fast arithmetic and trading: a factor?

i understand maths is important when working with numbers in a highly fast moving/under pressure environment. no doubt.

im not going to sit the test, cus i know i wont pass it right now and u can only sit it once.. and i honestly dont want to relocate to amsterdam.. they have offices in london, but i dono why i gotta go to amsterdam..

eitherway, i want to trade for living and i don't care about anything else.. i feel i have a good system but im still too too imature to trade properly, its like im addicted to be involved somehow and make trades for fun and lose.. i just love action.. i just don't know how to restrain myself, i wish there was some overtrading rehab that could help.

of all the paper trades that ive made money on - none involved lightning arithmetic. all just pure fundamentals and basic probability.

i once tried to scalp and lost crazy. maybe quick maths helps scalping (i love to know how when its all directional) - and i love to meet a successful scalper.
 
Successful scalping has absolutely nothing to do with maths.

It's the hardest thing to learn and be consistently good at but as long as you have the connection speed and data feed it is the best way to make a lot of money very quickly.

Sounds like you need to start viewing trading as a serious business rather than an exciting game which can be profitable. Over trading is a hard thing to control without experience
 
smart people make money in the markets. people who score high on math tests also excel in many other things such as chess, poker, blackjack, video games, and even music composition.

great traders are keen on pattern recognition and can fire off thousands of correlations in their brain at any given stimuli.

afterall, speed is the name of the game in trading.

Quote from Batman28:

hi,

i know that a number prop firms who recruit trader trainees.. and I have attented 1 of these tests and have 1 with optiver coming next month - but im going to cancel it because I know what the test is like now and im not going to waste my time.

my question is this, seriously: do you really have to be a math-genius to be a good trader/work for these guys? i think its bollox.

what the hell does lightning arithmetic skills have anything to do with trading? sure you need to have a mathematical mind, and be good at math generally - but the people they look for are true geniuses.. I mean the test I sat before was like 80 questions in 4 minutes. and optivers test is even harder - 80 questions in 8 minutes, -1 for wrong answers, -2 for missed questions and u gotta get like 55 just to go to the 2nd and 3rd tests..

its just ridiculous.


For me, trading is most importantly a matter of good judgment. a math genius can never be a successful trader if he or she cannot make good judgements, has no sense of value of the product and timing.

now can anyone tell me how figuring out 45/35 - 23/53 in 5 seconds makes a good trader?

Thanks.
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Quote from let it run:

Fast arithmetic means nothing if you're trading, especially if it is in something like futures.

At Refco, ...
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I only trade futures.
Only superfast arithmetic helps. In fact, during trading, as I am much too slow to take care of this by myself, I have my computer handle this for me.

Don't forget, Refco mainly squeezes profits out of commissions.

:cool:
 
Quote from Lights:

smart people make money in the markets. people who score high on math tests also excel in many other things such as chess, poker, blackjack, video games, and even music composition.

great traders are keen on pattern recognition and can fire off thousands of correlations in their brain at any given stimuli.

afterall, speed is the name of the game in trading.
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This is exactly correct.
Trading is more about ** multitasking ** than speed math.

Also, the other point.

A person with the natural tools to be a great trader...
Will have a long history of trading, poker, blackjack, sports betting, games, etc...
Because they will be naturally drawn to other zero sum games.
They just find that stuff ** more interesting than anything else **.

Quite regulariliy I evaluate people as potential traders (not prop shop mooks)...
And now I just go straight for their zero sum game history.
If it's not there... goodbye... this does not ** really ** interest you.

rm+

:cool: :cool: :cool:
 
Quote from RedManPlus:

This is exactly correct.
Trading is more about ** multitasking ** than speed math.

Also, the other point.

A person with the natural tools to be a great trader...
Will have a long history of trading, poker, blackjack, sports betting, games, etc...
Because they will be naturally drawn to other zero sum games.
They just find that stuff ** more interesting than anything else **.

Quite regulariliy I evaluate people as potential traders (not prop shop mooks)...
And now I just go straight for their zero sum game history.
If it's not there... goodbye... this does not ** really ** interest you.

rm+

:cool: :cool: :cool:
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So, if I told you I played pool, poker, and bowled for my living for the last 10 years, you might be interested?
 
I saw Andrew Priston interviewed on Report On Business back in February, and when asked what he looks for in potential traders, he responded that he looks for those who are competitive athletes.
 
some of these questions are very, very easy and others would require pencil and paper and roughly 20-30 seconds. with only 6 seconds per question i would not waste time on a problem such as 43/53 + 64/21 which involves four operations.


Quote from Batman28:

from what i know,

80 questions in 8 minutes like 0.64-0.13 = ? or 0.0006 - 0.006 = ? or 14/7 - 28/7 = ? 453 x 353?

Correct answer = 1 mark
Incorrect answer = -1 mark
Missed answer = -2 marks

pass rate is 50-55.

the best way to prepare for this, is to make yourself sample questions e.g.:

45 x 27?
43/53 + 64/21?
0.43-0.001?

make urself 100s of questions like this and keep practicing until u get ur speed up.. for some quick calc tips see http://mathforum.org/k12/mathtips/beatcalc.html

they sometimes make it harder by using "," for decimal points in place of "." and using ":" in place of division "/". e.g. 4:2 = 4.

Then you get one sequences and series test, you have to recognize patters and, finally, you get more in-depth math questions.

u can only sit the test once and never again so if ur not prepared maybe u wanna sit it later.. i still think its bollox and i dont wanna relocate to amsterdam.

hope that helps.
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Quote from bellman:

some of these questions are very, very easy and others would require pencil and paper and roughly 20-30 seconds. with only 6 seconds per question i would not waste time on a problem such as 43/53 + 64/21 which involves four operations.
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He does not see that differentiation is the key to winning on the test with a low passing score of 55 out of 80.
 
Quote from gnome:

So, if I told you I played pool, poker, and bowled for my living for the last 10 years, you might be interested?
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No...
By including pool and bowling you demonstrated that you have problems with basic logic.
You missed the point entirely.

Perhaps you might benefit from taking Logic 101 or equivalent at your local community college.

rm+

:cool: :cool: :cool:
 
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