analysis as to how they will use their new trading parameters.<\/p>\n
The third factor is the most important in helping me make a decision.\u00a0 We ask our traders when they first go live to develop a series of “If, Then” statements for each trading setup that they will be trading.\u00a0 It is just one of the ways we help them form “good habits”, which eventually will lead to their trading success.\u00a0 This habit of thoughtful analysis is essential for traders to advance in their trading careers.<\/p>\n
I received three requests this week from those wishing to trade with greater size.\u00a0 One request consisted of two sentences.\u00a0 It said something like “I want to trade with more size to take advantage of good opportunities”.\u00a0 Request denied.\u00a0 The other two requests were more thoughtful.\u00a0 One was excruciating clear in its level of detail.\u00a0 Request approved.\u00a0 The final request was fairly detailed but had an erroneous conclusion.\u00a0 Partially approved.<\/p>\n
As an aside.\u00a0 The request that was denied was for a bump up from 600 shares to 1500.\u00a0 The one that received full approval was for an increase from 2000 to 3000.\u00a0 The request that was partially approved was for a request to increase from 2000 to 10000.\u00a0 Approved for 4,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"