Best place to position myself in this industry

This is very cool. I have been thinking about a trek of himalayas for a couple of months now. I have never altitude climbed before, and my climbing techniques are rudimentary at best. Did you go on your own? Or did you went with a guide firm?

Quote from millydog:

here is one of me
 
I went on my own, I got done with my last final exam at 8:00 P.M on a thursday nite and then drove directy to JFK and was on a plane the next morning. Talk about being burnt out from school. I did not want anyone else going with me. I like to be independent and do things on my own. If you go with a group , I think it will suck. Slow people will be holding you back, and if you yourself are having problems you will feel guilty about holding them up. besides if you go like I did and just hire some shepas they treat you like a king. You will be able to change plans and see extra stuff if you want. You might find yourself 10 days walk from civilization and just want to bag the rest of the trip, I almost did at one point and not be able to if your with a group. P.M me if you want some information about good sherpa guides. Be careful, some guides are poorly trained , mine were the best. My head guide climbed on MT.Everest. Cho oyo, Ama Dablam, Makalu and other 8,000 meter peaks although he did not summit all of them. He climbed to 28,000 on Everest though from the Tibetan side, he had to turn back because 100 mph winds blew 7 people off the mountain.
 
Quote from sle:

Not true at all - every bank I know is hiring, Goldman especially. Smart people are in demand, dumb and obsolete people are getting fired. That's true in general, not only on Wall Street. And in general, Goldman has less to offer - their packages (esp. for juniors) are skewed to the lower side because of the name factor.

With a degree in math/finance, assuming that the guy is smart, he can get a decent job around derivatives. In a three-four years he'd be making his coveted 300+K. If he proves himself, he would be able to move to a trading spot (a few years away, if ever, of course). As a derivatives trader he can be bringing home anywhere from 300+ to a few MB.

This would be a riskless trade vs. joining a "prop" firm with up-front deposit (as opposed to a real prop firm where you get to trade OPM and have a salary).

Just bringing this up to date with the article in FT.

Where Next for Equities Traders?
By Sarah Butcher
20 Sep 2005
This isn’t a great time to be working as an equities trader. In the past four months, both Goldman Sachs and UBS have slashed U.S. equity trading teams by up to 10%. Recruiters warn of more cuts to come, and lower bonuses.

“There will be further redundancies for equities traders before December,” predicts Joe McCann, chief executive officer of McCann & Company, a New York-based executive search firm with a finance specialty. “When banks like Goldman and UBS make cuts everyone else has to sit up and take notice,” he adds. “By some accounts, there’s a 30% surplus of people trading equities right now: too many people have time to look at screen savers and chit chat about taking holidays”


Not trying to belabor the subject, it's just back up information for those still looking for "jobs" on Wall Street. I don't make this stuff up.


All the best,

Don
 
300K+ in 3 years?

That's ridiculous. The business/finance/math programs paled in comparison to the talent/people we had in the comp/elec engineering programs and we would be very lucky to get upto 100K in 3 years.

I chose the wrong career F$%##.

ozzy

Quote from sle:

Not true at all - every bank I know is hiring, Goldman especially. Smart people are in demand, dumb and obsolete people are getting fired. That's true in general, not only on Wall Street. And in general, Goldman has less to offer - their packages (esp. for juniors) are skewed to the lower side because of the name factor.

With a degree in math/finance, assuming that the guy is smart, he can get a decent job around derivatives. In a three-four years he'd be making his coveted 300+K. If he proves himself, he would be able to move to a trading spot (a few years away, if ever, of course). As a derivatives trader he can be bringing home anywhere from 300+ to a few MB.

This would be a riskless trade vs. joining a "prop" firm with up-front deposit (as opposed to a real prop firm where you get to trade OPM and have a salary).
 
Quote from millydog:
Hey guys
I have a unique situation.
..
Sorry, no, you're not unique.
Prospects at age 33 of becoming a well paid office stiff in broking are slim to nothing. Try by all means.

But trading .. forget it.
 
Don, I know I am nit-picking here, but while equity trading is going down the tubes on Wall street, other product areas (such as derivatives, exotics) are seeing rapid growth in hiring.

I am not sure I would generalize as "don't look for a job on wall street". Wall street is always expanding and contracting at the same time, one area (say, floor market making) would be in decline, while another would be in great demand (say, convertibles, or derivatives).

Being an ex-Wall Street person myself, I would warn against going into Wall Street for different reasons (career length expectancy, competition, back-stabbing, etc). But certainly not for "Wall Street is Shrinking".

Obligatory link to story:

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aS4ErR.gerMc&refer=news_index

Rufus

Quote from Don Bright:

Just bringing this up to date with the article in FT.

Where Next for Equities Traders?
By Sarah Butcher
20 Sep 2005
This isn’t a great time to be working as an equities trader. In the past four months, both Goldman Sachs and UBS have slashed U.S. equity trading teams by up to 10%. Recruiters warn of more cuts to come, and lower bonuses.

“There will be further redundancies for equities traders before December,” predicts Joe McCann, chief executive officer of McCann & Company, a New York-based executive search firm with a finance specialty. “When banks like Goldman and UBS make cuts everyone else has to sit up and take notice,” he adds. “By some accounts, there’s a 30% surplus of people trading equities right now: too many people have time to look at screen savers and chit chat about taking holidays”


Not trying to belabor the subject, it's just back up information for those still looking for "jobs" on Wall Street. I don't make this stuff up.


All the best,

Don
 
Quote from Don Bright:

We get 3 or 4 each month, you know..."I'm thinking about trading, I've been with SLK or GS for 5 years" -- No big deal, there's just very little need for any discretionary traders when they can run their algorythmic models.

Don


Mail room cuts?
 
Quote from riskarb:

Mail room cuts?

No, but if they were "mail room cuts" they would probably do better....salaried "traders" tend to be like Auto dealership mechanics....they're great in that environment, but take away all the "stuff" and see how creative they are....it's been a problem in the past. That being said, a good trader (not an order placer) will do well in whatever they choose to do.

All the best,

Don
 
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