master or no for trading- career advice

E

edward22245

Will doing a master in Financial Computing help with developing and trading algorithmic strategies as a retail trader? (not financial math but financial computing, course with focus on the computing)

Course is one year. Fee is expensive but I cannot use that money for trading. So the only opportunity cost is time (study time that could be spent developing/backtesting strategies).

I have two choices:
option 1) - do a master in financial computing, and continue with phd (or get a full time
job), hopefully with research topic that around using various techniques such as ML to predict time series in the financial market (I am not sure how applicable such research would be to trading my own account)
+ on my spare time (if I have any) continue working on my own strategies
(I would not need any job during my studies)

option 2) get a part time job + work on my own strategies

Hopefully either option would lead to becoming a self sufficient independent (systematic) trader, but which will be the faster or more reliable route?

Suppose for each week, option 1 would require 40 hours of working on my studies/research and 14 hours working on my own trading strategies. If 40% of the former is directly applicable to my own trading, then this sums to total of 30hours a week.

Option 2 will require 20 hours per week for a part time job. If I have 4 hours per day to spare, then I will have total of 28 hours per week for my own trading, which is still less then option 1.

Thanks for any advice in advance.
 
edward22245 said:
Will doing a master in Financial Computing help with developing and trading algorithmic strategies as a retail trader? (not financial math but financial computing, course with focus on the computing)

Course is one year. Fee is expensive but I cannot use that money for trading. So the only opportunity cost is time (study time that could be spent developing/backtesting strategies).

I have two choices:
option 1) - do a master in financial computing, and continue with phd (or get a full time
job), hopefully with research topic that around using various techniques such as ML to predict time series in the financial market (I am not sure how applicable such research would be to trading my own account)
+ on my spare time (if I have any) continue working on my own strategies
(I would not need any job during my studies)

option 2) get a part time job + work on my own strategies

Hopefully either option would lead to becoming a self sufficient independent (systematic) trader, but which will be the faster or more reliable route?

Suppose for each week, option 1 would require 40 hours of working on my studies/research and 14 hours working on my own trading strategies. If 40% of the former is directly applicable to my own trading, then this sums to total of 30hours a week.

Option 2 will require 20 hours per week for a part time job. If I have 4 hours per day to spare, then I will have total of 28 hours per week for my own trading, which is still less then option 1.

Thanks for any advice in advance.
More...
Unless you already have a large trading account, you should start with the assumption becoming a self sufficient trader (no day job) will not likely happen until many years down the road. You will need some sort of day job for living expenses and trading capital while you compound your account. Given that, your question should be do you want to get a job in the industry (i.e. quant at hedge fund, etc) or something outside of the industry. If you aspire to work at a hedge fund or IB, just be aware that sometimes they have rules against trading your own account. For my own situation, I have a really good paying day job and systematically trade futures (discretionary trade stocks) on the side and am able to compound my account.

What is your current focus of study and what coding experience do you have? The tech market is on fire right now...I have friends in various industries doing cool stuff with ML, non finance related. I could get you in touch with them if you are interested.

Good luck!
 
Your goal should be to get a front office job at the best quality firm you can : Goldman is at the top, certain hedge funds, jomorgan, Barclays, MS, etc

Go independent after 1. You have amassed so much wealth that failing as an independent won’t affect your quality of life, 2. You have sufficiently learned enough that you can trade independently without a significant learning curve, and/or 3. Your career has hit a dead end and this is your out.
 
qlai said:
I agree with above. I got a similar advice from a pro quant/trader once - get a job in the industry. Once there, you will know what courses you actually NEED to take. Of course I said, F that, that will take forever, I am going to make millions pretty soon. LOL.
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Hello qlai,

Fuck that quant shit and getting a job in the industry bullshit. Noone going to help you at the job get to 50 ES contracts anyway, and you will waste time in college and at the job.

Trade futures alone and scale up to 50 contracts.

That quant shit is bullshit and makes no money.

We trying to get rich quick, qlai.
 
The good thing about trading is - you may come from any background and become a great trader. You need to ask yourself the right questions and have the mindset.

At the other end, many with excellent education and intelligence fail at this.

If you want to do a masters - go for it if you are passionate. Any kind of learning expands your knowledge of universe. That helps in trading.
 
Go to college! You have no idea if this is something you'll want to do in 10 years. You burn out of trading, then what? With your Masters you'll open doors to all kinds of alternative uses that may well be 1000 more interesting than making money staring at a screen.
 
The tech industry is booming, if you have a degree that doesn't mean you will need a office job
you can freelance and also start your own business.
The market is not going anywhere, you can use your free time in colleges or the weekends to learn about trading and also build a sufficient capital to help you gain better returns
Don't miss out on college :)
Good luck buddy
 
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