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Money
 

Networking and business

Truman's picture
(Chimp, 10
 
Points)
 on 5/8/13 at 9:29am

Hey guys!

I've been thinking about this quite a bit. I see everywhere here on WSO that you gotta network to get somewhere in banking or whatever career path you've chosen. Why is it like this? I do not understand, it seems to me most MDs and alike are assholes that nobody wants to talk to unless they have to, you don't have to have some genius-like social skills to be a great salesman, or banker for that matter.

Why has business evolved toward this? I would keep business about business first of all and not care about making friends when dealing, that just seems stupid to me. Put all the time in to go to events and all of that, you could've spent it improving yourself and working hard toward what you want!

Leaving Banking. Fold.

anonymousman's picture
IB
 
Points)
 on 4/28/13 at 7:08pm
Stephen Ridley Fold

When I was in banking, I lost nearly £17,000 spread betting on the Goldman Sachs SEC trial. I lost another gut wrenching chunk of money in Vegas playing poker with the big boys. Sucks right? But "life is long, I'll win it back".

And so I went on, and yes, from time to time I also made healthy profits spread betting and gambling, if ever there was a difference. From time to time, I still dabble. The truth is I'd been gambling all the way through my late teens and through university, in fact more than half the draw to banking was the 'make a fast buck' appeal of it. The rush of free money, of free surplus, of sudden rockstar freedom.

Is Being an Atheist Bad for Business?

Hooked on LEAPS's picture
ER
 
Points)
 on 3/26/13 at 8:36am

I personally believe religion was created as a means of social control and people bought into it and continue to do so, because it gives an explanation to the most basic human questions. Why are we here? What happens when we die? Are good people rewarded for good deeds in the after life and bad people punished?

Guess what? There are no magical fairies up in the sky to help you answer all those big questions. We are here because of an improbable set of events that allowed us to evolve. When the blood stops flowing to your brain, you die. Being good or bad in this life does not change the inevitability of death.

Why bother being good?

anonymousman's picture
IB
 
Points)
 on 3/23/13 at 10:30am
WHY-BOTHER.png

WHY BOTHER BEING GOOD?

Everyday the newspaper tells the same depressing stories. Youth crime, corporate tax-avoidance, dishonest lawyers, selfish bankers, mass genocide, needless wars, countless violent acts of extreme hatred, rape, oppression and corruption, right down to the cheating footballer’s wife, as told in the lying gossip magazine.

I don’t read the tabloids too much. I’ve come to realise that when people hear over and over, day after day, about bad things, it seems that they start to think that they are justified in being a little less noble themselves. ‘That’s just the world we live in’ – ‘everyone’s taking drugs’, ‘everyone cheats’, ‘everyone gossips’. The media makes celebrities of the worst of us, and subsequently, over time, people feel excused to drift into moral grey areas, asking ‘Why bother being good when everyone else is bad?’. Well if we can’t answer that question, we’re heading for a very dark world indeed, and so that’s the question I want to answer in this article. Why bother being good?

Why did you leave you job question? Why do you want to work here?

John Daggett's picture
 
Points)
 on 3/15/13 at 11:37pm

I am having trouble with these questions because the only answers I can think of are money and a strong desire to fit in. I could say that I want to keep moving up, but that translates to money.

Fun Things I Discovered While Perusing the Compensation Database

TheKing's picture
O
 
Points)
 on 3/15/13 at 2:30pm
Money Stacks

So, I've taken some time to peruse through WSO's 2013 Compensation Database, and it's honestly awesome. I've been on WSO for a while, from my time as a bright-eyed undergrad trying to break into a summer analyst gig, to my time as a jaded banking analyst, seeking out the greener pastures of private equity. The site has always provided tremendous value.

With that said, I think the 2013 Compensation Database is among the most interesting and useful things I've ever seen on the site. The sheer amount of information is astounding, and the presentation and formatting would please even the most hardass of Managing Directors.

I highly recommend you do what you have to do to gain access to it. Whether that's adding info a review for the company you work for, insight into an interview you had, or detailing your comp last year, it's worth it. Plus it's anonymous, so there's no fear of anyone finding out who you are.

Now, I'm not here today to drone on about the benefits of the database, rather, I'm here to share a few of the fun things I found while I was digging through it. Read on to find out what I found...

Girls and money

crazi4ib's picture
(Baboon, 134
 
Points)
 on 2/25/13 at 12:59pm

Some may dismiss this as a pointless thread, but its something of interest to many people. We all know that money=women in this world, but how about quantifying the relationship a bit more. Around what sort of a salary does a guy need to make to really enjoy ballin out in clubs, hanging with models every weekend, etc. in NYC?

Broker doesn't like non IG :(

airball's picture
(Monkey, 63
 
Points)
 on 2/23/13 at 3:30pm
broker.jpg

I just found out my new broker whom I was pretty excited about (low comissions, good product offering) doesn't offer junk bond investing. Pretty disappointed - do any of you see this much in your brokers? FYI their cutoff is actually below BB - i.e. BB is actually investment grade (never seen this before?).

I suppose I can try to get into the non IG market through junk ETF's. What do y'all think? Good idea?

BTW I like the non IG stuff because I feel like I constantly see these companies refi'ing their 4-5x levered cap structures, negative earnings, etc. I just don't see the need for even an AA or even A rated company at this point.

Hundred dollar bills are hard to come by!

Aswath Damodaran's picture
(Gorilla, 579
 
Points)
 on 2/18/13 at 3:30pm
url.png

It looks like I just I cannot stay away from the Apple story, with Tim Cook making a splash (or a belly flop) with his speech in New York yesterday and David Einhorn's proposal coming in for scrutiny from investors and the press. This article in the New York Times DealBook does a pretty good job of summing up the proposal and its underlying thesis, and I was surprised to see my name mentioned, with Mr.

Does it matter what undergrad school you went to if you get into a target grad school?

legitpro's picture
(Monkey, 55
 
Points)
 on 2/11/13 at 2:38pm

I am curious does it matter what undergrad i went to if I get into a prestigious target school?

I am from canada, and I go to a non target school 3.8 gpa and was wondering if i get into lets say University of Toronto's MFE or Queens Mfin will it really matter what i did in my undergrad?

How much money did you make as an SA?

MomentaLaugh's picture
(Orangutan, 279
 
Points)
 on 2/2/13 at 11:10pm

Got my W-2 form. I made close to $17,000 at a BB for my SA stint. (NYC)

Anyone else in this range? I imagine those on the West coast made double this.

What Monkeys do with their money

trazer985's picture
ST
(King Kong, 1,746
 
Points)
 on 1/28/13 at 4:38pm

http://www.stevegillman.com/monkey-prostitution.html

"Once they knew that the coins had value, Chen and colleagues experimented with prices. A monkey might be given a dozen coins, for example, and normally could trade one for three sweet gelatin cubes or an three apple slices (and they each had their preferences). But when they started getting just one or two gelatin cubes for a coin, the monkeys did as humans do: they bought less of the snacks. This is considered rational behavior by economists."

Then this little gem caught my eye.

Tips for saving money when you begin working? (NYC)

MomentaLaugh's picture
(Orangutan, 279
 
Points)
 on 1/17/13 at 11:00am

I know cooking/bringing your own lunch is a good idea. Any others? What type of corporate discounts can a BB get you? Gym, transportation, dining, etc.

Money for College

tkid3400's picture
(Baboon, 139
 
Points)
 on 1/1/13 at 12:52pm

What's the maximum sum of money you would be willing to pay in order to go to college (undergrad)? Most top colleges run around 60K per year when all expenses are accounted for which seems insane. I'm not from a top 1% family and so 100K+ amount of debt might be a reality. State school is shite and runs for 27K per year, not really interested (Rutgers). If I'm looking to get a job on the street, and if I'm looking to STAY in IB for the long run post MBA (until retirement at say age 70), how much debt would it be reasonable to take out with low interest loans?

300k by 30

same0's picture
(Monkey, 62
 
Points)
 on 12/20/12 at 1:45am

This is a stupid question but I was wondering of any ranking of what fields produce the most people making 300k by 30. I'm not talking about acting, gambling, etc. I meant corp finance, consulting, ibanking, etc

Desired Salary?

xxkdjxx's picture
 
Points)
 on 11/28/12 at 4:19pm

Hi there! :)

As you may already know from my other 1,000,000 posts, I am currently a college freshman, and I am on the verge of securing an internship, so I'm FUCKING HAPPY!

However, the firm wants to know what is my desired salary. Should I put zero, since I have no prior experience in finance? If not, then what should I put?

Thank you in advance for your help!

xxkdjxx

LSE IB Conference - Problem, Please Help

Battleship's picture
IB
(Orangutan, 252
 
Points)
 on 11/20/12 at 7:27pm

Hi guys,

Firstly, I'd like to thank WSO for the LSE Investment Banking Conference thread from few weeks ago (I think its deleted). I heared about the event here, and I applied that day.

Event details:
http://www.lse-ibc.com/
Date: Saturday, 1st December 2012
Time: 8.00 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.

I have received their positive response yesterday:

"...Congratulations! You have been selected to attend the LSE Investment Banking Conference. Your application was exceptional and fit the criteria we were looking for. We would thus like to invite you to attend the conference as a delegate..."

Something To Think About

xhongxkongx's picture
(Monkey, 52
 
Points)
 on 11/17/12 at 12:25pm
The other road

I recently came across this video and until now I decided to share it with you guys. It has really made me think about the things I do, why I do them, whether or not I really should be doing these things that I am doing and to what extent to they matter to me and to the ones around me.

Below is the youtube video of Dr. Richard Teo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umLkfADe17s

Best Investing Resources and Tips

elijahhampton38's picture
IA
(Chimp, 2
 
Points)
 on 10/20/12 at 6:10am

So where can you go and who can you talk to without getting caught in a hidden agenda? Well here’s a list of a few resources I’ve uncovered through the years that have helped in my financial understanding.

General Information

For starters, if you’re looking for basic information on stocks and bonds, you’ll find it hard to get a better resource than Investopedia. This site has a wealth of information that’s all free and available to the public. Since the site is very robust, it’s likely it can answer almost any financial investing questions you might have.

Simulation Investing

So, What if Money Really Was No Object?

TheKing's picture
O
 
Points)
 on 10/11/12 at 3:30pm
Burning Money

Eddie's post yesterday on the philosophy of ignoring money and doing what you like doing had me thinking about a few things.

1.) What would I actually do if money was not object at all?

2.) Does this counterintuitive form of thinking actually lead to greater financial gain in the long-run?

3.) Is this way of thinking at all realistic or is it simply an idealistic pipe dream?

Pay Relative To Cities

Extensity's picture
IB
(Chimp, -51,374
 
Points)
 on 9/25/12 at 4:56pm

Quick question about pay,

Surely incremental pay-raises aren't harmonious amongst cities, but how much of a discrepancy is there between Toronto and New York five years down the road, per se? New York and London?

Barring an exorbitant difference, what's the lure to work in a city like New York where the cost of living is so high?

Where to Find Yield for Grandma

BCbanker's picture
IB
(Gorilla, 633
 
Points)
 on 9/29/12 at 3:25pm
grandma

Yields suck now. If you're young, then you offset that with cheap access to capital. That has always been my perspective. There's a double edged sword.

I work in the primary markets helping large caps find debt capital. I have become so aligned with my clients pursuit of low cost capital that I have forgotten the other side of the coin. My liquidity concerns, coupled with just about everything and every strategy being black listed (no shorts, no trading anything that someone on the floor is working on... aka everything), has left me all cash since I started. I think I need to more effectively deploy my capital. Sorry that's an aside to my larger concern, why can't I solve this investment dilemma (read on).

I came to the realization of investment selection neglect after being asked a very simple question from my grandmother, "What should I invest in?"

Highest paying job in real estate for undergrad from target, semi-target and non target

money.monkey's picture
RE
(Monkey, 46
 
Points)
 on 9/14/12 at 3:55pm

Just want to throw this out there and see what your guys thoughts are! What are the best opportunities for target undergrads, semi, and non?

Startup Question Getting products on the site

kyleyboy's picture
HF
(Gorilla, 741
 
Points)
 on 9/13/12 at 5:25pm

Hello guys, I have begun creating a retail site. Don't want to go into too much detail but it's a really cool idea and a very interesting way to shop for stuff.

How much money will I make if I pursue a career in finance?

Money is, without a doubt, one of the biggest motivators for having a career on Wall Street. Every year thousands of college graduates are lured to the industry by promises of hefty paychecks and the possibility of becoming the next Gordon Gekko. This begs the question, “How much do you really make on the Street?”

FREE Bed in Manhattan

dew2229's picture
IB
(Orangutan, 255
 
Points)
 on 8/22/12 at 2:47pm

My lease is up at the end of the month, and I need to get rid of my bed this weekend. Bought in Sept/Oct 2010 and moved away from NYC after a year and a half. Barely used (worked in banking, so averaged 4-5 hours per night of use).

Pick-up only in SoHo. Again, FREE bed. Just need to get rid of it, and don't want to throw it away. Extremely comfortable plush Simmons BeautyRest.

This is the link to the mattress on Sleepys (it's a different name from last year model when I bought it, but same bed. Standard box spring): http://www.sleepys.com/en/Simmons-Beautyrest-Josly...

Available for pickup Sunday, August 26 or Monday, August 27 before 1:00PM.

PM me if interested, and I will give you the details to come get it.

She Ain't Nothing But a Golddigger

CornerOffice21's picture
IB
(Monkey, 36
 
Points)
 on 8/18/12 at 3:44pm

I saw this on a different forum and just thought it was hilarious! It is from a while ago, but it's still funny. The guy's response is priceless, and he really puts her in her place. What do you think?

ORIGINAL INQUIRY

THIS APPEARED ON CRAIG'S LIST
What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I'm tired of beating around the bush. I'm a beautiful
(spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I'm articulate and classy.
I'm not from New York . I'm looking to get married to a guy who makes at
least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind
that a million a year is middle class in New York City , so I don't think
I'm overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could

Betting Odds on the Market – Option Trading

BCbanker's picture
IB
(Gorilla, 633
 
Points)
 on 8/18/12 at 6:30pm
horses

Did you know that you can easily find out the odds of a stock moving in a certain direction using option prices? Please, no option traders jumping down my throat on this one. Google has a 6% chance of increasing 10% in the next month. Check this out:

http://www.google.com/finance/option_chain?q=NASDA...

Select an expiration you like. I chose September 22, or a little longer than a month out. If you graph the differences in option prices for out of the money calls and pair it with the differences in out of the money puts, you will quickly see the normal distribution, consistent with the efficient markets hypothesis that prices have an equal chance of increasing or decreasing.

Best Way to Save Money for Business School

AspenSnowmass's picture
O
(Chimp, 14
 
Points)
 on 8/7/12 at 11:50pm

Folks,

I am heading to business school in a year and sat down tonight to take a serious look at my finances.

I haven't ever put much thought into it, but I've been doing the very basics up to now:
-Maxing out my 401k contributions
-Contributing to a Roth IRA until I hit the salary cap
-Saving a large portion in a checking account

Ultimately, I'm starting to be a little concerned about a few things
1. Sheltering as much income/assets as possible for when I apply for FinAid
2. Earning a better return on a large amount of cash thats just sitting in my checking account at 0.15% APY.

Would be great to hear some advice about the best way to approach saving for B-School and any lessons learned from the more experienced Monkeys.

Thanks.

The BlackHat Interview: 2/4

BlackHat's picture
HF
 
Points)
 on 8/4/12 at 10:30am
blackhat.jpg

Mod (Andy) note: The much anticipated BlackHat interview is here (see part 1 here). Questions came from myself and members of writing and intern teams. BIG thanks to BH for his really in-depth/quality/quick responses. I promise all of you will have some great takeaways from this series.

If you don't know of BlackHat, he has been in the HF industry for 5 years (broke in straight from ugrad), has been one of the most active members on the site this year, and boasts a formidable 173:25 sb:ms ratio.

Here's how the four part series will go:

  1. Background / breaking into HF
  2. Working in HF, Money & Motivation
  3. Career advice for all you WSO Monkeys + how he advanced in his career
  4. General life tips

First question of Part 2: Who is best fit to work in HF?