Well I've been there before (if only for a brief time), and what I am getting at with this question is that I can see the possibility that I will get there again and still be quite clueless as to exactly why these ticks go green or red on my screen day in and day out. Wouldn't a glimpse behind the scenes be worth something to any of you who perhaps have spent years guessing (profitably) at the periphery, gleaning clues from derivations of derivations, to actually get a peek behind the curtain, so to speak?
Would you rather make 3 million on your own or half that as . . .
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Well I've been there before (if only for a brief time), and what I am getting at with this question is that I can see the possibility that I will get there again and still be quite clueless as to exactly why these ticks go green or red on my screen day in and day out. Wouldn't a glimpse behind the scenes be worth something to any of you who perhaps have spent years guessing (profitably) at the periphery, gleaning clues from derivations of derivations, to actually get a peek behind the curtain, so to speak?
Let's put it this way, in a trading week, if you and/or your system successfully picked every tradable twist and turn on the Euro in real time (i.e. the 20+ pip moves) would you show your methods to anyone? You think Kovner and Cohen would? Why? They know such stuff because they have been there 1000 times before and so have a feel about a situation. How do you teach that?
@#$% the intraday noise - who cares, lifes too short to waste time on that stuff, leave that for the academics to pontificate about.
The guys on the trading desks where I work, for the most part, would love to trade as an individual, and most aspire to do just that. I do research for the most part, and would like to trade, but would prefer to skip the middle part of becoming a guy at a desk just doing what he is told from the team leaders. However, most people tend to get comfortable with their paycheck, whether or not it's going to be coming for any long period of time.
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I prefer isolation. I am my own boss.
If you think once you sit on Cohens trading floor he will babysit you and give you a hands on tutorial like Budd Fox got one from Gordon Gecko then you're dreaming. People think they "learn" so much working for others. 999 out of a 1000 times they are wrong. Working for others blinds your senses.
In reality they become dependent on their income, get a house & some 20 year debt and are unable to quit their job due to financial restrictions. They become slaves without realizing it and guys like Cohen are geniuses at exploiting that.
If you think once you sit on Cohens trading floor he will babysit you and give you a hands on tutorial like Budd Fox got one from Gordon Gecko then you're dreaming. People think they "learn" so much working for others. 999 out of a 1000 times they are wrong. Working for others blinds your senses.
In reality they become dependent on their income, get a house & some 20 year debt and are unable to quit their job due to financial restrictions. They become slaves without realizing it and guys like Cohen are geniuses at exploiting that.
I'd make a distinction between going off on your own and collecting OPM for your own hedge fund, and really going out as an individual trading his or her own capital. I honestly don't know if what one generally learns at a desk is really helpful for trading individual capital -- what you learn to do with institutional money behind you and what you do with your own personal dollars are 2 different stories imo. Of course this is just a generalization, not like I would really know firsthand.
Perhaps that is closer to reality in general, but I was referring to being part of a team and employing larger scale strategies that are just impossible to do as an individual trader.
I know the proposition is unrealistic but it's just a counterpoint to the other thread -- there must be a few out there who are kind of burned out trading from the isolation of the living room, money notwithstanding, and have some urge to "broaden" their horizons, so to speak.
What I guess I am saying bottom line is that there must be something about the game itself that grabs us, aside from the money, which keeps us going through all the adverse times -- and perhaps some of us would be willing to sacrifice some numbers just to get closer to the game itself?
Money? Sure. But it's also about the independence. And anyone trading from home and making 3 million a year can derive some satisfaction from a job well done, as far as intrinsic rewards go.
