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I don't trade energies, but if you're talking about trading physicals, ask yourself these questions:
-Can you live in a multi-task environment, where you bounce from one issue to the next, sometimes bouncing back and forth within the span of a few minutes, and not go crazy? -Can you prioritize the needs and demands of various suppliers, customers, and logistics partners, all of who constantly want something from you, right now, not later? -Can you digest and analyze all the objective data that the market throws at you, from price levels to freight spreads to product availability, glean some measure of truth from it, and then realize it means nothing without knowing what the market is actually focusing on? -Can you make endless calls to counterparties, build relationships with them, and play an eternal game of cat and mouse where neither one of you wants to give away too much, but just enough to get some nugget of information in return that might make all of that objective data relevant, all while trying to actually complete trades? -Can you work with multiple personality styles, adapting yourself to relate to them, understand them, and work effectively with them? -Can you accept the fact that you will lose money, that losing money is sometimes part of the job, and not lose your sanity along with the money? -Can you accept that you will actually control, on a good day, 5% of what is going on in your world, and despite that fact everyone you deal with will expect you to control 100% of the process? -Can you accept the fact that some days you just get screwed, either through something you should have anticipated or through something you couldn't, and having accepted that you're screwed, keep fighting to fix the situation? -Can you come to terms with being immersed in the markets all the time, even when you don't want to be? -Can you live with the fact that, because you are always immersed in the markets, you may lose friends/family/significant others who cannot handle the fact that you're "always on"? -Can you live with the nights where you don't sleep, where you have that sinking feeling in your stomach that says you're missing something, and you stay awake for hours going over your positions and your to-do lists to make sure that you're not?
If you answered yes to all of these questions, then you're already working as a trader or a liar. You have no idea if you can do any of these things until you actually start doing this business--and there's far more than what I've listed here. If you want to be a trader, you have to take the chance that once you actually get there, it might not be right for you. And there's nothing wrong with it not being for you. If you actually work your way through the business, you will have plenty of opportunities elsewhere if the trading part doesn't fit your personality.
+1 SB
Bold. Very bold. SB'ed.
Or you're a drug dealer. Literally trading on the streets.
In the future, when someone asks "can I trade physicals" they should be directed to this post.
Its sort of like playing a video game, some people are naturally better than others, but with practice anyone can become decently proficient on a sellside desk. As long as you can treat pnl swings of millions of dollars without emotional impact, and like a very introverted job (i.e. theres a lot of time spent just you and your screens) then you can be good at trading.
BOTT1702, would you have a comparable list for a sellside salesman?
Nope. Only ever been a physical commodity trader, so that's all I'm really qualified to speak about.
Can you be able to get to work at 7 am and last the day without falling asleep after going out 4 nights running with clients? Remember, it might be your 4th night in a row, but its that clients only night out that week so you better make sure they have a good time..
Can you make up sh1t on the spot that sounds reasonable intelligent?
Can you make people think you are htier best friend?
Thats essentially it.
This actually made it to the front page?!
Why not?
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