Are financial programmers under paid?

Are financial programmers underpaid?

  • Yes, they sell themselves out too easily

    Votes: 73 40.6%
  • No, they are scum that are mostly lazy

    Votes: 39 21.7%
  • I am not sure

    Votes: 31 17.2%
  • I don't care

    Votes: 37 20.6%

  • Total voters
    180
Quote from nitro:

So then the answer is that we should all be traders, or at least aspire to be?

No. Just you and whoever else is whining about being underpaid.

Who will program our computers then?

You don't program mine now.
 
Quote from Random.Capital:
No. Just you and whoever else is whining about being underpaid.

Well, by the poll I would argue there is quite a few of them that feel this way!

You don't program mine now.

Tell your programmer about this poll/thread then. LMAO.
 
Quote from nitro:
So then the answer is that we should all be traders if we want to be paid consummate with our contribution, or at least aspire to be? Who will program our computers then? Will we all be required to have EE degrees as well to become traders? Don't laugh, that is happening as we speak. [/B]
In an open market people move from one opportunity to the next... If you want the increase that an EE would bring then do the work and get the EE.... You are not "required to have" or do anything. It is called freedom. The talent market is very efficient over the long run. In the short run there are some extremes but in the long run it is very accurate and self adjusting.

Wriston's Law Still Holds

Wriston's Law is named after the late Walter Wriston, a giant of banking and finance. In his 1992 book, The Twilight of Sovereignty, he predicted the rise of electronic networks and their chief economic effects.

Wriston said capital (meaning both money and ideas), when freed to travel at the speed of light, "will go where it is wanted, stay where it is well-treated."

By applying Wriston's Law of capital and talent flow, you can predict the fortunes of companies (and countries). All predictions about future performance must start with this most basic question: Do companies (and countries) attract money and talent, or repel it?

America's success for most of its history owes to Wriston's Law. Ambitious people and investment capital have always wanted to come here. America was a place where merit and investment could be rewarded--not just economically, but socially too. The rise of the American meritocracy after World War II coincided with the decline of Northeastern WASPs in America's social hierarchies. In the early 1980s, writer Tom Wolfe predicted that Silicon Valley would usually beat Boston's Route 128 in technology showdowns because Silicon Valley culture elevated the engineer and entrepreneur to higher social status. Thus Silicon Valley was a better magnet of talent.

America beat Germany to the atomic bomb in the 1940s because America welcomed talented immigrants--many of them Central European Jews--and Germany repelled them. It is appalling to think what might have happened if Germany had developed the bomb in 1943. The thousand-year Reich lasted only 12 years because Hitler rejected atomic science as a figment of Jewish minds.

America beat the Soviet Union to the moon in 1969 and then 20 years later to the Cold War's victor's podium because America had the immigrant X-factor. The Soviets did not.

The 25-year economic boom of 1982 to 2007 was built at the intersection of capital and talent. Lower tax rates on capital gains and income caused a miraculous reverse alchemy. Capital emerged from the dead hand of tax shelters and precious metals and began flowing to talented entrepreneurs in high technology. The capital flow from past to future acted as a magnet for the most talented entrepreneurs in the world, who came to the U.S. for the opportunity to build companies and get rich.

The reason for bringing up Walter Wriston and the late, great 25-year boom of technology, entrepreneurship and investment that was built on Wriston's Law is--very sad to say--that America has reversed course.

On immigration, America has made it harder for educated and skilled foreigners to enter the country and become citizens. As immigration policy goes, it should be a no-brainer to hand out green cards to foreigners who get college degrees in the U.S.

As for capital, well, America's tax burden is rapidly catching up to Europe's. I like Europe as well as anyone--as a place to drink coffee and loaf. I really enjoy watching this year's Tour de France on the Versus HD network on my 60-inch flat panel TV. France is really lovely, isn't it? But France is not where global free agents go to build tomorrow's dynamic companies. France rejects Wriston's Law, and so it repels capital and talent.

Not so very long ago, America was the destination for capital and talent. Now America is just one country among many competing for these precious resources. Our relative advantage in the world is declining. Nothing I see coming out of Washington is helping matters. Quite the opposite. Capital and merit are under attack.

American policy is working against Wriston's Law. As long as this continues, the American recovery will remain weak.

The alternative is to work for the government or a union with wages set by the central committee.
 
Quote from slacker:

In an open market people move from one opportunity to the next... If you want the increase that an EE would bring then do the work and get the EE.... You are not "required to have" or do anything. It called freedom. The talent market is very efficient over the long run. In the short run there are some extremes but in the long run it is very accurate and self adjusting.



The alternative is to work for the government or a union with wages set by the central committee.
I am not disagreeing at all with one word you say. Read the title of this thread

WE SELL OURSELVES OUT TOO CHEAP. Not that we don't have the freedom to do anything, etc. IT IS OUR OWN FAULT!
 
Quote from rosy2:

...

IMO, if you are in the trading world and you do not get a cut of the PnL then quit. There's no incentive to work otherwise. This is even more true in automated trading where there is no trader other than a clerk who watches systems run....
This post could have ended this thread, but it didn't!
 
Quote from nitro:

I am not disagreeing at all with one word you say. Read the title of this thread

WE SELL OURSELVES OUT TOO CHEAP. Not that we don't have the freedom to do anything, etc. IT IS OUR OWN FAULT!
The 'product' cannot improve price without adding some differentiatior... Or, through some sort of collective bargaining. Programmers will not join collectives (IMHO).

Nitro, did you give up on trading for yourself? I thought at one time you were making progress.... Forget the W2 world it is screwed; focus on the 1099 world, especially if you have an unconventional resume... Get back to work for yourself.... You must have learned a lot in the corporate setting.... You sound a little stressed about this salary thing. It is beyond your control..... Get back on your plan!!!

Good trading
 
Quote from slacker:

The 'product' cannot improve price without adding some differentiatior... Or, through some sort of collective bargaining. Programmers will not join collectives (IMHO).

Nitro, did you give up on trading for yourself? I thought at one time you were making progress.... Forget the W2 world it is screwed; focus on the 1099 world, especially if you have an unconventional resume... Get back to work for yourself.... You must have learned a lot in the corporate setting.... You sound a little stressed about this salary thing. It is beyond your control..... Get back on your plan!!!

Good trading
Back and forth between self employed trader and programmer, or both. I recently had the opportunity of a (my) lifetime, and we butchered it (it is not entirely our fault, but I can't go into it since I signed papers that I would not disclose.)

Stress is not the right word. For better or worse, I have always fought for the underdog. Even if I were worth billions, it bothers me.

I swear to you if I had a trading firm, my goal would be to make everyone rich that contributed. Probably why I am still poor. LMAO.
 
I'm a trader/programmer myself; but my experience with traders is different from yours, nitro.

The traders I've been around (the successful ones at least) have a strong tolerance for risk on top of a knack for analytical thinking; they do know quite a bit of things that the pure programmer types just don't understand. (Not saying that programmers couldn't learn it - it's just that most don't.)

In my experience, it's the traders with the true keys to profitability. They're the ones who come up with the strategies. Programmers just implement them (which is important, but not nearly as important as having the strategy in the first place.)

Furthermore, programming can be boiled down into something of an assembly-line routine. There's colleges and universities pumping out adequate programmers by the horde. That commoditizes programmers and makes them replaceable. There aren't equivalent education mills churning out good traders. Accordingly, it's much harder to come up with a practical strategy (with the proper risk parameters, etc) from nothing than it is to code a strategy once you're told how it works.

I certainly don't think programmers are overpaid, but I do think that (mostly) a trader's income is justified, given what he or she brings to the table.
 
Please don't take me for being a jerk, but the reason is because in general people who do programming / computers are pussies, they are just like women.

You often hear how men make more than women. IMO the reason is because women are generally more timid than men to ask for a raise, and for that simple reason they end up making less.

If I had a business and there was one employee where if they were to ask for a raise I'd give them a raise, but if they never asked, I'd probably never give.
 
This email blew my mind. For the first time, Chicago financial programmers are being offered $600k a year compensation.

I hope this trend continues. I know the economy is very bad, but accepting a programming position (let alone a financial programming position) even with minimal experience, for anything less than $100k, you are doing yourself a disservice.

I am of the opinion that any programming job starts at $100k compensation.

Hello xxxx,

I'm contacting you regarding an exceptional opportunity that may be a match for you. Beneath my signature below is a detailed description and position requirements. In summary, this is a Senior Software Architect (Development, Architecture, PM) position with a top trading firm in Chicago.

We presented a candidate for this position with a Trading Logic (black box / grey box) focus last week at over $600K in compensation. There are a number of opportunities available including Developers (C++/Linux) , Network Engineers (Cisco; latency specialty), and a Systems Support Engineer position. Salary and compensation packages are wide open because they will continue to do what it takes to attract the very best people.

This firm designs all software in-house to maintain the highest level of proprietary technology and trading edge. This is a dynamic technology driven organization with a team environment where people are excited to come to work. The firm is well established, well capitalized, and making a lot of money but still the size to take a leadership position at the ground floor. The dozen people we've placed with this firm tell us that the working environment and career opportunity are the big differentiators.

My firm is working directly with the President, CFO, and hiring managers for these positions. xxx has an established Trading practice and we represent clients including Prop Shops, Hedge Funds, VCs, and Private Eqs. on an exclusive basis. I would like to talk with you briefly in absolute confidence, and I hope I can help you personally in the future.
 
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