I was contacted by an ET Member who is begging to become a client, and I said "no", and he wanted a reason, and so I gave him the complete unvarnished truth. Now, I say "no" to many ET Members or other prospects who contact me because I am looking for a certain background in a client. Now this particular ET Member saved up about $25K and he claims that other "traders" tell him that being so young and being a Senior in High School is somehow an "advantage". My gut tells me that his "trader" acquaintances do not have his best interests at heart.
Now, this HS Senior is very intelligent and has excellent grades in the hard sciences, and an ACT score of 31 and even more impressive SAT's.
I thought I would post my response just in case any of his "trader" buddies wanted a good read. And to those persons I say please contract testicular cancer.
My reply email to the HS Senior:
XXXXXXX:
I am going to be completely honest with you. You are of the age where decisions that you now make can have drastic repercussions for you for the rest of your life.
Please keep in mind that I have been trading for 22 years. I started out in the CBOT Treasury Bond pits, and went electronic immediately as that venue started to become available. I have pit traded, traded my own accounts, and traded at a hedge fund. I traded commercially for the biggest energy company in the US. I hold a BS in Nuclear Engineering and an MA/MBA (dual degree program) from the University of Chicago.
Oh, and I have an 18 year old daughter.
1. The only traders that I have personally for myself seen "make it" trading straight out of High School were the sons of Floor Brokers and Floor Traders in the pits of the CME and CBOT a very long time ago. They were successful because they stood next to their fathers and they were spoon fed customer order flow on the sly that was denied to every other trader yelling out bids and offers in the pit. When things went electronic and their worlds collapsed they were left looking for a new career.
2. I am sure that there are some traders who started straight out of High School and are now successful, but I am also sure that they are far better capitalized than you are. Part of learning your craft is surviving and learning from mistakes, and mistakes in trading are always very expensive.
3. Any "trader" that you know who says that you are advantaged by being so young is a liar and does not have your best interests at heart. Tell them that I said so, BTW. And I have many clients and friends in the business who would agree completely. Six figure big swinging dicks. I've known them all for a long time and they would all strongly disagree with your "trader" friends. I call BS.
4. I do have some clients who start out with very modest accounts and who have done well in terms of performance. But you have to remember that I only take experienced clients. I don't take raw newbies. Those types of clients were typically scalpers or day traders who blew out, and then went on with their lives and started businesses or professions. They kept the "itch" and hired me years later because they knew that they needed a better way and a proven system.
5. Everyone who says that you don't need college anymore did not get a score of 31 on their ACT. I guarantee that. If they had, they would have gone to an Ivy League school and had their golden Willy Wonka Ticket for the rest of their lives and they would say that college was great.
6. Investment Banks and Hedge Funds hire out of Ivy League schools for very good reasons - it is a natural filtering process. They get 100,000 job or summer intern applications a month, and all of the applications get shit canned unless they come from a top ten school. Seriously. Every principal at every IB or HF or big Prop Firm is probably Ivy League or equivalent. They all hire out of their because they want the smartest and the brightest. Sorry, life isn't fair.
7. Go get a technical degree from MIT and you can trade anywhere you want using other people's money. You want a technical degree because that's what the IBs and HFs and big Prop Firms want. They want automation and computer programming and intelligent game theory logic and statistical savvy.
So, my point being, with your brains and academic creds please go get an Ivy League technical degree and at the age of 23 go start doing what every other trader wishes they could.
And that is my honest, straight from the heart advice.
Keep in touch,
Pete
Now, this HS Senior is very intelligent and has excellent grades in the hard sciences, and an ACT score of 31 and even more impressive SAT's.
I thought I would post my response just in case any of his "trader" buddies wanted a good read. And to those persons I say please contract testicular cancer.
My reply email to the HS Senior:
XXXXXXX:
I am going to be completely honest with you. You are of the age where decisions that you now make can have drastic repercussions for you for the rest of your life.
Please keep in mind that I have been trading for 22 years. I started out in the CBOT Treasury Bond pits, and went electronic immediately as that venue started to become available. I have pit traded, traded my own accounts, and traded at a hedge fund. I traded commercially for the biggest energy company in the US. I hold a BS in Nuclear Engineering and an MA/MBA (dual degree program) from the University of Chicago.
Oh, and I have an 18 year old daughter.
1. The only traders that I have personally for myself seen "make it" trading straight out of High School were the sons of Floor Brokers and Floor Traders in the pits of the CME and CBOT a very long time ago. They were successful because they stood next to their fathers and they were spoon fed customer order flow on the sly that was denied to every other trader yelling out bids and offers in the pit. When things went electronic and their worlds collapsed they were left looking for a new career.
2. I am sure that there are some traders who started straight out of High School and are now successful, but I am also sure that they are far better capitalized than you are. Part of learning your craft is surviving and learning from mistakes, and mistakes in trading are always very expensive.
3. Any "trader" that you know who says that you are advantaged by being so young is a liar and does not have your best interests at heart. Tell them that I said so, BTW. And I have many clients and friends in the business who would agree completely. Six figure big swinging dicks. I've known them all for a long time and they would all strongly disagree with your "trader" friends. I call BS.
4. I do have some clients who start out with very modest accounts and who have done well in terms of performance. But you have to remember that I only take experienced clients. I don't take raw newbies. Those types of clients were typically scalpers or day traders who blew out, and then went on with their lives and started businesses or professions. They kept the "itch" and hired me years later because they knew that they needed a better way and a proven system.
5. Everyone who says that you don't need college anymore did not get a score of 31 on their ACT. I guarantee that. If they had, they would have gone to an Ivy League school and had their golden Willy Wonka Ticket for the rest of their lives and they would say that college was great.
6. Investment Banks and Hedge Funds hire out of Ivy League schools for very good reasons - it is a natural filtering process. They get 100,000 job or summer intern applications a month, and all of the applications get shit canned unless they come from a top ten school. Seriously. Every principal at every IB or HF or big Prop Firm is probably Ivy League or equivalent. They all hire out of their because they want the smartest and the brightest. Sorry, life isn't fair.
7. Go get a technical degree from MIT and you can trade anywhere you want using other people's money. You want a technical degree because that's what the IBs and HFs and big Prop Firms want. They want automation and computer programming and intelligent game theory logic and statistical savvy.
So, my point being, with your brains and academic creds please go get an Ivy League technical degree and at the age of 23 go start doing what every other trader wishes they could.
And that is my honest, straight from the heart advice.
Keep in touch,
Pete
