Where are these traders?

So were the people on those floors actually "traders"? Or were they just order takers? Because there's a big difference.
 
So were the people on those floors actually "traders"? Or were they just order takers? Because there's a big difference.

Sounds like they weren't making markets.

The 1,400 people who could fit on the UBS floor made money in many ways. Some simply bought and sold stocks, currencies and bonds, capturing the difference between each trade. Other desks created financial contracts, or derivatives, that made it possible to bet on changes in interest rates or stock prices.

One former employee, Ric Elvir, now does day trading for himself, which lets him spend more time with his twin sons.

Great article.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/2...street-pulls-in-its-horns-in-connecticut.html

By browsing more I've read that their Sales and Trading internship program was almost exclusively in Stamford. A rotational program with two 3-week and two 2-week rotations across FICC (Fixed Income Clearing Corporation) and Equities. Their "Prime Brokerage" desk was in NYC.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_and_trading
 
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@Baron, I'm pretty sure it's about the prop desks. They've all been decimated at the banks... I would say most of those traders fall in 3 categories:

1 - made enough, doesn't care one iota about anything and enjoys golf, martini's on the beach etc.
2 - was smart enough to be picked up by hedge fund industry or set up their own firm with a group of colleagues
3 - wasn't that smart to begin with, doesn't have enough to do whatever and is now working 9-5 "real" job, probably in sales
 
So were the people on those floors actually "traders"? Or were they just order takers? Because there's a big difference.

I understand the question is rhetorical but there was a value add in terms of ideas on hedging or optimizing a strategy....
 
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