my son-in-law (recently) and a friend of his (6 months ago) are two of them
they’re also all over the web: on Youtube, in forums, on websites, etc.
here’s an example, and there are hundreds more like this, where this one came from and elswhere
there are thousands of them, but of course you can say that they’re all liars, all paid actors, or whatever else you want to allege but can’t prove
but that sounds a bit like a conspiracy theorist, doesn’t it?
When I am conducting due diligence, it is not my burden to prove anything, but instead it is my job to ask questions.
At last we are getting somewhere! 
Why should they appear here??? To talk to the negs like you who don’t and won’t consider anything other than their own opinions? That, unfortunately, is the norm here on BP and why many experienced traders do not stay here.
You yourself posted Ryan Brown’s videos concerning his prop live trading - why not go and ask him why he doesn’t post on BP and report what he is doing to you. Maybe even show you his bank accounts, too? There are many others on Youtube that I could post here who daily go through their prop trading - failures as well as winners.
Of course they don’t post here! If anyone is truly interested and has an open mind then they will go to them on their channels!! There is absolutely no reason or purpose why such a trader would come here! In fact, they would be doing a grave injustice to the typical BP novice if they did entice them to a prop firm!
Bit like wondering why the president doesn’t shop in your local market - must be cos he doesn’t exist, then!
If you are really interested then go find them, don’t expect them to come looking for you…
Of course they advertise!!! 
I’ve no idea about that, but I suspect even if he has and is willing to share you wouldn’t believe it anyway. You have already had more than enough evidence that prop trading is genuine (some you posted yourself!), even if there might be some bad eggs in there somewhere (remember: unregulated).
Again why should they!!! That would only be ego-tripping which is another unfortunately frequent attribute amongst some of the näive people here on BP.
In the real world, it is not a case that all traders are looking to make millions and drive green lambos. That is also a näive concept. Every serious trader is running their own business. They basically fall into two broad groups:
Some traders, of course, are doing both.
But every trader recognises their own comfort levels regarding risk exposure and capital management. These are two of the pillars of success. Every trader also recognises and defines their objectives in life. These vary a lot and do not always include just piling millions into the bank or lazing on some sunny beach somewhere - anyone who thinks like that is seriously blinkered about reality.
And most traders also recognise that purely trading at that level is not a life-long sustainable business and that they need to use the earnings to enter other, more stable, fields.
But, again, I see no reason why they should come here just to tell you all about it…
Go find them, talk to them (they are just ordinary people, like Ryan Brown), understand the business, try it if you want to get on the inside. I could give you some links to such people but, for obvious reasons, I will not do that. One thing they often have in common is a plague of jealous trolls, just like they would inevitably attract on a forum…
This is what typical scams say in response to someone that is asking too many questions.
They make arguments that make you dizzy trying to respond to it.
Its similar to circular logic.
They always have twenty circular excuses why we never encounter ANY of these thousands of successful “funded prop” traders in forums etc, but we only see them in flashy promo videos.
Yes, I would call this a conspiracy… a conspiracy to commit fraud.
not when you’re conducting due diligence, no
but it’s VERY MUCH your burden to prove things when you make opinionated, prejudiced, ill-informed and factually incorrect statements like the three quoted just below these words
i agree, of course
SovoS, i just want to thank you for all your attempts, here, to refute some of the prejudiced misinformation posted above
you won’t ever manage to convince silverf466 that he’s mistaken, but your posts are still a service to other readers who might otherwise make the mistake of imagining that he actually knows what he’s talking about
it’s not easy debating intelligently with sheer, blind prejudice and misinformation
Yes, you would…
Hi @flamingoproxy, thanks for the comment.
I haven’t been here for a few months but I think you have also been away? It is good to see you here? 
It is difficult to remain independent without sounding like an “interested and biased” party! 
I appreciate seeing all sides concerning issues on the forum - which is its purpose afterall!
I have looked into prop trading myself and the only reason I haven’t done so yet is that I see no advantage in sharing my profits. I have no ridiculous ambitions of earning those proverbial “millions” and I have sufficient equity in my account to run the risks that I am comfortabe with. I earn what I am happy with.
But there is one angle to prop trading that does interest me a lot. And that is the community that exists there. There is no BS, no trolls, and no pretending. You certainly cannot appear on their own sites and pretend to be a live trader!!! 
there is just own honesty and shared experiences and advice and help along the way. I am kind of drawn towards that environment (and this thread probably suggests why! )
Another reason why I have been looking into them for a few months is that trading is more than just making money. I am sure many traders thrive on the many challenges it presents. I am thinking the same.
The main drawback for me is that it is so open and public. I am a very private trader and share little. But this would not be possible with a prop account which is being monitored and evaluated as I go. But I am still pondering. I have selected the firm I would go with.
Not that I want to trade through one of these pay to play prop firms, but I am considering paying their minimal fee just so that I can be granted access into their discord or other chat rooms so that I can get a better picture of the person or person’s type that is in them.
That’s a great idea.
And I’m also considering looking up the physical address of ftmo, which I don’t think they make public, but if I were to crack that address and then check which corporations are registered at that address and then check if there are any lawsuits from that corporation either from or towards that corporation and then to call their tax authority and get a copy of their tax bill for the last year or two years or 3 years.
If I do that I should have a pretty clear picture if they’re paying money to traders or not.
I am finished here.
wrong again
they make it public and invite visitors, too
I already knew that, I was baiting you.
I looked at the ftmo contact page and it says that visitors should call ahead so they can meet me at the office…
…which means that they dont work out of that office…
I wonder if it is an “executive suite” month to month desk rental.
Before too long, I will have a translator hired to grill the other tenants in that building.
Yes, I enjoy this.
I must say, I’m enjoying the arguments from both sides here. And the fact that this thread hasn’t devolved into a bunch of insults and name calling does say something about its participants.
About this, my opinion is that I do believe there are a lot more people on this forum who have tried these prop firms and more than likely, failed. Because we all know how much people like to post about their failings on public forums (sarcasm).
I have no proof of this, it is just my assumption.
Experience tells me that losers dont typically announce their losses, but instead they lick their wounds and move forward.
But winners are another situation… they would be prancing around like drunken Cinderellas showing their sports cars, etc… I know that I would.
If you were winning big, you would all of a sudden acquire things, like a vacation house or that boat or whatever…
Dontcha know it.
Most people dont win big and then keep it on the cool like Warren buffet.
Out of thousands of winners, surely we would have at least five or ten showing their bling off here at babypips.
But I dont see ANY bling at all.
Ffs, maverickfx has been running that scam for a decade or more.
No bling at all, just fluffy testimonials by paid actors.
I think that is all an extremely good idea (with one exception)
It has been said many times here and indeed elsewhere that traders should always do their homework - and what you suggest is right on the nail! Excellent!
The one exception I mentioned is that I hope that you are NOT finished here. If you carry out such a thorough investigation then I truly hope you will report back on what you find whether it is good news or bad or a bit of both - I mean this sincerely, it is what a good forum is for…
I usually try to approach something with an open mind but I have to be honest that I smell scam written all over this thing…
The truth is if I were to go into that discord and I were to just sit there and lurk because I think I would have a month to kill right okay but even then that doesn’t prove anything.
If it’s not a BS scam, why don’t the ftml companies the Maverick FX companies the myforex funds why don’t they have their banking records and their tax records audited and certified by competence law firms and accounting firms and make those documents public to show that they are actually paying traders like they say they do.
Geez, if I could look at their tax records that showed that they paid out $6 million in profits to various traders I sure the heck would not be sitting here doing this b******* due diligence.
If that were the case I would be singing songs of praise to them but I still wouldn’t want to be a part of it because I think they’re trading restrictions are just ridiculous but that doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be a good opportunity I’m just saying I wouldn’t want to go that route but I’m saying right now my gut feeling and I’ve been around a lot of nonsense in this world my gut feeling is that it’s nonsense and that it’s paid actors.
They could resolve all of this by showing tax records by showing banking records that show that they paid out these moneys to traders.
If I take the time to research their office location and I find out it’s nothing more than a $75 per month desk rental, let’s just say that’s not going to be anything in their favor.
A typical executive suite rental actually in many cases allows someone to rent a fully furnished office for a day or for several hours which might explain why they say on their web page to call ahead so that they can arrange for that office to be open they can go in and put a few things on the desk and look like they actually work there that’s what I’m expecting to find I hate to say it.
of course you did; of course you did
that’s why you stated the opposite
i’m starting to follow your sense of “logic,” now
it means that to you
to others, who have visited, met some of the staff and published photos of them (and the offices there) on their blogs and in forums, it apparently means the opposite
but of course you “already knew that”
you were just baiting me
all of them, paid actors? wow, that would keep the acting profession busy (and destroy the reputation of any one actor caught/identified, that way)?
but of course you’d already thought that through
you were just baiting me
there is that, I suppose
i believe that, too
the published overall success-rates i’ve seen, some of them independently and reputably audited, have varied between 8% (FTMO) and 20% (TopStep) of the participants
no surprise there, given that there are almost NO entry-barriers at all and that when it comes to trading (just as with driving, and making love?) most people have an inflated impression of their own skills and abilities
as I always mention, when discussing this, i believe (but can’t prove) that most of these funding companies make most of their profits from the fees of people failing, and that some also regularly and reliably pay out sometimes substantial amounts to successful traders (my son-in-law was paid just over $3,800 by FTMO, for February)
Just FYI, when I’m conducting due diligence and somebody Badgers me telling me I’m foolish that I don’t know what I’m talking about and then if I would just do my research I would find out how legit they are that only makes me more suspicious.
It would be so easy to settle this and if ftmo and Maverick FX and my forex funds are truly legitimate providers of funded accounts for traders they could so easily satisfy these requests for due diligence and they would look like superstars.
I mean heck if ftmo was really rolling big dollars, they would have their own boat like this for the company and for their Superstar traders but they don’t.
Off topic a bit, I had a telephone interview with Miss Federica from audacity capital wow.
If she wasn’t working at some funding company she’d be a model in a heartbeat and she has this cute little French accent I think the interview could have lasted all day and I wouldn’t have cared.
you also, and thank you!
i was away for a long time
almost all my former friends here left for reasons very well aired at the time
there is that, yes
there’s also - for the small minority with a real, reliable, proven edge - the facility to trade pretty large amounts without risking any of their own capital at all, and I can certainly see the attraction of that
i did pretty exhausting and overwhelming due diligence on over 35 of them, late last year, before my son-in-law tried one
more than half of them i crossed off the list of possible ones for him within the first 3 minutes, but that still left a huge amount of work to do
to be honest, there are probably only 5 of them i’d touch with a barge pole (but i’m well satisfied that those 5 are honest and reliable)
all the rest I wouldn’t even use with silverf466’s money