90-99% of people who trade blow out their accounts- lose everything. If you can handle those odds I wish you luck.
I have a few basic questions about trading as a career...
- Thread starter Zelemont
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Quote from omcate:
It depends on the economy and your connections. One of my friends, who holds a Ph. D. degree from an Ivy League School, but no trading experience, joined a proprietary/quantitative trading team of an investment bank few years ago. They started him at $200,000 per year. Later, two of my friends with the same background(Ivy League Ph. D. degree, but no trading experience) joined two different hedge funds as traders. If you were a faculty of an Ivy League School, investment banks usually hired you at least as a VP even though you had no Wall Street experience.
That was the good old time. Things may be VERY different now.
But those Ivy Leagues phds are hired on just as "quants' NOT as traders. And no, they don't get $200K anymore unless they are pretty senior. Now fresh phds probably get 70-80-90K base plus bonus. The really good quants(i.e. professors or those with years and years of experience with unique models etc) might get 300-500K. Not bad at all!
though more and more quants are becoming traders b/c the products traded are way too complex for non-math oriented person. credit derivatives, exotic IR der, etc. But perhaps trading is overrated. Why put yourself through all the ringer? If you just crunch numbers and get half a mil? OK, so you might not be make $500M/yr like George Soros. But HONESTLY, what's your REAL chance of becoming THAT GOOD? Sure, everyone like to say AIM high etc. But honestly. the nature of the game is that only a handful out of the millions of people in the market that will have talents to pull $1B out of the market. Like the top .0000001%. So, it seems like these academics quants have the best arbitrage afterall. High paying, zero risk jobs.
LOL. what a scam.
a trader: that means you make money for the co or your gone: no salary no benefits nothing until you produce. Live with that.
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
It's not 1999 anymore and nothing like it. Those years are OVER. You cannot go by those standards because times are very different now, trading jobs at I-Banks are limited, competitive and less paid. The quant way is easier to take since less people are willing to put up with that boring & mundane crap in college.
There are very few "real" trading positions at i-banks. And even some of them are getting automated. People are working on automated market making. If that takes off, then a computer will make markets 24/7. No need for human traders.
Quants jobs are not easier. You are competing with the top ppl in terms of quant skills. Unless oua re in that sliver of top.5% or something it's not an easy gig. Long hours. But in the end, I guess they make more than us traders here. hehe.
Oh well.
No options.
real traders don't talk in absolute terms. they talk in %'s. everything in %'s, ok? what does this mean? well, obviously it means the real return is based off of more than just the ability to trade well -- its also based off the ability to trade large amounts of capital well.
if you are a good trader, there is no need to work for someone else. this is the whole point of being a trader!
certifications mean nothing to the markets. i know people who never went to college who are doing very well. what DOES matter is the ability to educate yourself and your understanding of statistics/math/probabilities, etc... as well as the ability to know YOUR weaknesses (too risk averse, too gung-ho, too impatient, etc..). and finally, you must be capitalized enough and have the TIME to go through a long period of learning and treading water.
if you can get past all of these and still not be insane or otherwise psychologically impaired, then you MIGHT be able to do it!
good luck
-funky
"Is this true?" No....
Trading is a business, not a job...there are no trading "jobs" --- if you start any business, the chances for success are slim... but, obviously, some ventures are better than others. Learn, learn, learn,....call about our College internship programs... you can get 3 or 4 units ...And learn about the business of trading....
Don