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Last Atlantis Capital Management / Phoenix IBFO

Joined
1/9/11
Messages
28
Points
13
I'm really interested in becoming a trader.
I found a 5 year old list of trading firms and applied for many of them. Today I got a call from John B. of Phoenix IBFO, asking me to come to Chicago for an interview. The internship would be unpaid, but I would apparently be coding and trading their capital in the internship. I asked what the internship program is like and he said its sort of free-form.
Apparently I had applied to Last Atlantis, and they changed their name since then.
Here's where it gets tricky...
I googled Phoenix IBFO, and all that comes up are two things:
1. a placeholder-type webpage with contact info
2. a resume of someone who apparently works there as of March 2010

The resume is really strange.

I wouldn't normally have scrutinized it, but considering it was the most info I could get about the company online, I took a close look.
A few observations:
-It says he's presently a Forex and Option trader at Phoenix and a manager at Mikros Economics (His last name is Mikros).
-Despite the dates saying he worked there from October 2009 through present ("present" most likely being March 2010), it says his total number of trades is 12, and his starting date was in January of 2009 (January 23rd, not the 1st)
-he made a 200% gain in the first 2 months, then lost about 50% in another 2 months. This was before a flat spot in his graph. Seems really weird for someone who was constantly employed throughout that period. In fact, the whole graph is extremely high variance / high return, strange considering he was a risk manager for 16 years.
-He made this resume at 3:05 PM on a Friday in March (there's a timestamp on the second page). This means he most likely made this while at work? His graph also stops at about January 15th and flatlines. I thought at first that it might be a one-year graph, but that would go to the 23rd.

I checked Last Atlantis Capital Management, and quickly realized the reason they changed their name: the NFA issued a Member Responsibility Action ("MRA") against LACM
They then permanently withdrew from NFA membership. Interesting that they left their page online, not updated since Dec 2008...

Should I go interview? What should I ask them?
 
I'm 2/3rds of the way done with this MSMF program at BU. My technical skills are alright; I'm surrounded by geniuses though so I might be underestimating my abilities.
Yeah its not a great thing, but whats better for this summer: this internship, or working for my dad, an independent financial adviser? My ultimate goal is to become a trader...
 
I think you should steer clear from shady firms like this one (based on the info you posted). Your reputation is very important.
 
I met with Black Phoenix Research CEO Michael Elizondo. All the people seem really friendly. Unfortunately, public NFA records show serious irregularities at predecessor organizations. Thanks for posting these links. I decided to pass on this firm.
 
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