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$400 daytrade margins for the ES - not good for the trader?
$9600 trading loss - you think goes to AMP?
Everyone working at AMP has trading floor experience - clowns?
AMP Trade Desk is managed by an institutional risk manager & ex-market makers - unknowledgeable?
The 24 hour trade desk Direct line - that is automatically given to all customers - you did not use?
Please call me directly: 312 893 7700
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
Fwiw, I've been with AMP for just a short time. My experiences:
-I've had to call the trade desk once, and they picked up and addressed things immediately, so that issue that someone at one time referenced has apparently been resolved.
-I also had a lack of response via email once, but it wasn't a biggie. Likewise when inquiring about commissions via their website. It seems like communication is the biggest problem for them; I don't know if it's being overwhelmed/not staffed adequately or what.
-Though another time, in setting up my NT, when the broker/contact couldn't help me he had a tech guy call me on the phone, and he was knowledgeable and helped out right away. So that was a good experience.
@Dan - the $9600 the other trader is referencing he noted earlier in the thread as being for a trade he hadn't placed; not that it was a trading loss, though perhaps you're stating the AMP position in that matter. Not sure if that was ever settled as to what had happened.
@Ilovetotrade - in that earlier post you commented on them letting you trade too many contracts overnight. Frankly, that's our responsibility to not do that, even if they let you. But to clarify, re: the overnight margins, that's to hold over night, from one session to the next. If you were flat at the previous day's close, and then opened a trade overnight, you weren't holding overnight, and weren't subject to the higher exchange margin. You were back on the intraday margin. What was the ultimate conclusion on the trade you said you hadn't placed? Any chance that was linked to the other problem you (and others) were having with NT not reporting your trades correctly? And has that been resolved? I try to generate a report in NT for more than one day and that doesn't work, either. But so far the daily trades have been accurate.
I hope that things have changed for the better at AMP, as so far I'm happy with the CQG feed and my experience with them, but some of the previous comments do make me nervous. Fingers crossed...
Seeing all the vitriolic posts in this thread I simply have to put in my 2c's. I have been with AMP possibly a month after they commenced operations and that is a very long time. Dan Culp has always been a gentleman (and calling him "lying Dan" will not change that) in his dealings. There has been problems related to Statement errors, Rates of Exchange errors and they have ALL been addressed in a timely manner. There were also errors on my part which at the time I did not realize were errors and so emailed AMP - I was explained very clearly where the error was and was satisfied. I am still with them and as of now have no intention of moving.
I feel that one's experience with an organization depends on the individual we deal with at that organization - till date I have had no problems with any of Dan's employees. Also, if a problem is not resolved, contacting Dan (email/phone) does get results - he is accessible. Most of us also know that communication problems lead to frustration which leads to issue(s) not being resolved. If there is a problem in dealing with one of Dan's employees, let him know very clearly and precisely what went wrong - let him deal with it.
Instead of us being "blog-tigers' and simply bad mouthing others (including personalized name calling), why don't we just put forward our experiences and leave it at that (as long as it is our genuine experience).
And to clarify, I am not employed or in any way reimbursed by AMP - just one of their clients!
I agree with some things you state, like we post our actual experiences and leave it like that, that is one reason for blogs like this, but when one gets wrong information in reply, one has to respond to that.
For example look at the response from Amp
1. $400 margins not good for trader? - I didn't say it wasn't good, said what good is it if the service is not there
2. $9600 going to Amp? - I didn't say it did, just got absolutely no help from Amp to correct the mistake
3. Just because they have trading experience doesn't mean that they know what they are doing, such experience that they argue with a client about the Russell symbol for trading and wrong margins are set on the account. And these were pasted on to Dan but I constantly had to get ahold of him - he didn't reply back to me
4. The 24 hour direct line - you might have now but DIDNOT have in the past, I have spoken to Dan on several occassions that he should have that instead of clients phoning in and never knowing who was going to answer and wait to be transferred to the right department. I have over 10 saved emails and over 20 saved screen shots saved on the computer regarding the matters discussed so can back up what I have posted.
BengalTiger I am not now but was a client at Amp and reported my actual real experience (otherwise I would be the liar) and have saved proof of what I stated. What Amp is like now, I don't know and can't comment. I hope for the clients sake that they have cleaned up their act.
You might have heard this, when someone has an experience and they get burnt, shame on the one who burnt you but if you go back and get burnt again, shame on you.
I just stated my experience (real experience) and people can take if for what they want to take it as. From other responses, others have had problems to (which means there are lots more as most people just don't bother to report their problems and don't know what they can do)
Anyone of us should be able to get the full correct information about who we plan to do business with so that there are no surprises. It is not only Amp but others have promised things that they didn't live up to and I want to know what they are so that hopefully I don't make a wrong decision. I am thankful for blogs like this where one can read and assess the information that is presented and they can treat it as they see fit. If after a report is made and a person gets burnt, they can't say they didn't know when they were warned. I wish I would have known that there are blogs like this, it would have saved me time and grief with some of my past experiences.
I have been with Amp for some time. I have a good experience with them, I have always received a call back from my Rep. usually within a few minutes if he did not answer the phone on the immediate call. Emails always returned quickly, trade desk support very good.
My Rep. has always cautioned me of the con's of low margins, gave me his opinion of certain markets ect. Has many times told me to not over trade, not over risk and stay away during the volatile times.
My commissions are very good, best I have found from any broker, now I will say they were negotiated by the trade room owner I belong to, but never the less they are far lower that I could ever get, or tried to find.
Personally I like the lower margins, if you like higher margins then bypass them, and go to another broker, simple as that. As a business owner you must be aware of all of your risks at any given time, even if the margins were higher, newbies would still blow out their account due to poor money management.
It is like buying a chevy, ford, chrysler, toyota. That every person is going to have a opinion, a experience good or bad, and take a favorite. You can never make everybody happy, some one will always have a gripe.
So try multiple brokers, test them and record the pro's and con's over a period of time. Eventually you will have your answer of who works best for YOU.
This statement is once again, way out of line of AMP's true business model.
AMP offers one of the lowest commissions structures out of all NinjaTrader Brokerage firms.
To the AMP actual customers, thank you for your support!!
It is good to be able to getter lower commissions or margins but if that is all you are looking at, then you are going to lose because lowest or lower commissions or margins doesn't give you success. Amp did give me low commissions but for the .80 per contract, it cost me $9,600 which covers alot of trades. What you should be looking at is the firm going to provide you the service that you deserve and lower commissions doesn't gurantee that. I am getting better rates at Optimus Futures than Amp and didn't move there because of that but because of some good reports I heard about them and they have provided a lot better service than Amp, they are not perfect but Matt will look after any concerns immediately. I know of 2 firms that offer even lower commissions but found them to be lacking in what I wanted, so don't buy into the lowest commissions, but look for the one that will follow-up on any concerns or problems that arise (which is hard to find)