Welcome to NexusFi: the best trading community on the planet, with over 150,000 members Sign Up Now for Free
Genuine reviews from real traders, not fake reviews from stealth vendors
Quality education from leading professional traders
We are a friendly, helpful, and positive community
We do not tolerate rude behavior, trolling, or vendors advertising in posts
We are here to help, just let us know what you need
You'll need to register in order to view the content of the threads and start contributing to our community. It's free for basic access, or support us by becoming an Elite Member -- see if you qualify for a discount below.
-- Big Mike, Site Administrator
(If you already have an account, login at the top of the page)
Yes chat is archived so you can always check the logs if you miss the day. Room is always open but busiest during market hours. In fact FT71 was just in there talking a client through their trade 30min ago (midnight est). I think you will like them, I know I do.
I've got a few questions regarding FT71 aka Morad Askar, mainly regarding his trader history and current status in the professional trading world. Im mainly trying to find out answers to the questions about some information i have found and not found about him, his prop shop, his current brokerage and his associates . Im not making assumption, just curious to what your thoughts may be ?
But First off I would just like to let you all know:
I'm a big fan of FT71
He is a great teacher
His concept of teaching a man to fish, rather than giving him a fish is great.
I've watched a few of his webinars and I am really interested in what he teaches. I'm in the process of signing up to Vankar trading corp to better understand the processes of becoming a better disciplined trader. One of the great things about joining Vankar is you have more access to FT71's weekly interactions and seminars.
However:
I have a few questions that Im a little confused about and don't really know how to interpret them. I was hoping I could get your thoughts and views about some of these questions I have about FT71 (Morad Askar) ?.
Executive Vice President
Vankar Trading Corporation
May 2011 – Present (1 year 7 months) Greater Chicago Area
Principal in charge of online trading division. Created a brokerage and client education model that is unparalleled in the industry. Implemented the vision of an "unparalleled brokerage and trading experience" for clients, CTA's, automated execution traders, program traders and others. Negotiated deals with FCM's and other clearing firms to accommodate client needs. Made large strides towards being the benchmark in institutional, automated and discretionary trading service provider. Conceived of the idea of applying a proprietary trading model to clients learning how to trade or struggling to overcome their trading problems. Successfully created a loyal client following and a structured education environment void of gimmicks.
Principal and Trading Partner
Collaborative Strategies Group, LLC
March 2011 – Present (1 year 9 months) Greater Chicago Area
Collaborated on the structuring, implementation and development of automated trading strategies. Managed resources available to code and test strategies as well as the other members of the group.
Found and Board Member
NAAP-Chicargo, Inc
January 2008 – Present (4 years 11 months) Greater Chicago Area
Facilitated meetings for various committees to plan community service/volunteer events for our members. Collaborated with other members to register NAAP as a 501-c-3 tax-exempt public charity. Implemented and maintained book-keeping procedures and detailed accounting records. Conducted meetings, elections and other events for persistent growth of our membership roll. Also, raised funds to cover operating expenses through my personal trading and education activities online.
President
Kandalaya Trading Inc.
January 2003 – May 2011 (8 years 5 months)
Proprietary futures trading firm at the Chicago Board of Trade.
Proprietary Trader
Matrix Trading, LLC
2002 – 2003 (1 year) Chicago, IL
Traded electronic futures profitably. Trained traders and provide support to help them achieve consistency in their trading.
Trader
Schonfeld Securities
Privately Held; 501-1000 employees; Financial Services industry
October 2001 – December 2002 (1 year 3 months)
Daytraded NASDAQ securities.
Superintendent
Kiewit
Privately Held; 10,001+ employees; Construction industry
1999 – 2000 (1 year) San Juan, Puerto Rico
In charge of a large portion of a $350MM design-build subway tunnel project in Rio Piedras. Managed cost projections, budgets, crews, engineers, crews, materials and equipment. Wrote work plans for each operation and resolved design issues.
Project Engineer
Kiewit
Privately Held; 10,001+ employees; Construction industry
1995 – 1999 (4 years) Various projects in Baltimore, DC, Boston, Pittsburgh & Puerto Rico
So What I did was Looked into some of this information:
1. Morad Askar
President
Kandalaya Trading Inc.
January 2003 – May 2011 (8 years 5 months)
Proprietary futures trading firm at the Chicago Board of Trade.
ELECTRONIC CORPORATE MEMBER FIRM APPROVAL effective August 3, 2010 ?
and on the other form what is meant by :
ELECTRONIC CORPORATE MEMBER FIRM WITHDRAWALS effective july 15, 2011 ?
2. Before Running Kandalaya Trading Inc he worked as a prop trader at:
Proprietary Trader
Matrix Trading,LLC
2002 – 2003 1 yearChicago, IL
Traded electronic futures profitably. Trained traders and provide support to help them achieve consistency in their trading.
What does it mean if Morad Askar Vice President Of Vankar Trading Corporation does not have 10% or more financial interest in the brokerage ?
Vankar has had a regulatory action taken against them, Is this something that is the norm in the Brokerage world or something to be aware about ?
4. Now if you do a search on Morad Askar: link below
It mentions STAGE 5 Trading Corp which is owned by Lena Elkhatib Andrun.
Morad and Anthony Giacomin are chief operating officers and is NFA Pending as of the 08/28/2012. And Morad has less than 10% interest in this corp too. Is this a good or bad thing ?
Anthony Giacomin, whom some of you may already know, very polite awesome guy. What I'd like to understand because im still not familiar with allot of the business side and regulations of brokerage firms is, why when you do a search on NFA, It mentions associate member is withdrawn?, forex associated person is withdrawn ? (link below)
Morad is a great guy and seems very giving however, why if he's the vice president of Vankar Trading corp does he not have any financial interest in the company ?
I cant find any information on his prop firm Kandalaya ? maybe im not looking in the right areas.
I also cant find much information on Matrix trading, LLC which has no current status ?
What does all this mean?
Is it due to business structure for tax purposes ?
Is he really wealthy and chooses to spend his spare time helping others traders. He runs futurestrader71.com, he is the vice president of Vankar trading corp, manages clients ,trades himself, runs his prop shop ( maybe still operates it) and has time to conduct webinars on a weekly basis.
These are simply just questions, im not implying anything just would like to know your thoughts and opinions on what this information means ?
I was alerted to this post and thought I would take the time to chime in before others filled in the blanks or answered questions with incorrect information. My replies are in BLUE below.
If you have further questions, I welcome you to write to me by going to this page: Contact | FuturesTrader71.
There is nothing extraordinary about my past other than that I have been in this business as a professional trader from the start. Brokerage is a means to an end and not the end itself. This is why I have no interest in owning VanKar.
Under NO circumstances will a broker that I'm working with trade on someone else's account. This is against the law and introduces tremendous liabilities that only the most reckless broker would take. We CANNOT take power of attorney on an account. We can close positions for clients at their request or to protect ourselves for risk purposes, but I will not trade a client's account nor am I interested in watching their every trade.
Hope you are feeling better. The other interventions were with clients from whom I don't have permission to post information about their trading or account, so those are not available to the public. Jodie was kind enough to make hers open to the public.
Because SHE is required to exercise discipline. We keep margins high to protect people (I personally believe that $500 margins are a gimmick that helps brokers and can be fatal to traders). The goal here is for her and all traders to respect the fact that they have to exercise control.
Think of an alcoholic as an analogy. You can hide all of the liquor from his/her environment but until he/she decides to stop, then it is not something that can be resolved. The market convinces most people to stop disrespecting risk and ignoring good discipline. The market teaches this one way or another.
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer all those questions, I really appreciate that.
"Anthony and I still have a single-pointed mission to build the most comprehensive and trader-oriented brokerage and trader education program in existence. It just takes time and a whole lot of work. Can't wait until it is in full bloom." - I think this is absolutely awesome and cant wait to be part of this.
You gave more than enough clarification on my past questions and im not looking for anything further, Thank you once again. I do however just have 3 more questions regarding your plans to Disassociate yourself from Vankar maybe in the near future if you don't mind?
I would just like to know what you mean by disassociating from Vankar ?
If you're going to maybe be disassociating from Vankar, will we still be able to receive the same benefits from you ?
and if so would it really matter which brokerage we're with ?
Disassociate means that I will no longer be working with VanKar and will be working with a new company named Stage 5 Trading that is being built using the values and goals that Anthony and I want for the industry. We will be in full control of how we move forward and will be fully focused on fulfilling our vision as stated above. Right now, we are distracted by many things relating the current brokerage we are with. We don't want that anymore.
Under Stage 5, the benefits are greater for the reason mentioned here. More control, higher ability to execute our plan. We can put resources back into building the business rather than to pay another partner. This is an overall benefit to the traders.
Yes, it does matter. My experience is that brokerages are not all the same. In fact, I don't like how brokerages are run AT ALL. I look forward to fulfilling every part of our vision and goals. It is time that the futures industry put the trader first.