How is Chopper trading?
What is the company's reputation? Seems very low turn over rate. Any comment on its algo trading group?
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I don't trust a company named after a dog.
The people I've met from there (more like I knew them in college) are smart people that seem to be doing well for themselves. From what I understand, they have some fairly successful people working there from other firms as well (ie GETCO). I'm not involved in the type of trading they do, but from people that are actually involved in trading, there have been mostly positive things said.
I'm surprised that people would leave GETCO for chopper. They seem like a decent firm.
What do you even do? Are you actually involved in trading at all or do you make baseless assumptions off of random conjecture on this forum?
Perhaps somebody is offered a compensation package they like better, less control over their trading, more BO support, or any other number of things. The whole idea about focusing on the individual firm is pretty much out of the window when you're past the clerking/TA phase because profitable individuals at all of these shops can and often do leave for others for arrangements they find more beneficial.
Is it easy to find a job in New York after a stint with Chopper in Chicago? How do we rate Chopper given DE Shaw is first tier? Is it more like third tier?
Also any comment on Chopper vs. Worldquant? Research(with trading potential at chopper) vs. PM at worldquant. Any favor one or the other? Thx.
I know a guy who went from chopper to fixed income trading at credit suisse in NYC. They are a decent shop but definitely not first tier.
Worldquant is a VERY good place. It got spun off from millennium partners, the multi-billion dollar hedge fund in NYC. Their office is in greenwich, headed by a brilliant guy named Igor Tulchinsky. They employ a lot of really smart quants and programmers. If it's betwen chopper and worldquant, it should be an easy choice.
I know a guy who went from chopper to fixed income trading at credit suisse in NYC. They are a decent shop but definitely not first tier.
(do you thing something like this would be feasible from transmarket group? what about into sales?
They don't do the same things. Frankly, questions like this just don't even make sense to me. If this is what you're worried about, you probably aren't going to be as successful as others anyway.
hahahaha this is awesome
Brady4MVP, thanks for the advice. the thing is that I heard Worldquant fires portfolio manager easily if you lose 3 month straight. How would you factor stability (and exit opportunity of the two positions) into the equation?
Jerome, who is running the algo team over at Chopper? Just heard they have almost zero turn-over rate, which made it hard to resist.
well, one has trading potential, the other starts you with trading, both doing algorithm trading.
I'm pointing out if somebody is concerned with their ability to move to NYC after a 'stint' with one firm in Chicago, they probably do not have their priorities in order to be a successful trader. Just my opinion.
Jerome, what is your thoughts on worldquant? Is it a good place to work?
WorldQuant is a hedge fund. Chopper is a prop shop (i.e. a real prop shop, not some arcade). Yes, they both rely to a significant extent on automation, but prop trading is pretty different from quantitative portfolio management. Do what you like better and expect to be more successful in.
More broadly, the discussion of "tiers" is misguided. Your prestige is your PnL. Firms in this industry rise and fall by the quality of their business decisions and the talent of the people who comprise them. There have been some fairly ridiculous upsets during the past two years alone.
Anyway, at most top prop firms it's largely at the group level. Asking 'who runs algo?' is just as misguided as asking what tier a firm is in. Or, for that matter, making a decision based on something as trivial as a name. It's about the people, the tech, and the opportunity set. Jerome is right.
this.
Chopper Trading - Anyone work or interview there? (Originally Posted: 11/17/2009)
Does anyone know if Chopper Trading is a good place to work ? Has anyone worked or interviewed there ?
Thanks.
no, it is not a good place to work.
they make you into a night trader, which basically the hours suck.
its better than nothing, but imo look elsewhere
Any idea what the 1st year comp tends to be before profit share of your P/L? Also, night trading isn't necessarily a bad thing if you are trading FX.
But anyway, why specifically do you say it is not a good place to work?
Any insight appreciated!!!
Night trading in general sucks because you are working at night... that's not exactly ideal for a life.
Sure, trading at night isnt ideal, however, nobody has said anything about what this shop is like in terms of culture, opportunity, PL %, base salary (if any), products they let you trade, starting capital, etc...
If the only drawback is trading at night then who cares? Clearly if you demonstrate the ability to make $$$ they would then let you trade whenever, right? Perhaps they want you to at first trade at night to avoid some volatility. But since we don't know it would be helpful to hear some actual INSIGHT.
Is that true for all positions that they turn you into a night trader ?
What else have you heard about them ?
Thanks.
The best shops start you off a night to learn because its less volatile..so its completely possible that you work at night while your training.. which is a bright idea...the other side to that is you work during the day doing ops and following people around for a few years before you even put your hand on the keyboard..... id take night trading to learn over being an ops guy for 2 years anyday...
but i never heard of your firm in particular.. i know it doesnt mean anything.. but the name of them soudns bad.. getting chopped up :
they are a fixed income prop shop.
the name is derived from the name of the owner's dog. no joke. when i heard this i was like... ok, dont do it.
but generally as a night trader you're watching the fixed income portfolio over the night to prevent any large movements from foreign movements. so you're kinda like a night-trader-assistant.
Zalfor
Thanks for the info. Any idea if they do much FX? The most volatility for Europe starts at 3am CST and goes until 11am CST. That might not be bad to be up at that time to catch some of the early moves from European economic releases...
Thoughts?
i honestly don't know too much more than what my friend did when he was there.
sorry can't help you with the other questions. i just know that they do rates trading. FX goes with rates, so probably, but that's just me making a random guess.
the good is that you do get a base salary (somewhat respectable too)
the bad is that you're working at night. =(
the ugly is that the name is derived from the owner's dog. =|
Night trading > ops > walmart > Unemployed. Stop being picky people get your foot in the door first. A lot of people I know have done night shift trading for periods of time its part of paying your dues.
del
I know a guy that's been there for a few years and seems to like it. Yeah, he started at night. So what? You're low man on the totem pole when you first start. Management seems pretty cool - even picked up my bar tab a few times.
I heard Chopper Trading is a great place to work. You do start off at nights but after a year or so you go to days - a small price to pay for the money you can make after the year is over. I also heard Chopper Trading has a super cool office space with a big game room and a work out facility.
Can someone ban this person?
It's pretty obvious that someone at this shaddy betting parlor is setting up multiple accounts and posting lies.
I'm pretty confident that Ann works for Chopper Trading.
I interviewed there back in 2006, and they were the most unprofessional firm I've ever dealt with. The recruiter (she's now a VP there) was totally absent minded, did not return phone calls or e-mails, and was just terrible to deal with. The interview was a joke. The CEO of the firm (he's Indian descent, forgot his name), upon learning that I played a lot of poker, challenged me to a heads-up match in the middle of the interview. I beat him soundly.
They never got back to me, and i pursued other opportunities.
What can you learn there that you can not learn anywhere else?
Chopper is set up so that each trader has their own book. Everyone is pretty much trading their own way.
Takes a very long time to hear back from HR. Nights suck but if you really want to be a trader you live for this sh$*! You think Paul Tutor Jones would have made a dumb comment like that in his 20's? Anyone in the business is here for one reason. To make money!!! So if you are worried about the hours go be an analyst for some insurance company!
Chopper Trading: tech questions for interview? - Experience? (Originally Posted: 01/19/2011)
Hey guys,
Have done as much research as possible on this firm, but thought I would ask here. Only real thread on here is BS.
Anyone have any experience with their tech questions? I'm pretty good with the behavior and fit stuff, but was wondering if anyone has any ideas on their quant stuff.
To expand on this: I know how to do every question in Heard on the Street. I know how to do EV, Dice, Cards, Coin Flips, and I've done every question for "trader assistant" on glassdoor. You can check, my name is on most of the ones that were unanswered ;). Does anyone with experience interviewing with firms have any more questions they know? Ones that most haven't seen or anything? Just looking for more prep and such, and any info or insight on the company as well.
If you search the forum then you can find tons of brainteaser questions, but if you are comfortable with all the HOTS questions and glassdoor then you should be fine.
Judging by their site logo and the recent info on them you should probably focus more on dog trivia rather than tech questions
Hahha, thanks for the good words. I still definitely am looking for more problems I haven't seen in the mean time.
Go take the Optiver test before chopper.
How do I go and take the Optiver test?
http://www.elitetrader.com/vB/printthread.php?threadid=66942
did you get an interview with chopper? when'd you apply and when'd you hear back? i applied recently and am wondering if they've started accepting/rejecting applications
Hey,
Yes they have been interviewing me. I'm on my 4th rounder at this point, and flying out to the firm the 9th/10th.
It seems like a very legitimate place, and I am not sure on if they are still interviewing new candidates and such
Chopper Trading Phone Interview (Originally Posted: 07/24/2014)
Would love to hear anybody's thoughts on this, what they might ask, what I should prepare for, etc.
Thanks in advance. Happening tomorrow.
Stuff from Heard on The Street, market opinions/observations, and a little behavior stuff. They wont have Jane Street tier questions if that's what you're worried about.
Alright, sounds about right. That's basically what I was trying to ascertain. It snuck up on me quite quickly, I had just heard that this was going to happen yesterday.
Currently just trying to maintain my normal level of current events knowledge and formulate some ideas.
Just wanted to update this in case anyone wants to know...
Phone interview was pretty standard, just spoke about my current work experience to this point, why I'm interested in trading, whether or not I've done any trading, short conversation about what I studied in school, other stuff that goes along with those topics.
Also spoke about the training program, how it works, and I asked some questions about that. Nothing too crazy, really just a way to get a feel for who I am I guess.
Chopper Trading? what do they trade? (Originally Posted: 09/17/2010)
anyone know what exactly do they trade?
They trade a lot of different products, like most places.
i interviewed with them a few weeks back , pm me if you have any questions libra
Chopper Trading? - Culture and exit opps (Originally Posted: 01/08/2009)
Hey, does anyone know anything about Chopper Trading? Compensation? culture? exit opportunities?
Thanks!
They're recruiting for the Assistant Trader Position, specifically
Anyone else have any information? About interviews also? Are they technical? Fit-based? Thanks
Bump, interested as well. Other threads don't really address these questions much (besides trading at night, which I am already willing to do).
Chopper Trading - Anyone worked at OR? (Originally Posted: 01/26/2010)
Has anyone heard of them OR know anyone working there OR has interviewed there OR worked there?
Care to share what you know or have heard about the firm please? (interested to know stuff like interviewing process, selectivity, culture, salary, career progression, etc. all the usual stuff)
They are a a prop firm at Chicago and are hiring experienced day traders or college/grad school kids for their night trading assistant position. They also have a bunch of quants and software engineers.
It's a fixed income firm, just mediocre.
They suck.
From what I've heard from someone that interviewed there you should stay away.
I talked to them at a career fair. Was very unimpressed
thanks people for your input. but do you think you could substantiate them please?
Did you guy hear about Consolidated Trading?
Thanks for sharing very interesting and nice thing....
http://www.stockrich.com/
Everyone just talks about "I hear it's very terrible".
I wouldn't take the comments very seriously, that is until you get some facts.
Examples are always nice to justify opinions folks.
Chopper Trading Algo? (Originally Posted: 02/24/2012)
Hi everyone,
I was wondering about Chopper Trading's form of "trading." Are they automated? Semi-automated? Click trading? And if they are click trading, or rather, for any click trading firm, what is the discrepancy between the developers and the traders? Are they paid differently / treated differently?
Thanks!
All of the above; several different units/groups. Expanding pretty quickly atm.
Developers are not traders, so obviously their work is different, but a friend who interned as a dev there this summer enjoyed it and built some pretty interesting things. They also seem to pay quite well for talent, esp. on the infra side. Currently the company is placing a lot of emphasis on recruiting more engineers.
Chopper Trading - Average junior trader (Originally Posted: 07/04/2010)
Hey everyone,
Has anyone here had any experience with Chopper Trading? I am offered a Trader Assistant position from them and also an offer from Bloomberg (Financial Software Developer) but have not made up my mind yet. I have always loved to become a trader one day but I am very worried about the current economy.
Also, how much does an average junior trader, one year out of training program make in a decent prop shop?
Are you seriously asking whether you should take an offer in a field you want to go into or one that is very unlikely to lead you there? Accept Chopper. You can always work for Bloomberg later if trading doesn't work out for you -- at least, it would be easier to do that than the reverse.
Chopper, period.
I can write a book on why. Just do it.
Chopper is a terrible prop shop. I interviewed with them a few years back.
look, you're either
1) going to work at a place in the industry you want to be in
or
2) going to work at a desk job not in the industry you want to be in.
regardless of how good or bad chopper is, the decision is clear.
besides, chopper isn't that bad, they pay you a base salary, offer bonuses and give you some sort of training.
Chopper Trading 2013 (Originally Posted: 09/10/2013)
Looking into this prop firm Chopper Trading. There is some discussion of them on here but not much recently.
Has anyone broken in there or know somebody who has? This company seems to be newer and growing quickly, has it earned a respectable spot within the prop trading universe?
There isn't too much on the regular internet about these guys.
I think they're ok. Not an arcade but not elite/established either.
good firm, owner is squirrely.
They're a respectable shop. Not the top-tier but definitely not awful; they will pay you a decent base, provide some training, and give an annual discretionary bonus.
The owner is an ultra-liberal who has a huge chip on his shoulders because he did not go to an elite college.
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