I'm in my final year of undergrad (Finance & Economics) and I really enjoy trading and basically would like to make that my job, but I don't have the money to make a living off it so I need someone else's...

I would love to work at a HF but being realistic that is probably a reasonable distance down the road. I am applying to prop shops and asset management firms of varying description at the moment and was wondering how much/any emphasis I should put on my prior trading experience?

I keep on coming across job posts for "Equity Proprietary Trader" at Hold Brothers, and was hoping someone had some insight on working there. Are these guys legit, or are they one of those shops that are just after you paying a few thousand bucks for some lousy training program. Overall reputation?

Hi,

I know banks have severely cut prop trading and the relative desks, but I know a lot of BB's are still running proprietary risk in some format.

Does BAML still have a prop desk/ special situations/ global macro desk? If so what is it called?

Input appreciated. Thanks.

I work at a prop shop in fixed income and am looking to make the jump. This is non-algo, non-quant discretionary trading. A few reasons:

- The prop trading approach (day-trading/scalping only) is getting tedious, and there's not enough depth. No exposure to any fixed income derivatives (no options, let alone swap/agency space). Just optimizing an ever-dwindling scalp.

- I fear for the future of non-algo trading. My job might be gobbled up by algos in a few years (months?).

- No surprise here, I'm not killing it. I'm making money, but not enough to sacrifice networking thru clients/exit opps/broader market exposure by staying.

I am a Seeking Alpha super star. My average article gets 17,000 page views and I get paid $170.00 for 2-3 pages of work. It is not uncommon for me to receive comments from 100+ people thanking me for my insight.

If my main goal is to obtain a more legitimate ER internship, what is the best way I can make use of my talent?

1) Keep doing what I'm doing. I currently work for a prop trading and write for their Seeking Alpha account. The plus side is I get to write "Equity Research Intern" on my resume. The downside is that there are about a dozen other interns that do what I do and even though my name is in the byline of all my articles, it will be difficult to prove that most of our followers are a direct result of my work.

I applied for an ER internship at a prop trading firm. They want to hire me to write articles for a third party website and they claim I will have a professional staff to guide me through the process. I'm just a little confused why a prop trading firm would have an incentive to do something like this. I'm also confused why their response to my application sounded more like an offer than an invitation to an interview.

I'm still considering taking it just to improve my resume. It's over the Spring semester and it's part time, so all I would have to do is drop my music class, which I'm struggling to pass anyway, when it should be an easy A course.

I'm thinking fuck my music class, take the internship, and take art history some other semester.

Fellow monkeys, I am looking to trade options for a living, and I'm looking for prop trading firms that allow you options trading, I'm not looking for leverage as I know there is no leverage in Options trading, I just want the ability to get out of the Pattern Day Trading rule without needing 25K in my account.

I'm looking to start with about 5-10k, I know some of you might say that such amount is not enough to make a living, but right now I feel I could make about three to five hundreds dollars a day, besides, I moved back home, so I'm set with no rent, also I'm single and no kids. I have been paper trading for about 2 years, and I have indulged into a bit of trading from time to time during the past 4 years.

By the way, this is my first post, as I am a lurker here.

Is it possible?

I have the option of getting a five year BS and Masters. The BS is in quantitative finance, and the Masters would be in Financial Engineering. Would spending the extra year and getting the MFE increase my chances at getting an offer at BB S&T, HF, or even top prop trading shops?

MFE is top tier 2 if that makes a difference.

Thanks in advance.

Just kind of curious, from what I've read on here it seems that when people talk about ib, they make it seem almost impossible to break in if you arent from a target, whereas when people talk about prop trading, it seems like its as simple as getting a job in telemarketing or something. So which one is more difficult, or are they the same

Hi,

I have passed Optiver's three numerical tests, and scheduled to have a phone interview next week. I have no confidence in the interview since I have failed so many. Any guys can tell me what exactly questions they will ask?

Thanks

Hi all,

I have a final round interview coming up with Chimera Securities. I was just wondering if anyone who has recently interviewed could shed a little light on what will be asked. Also if anyone in the training program (currently or previously) wouldn't mind sharing their experiences/thoughts, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I've received a large number of emails from traders interested in joining a proprietary trading firm. Many of these correspondents appear to lack understanding of prop firms and what they have to offer. This leaves them open to pie-in-the-sky promises from less than reputable firms. The links below should help traders in their quest for a trading firm. Below are five pitfalls that you want to make sure you avoid:

1) Firms that promote high frequency trading and that make a significant portion of their money from the commissions they assess their own traders. Make sure that the prop firm makes money when you are successful, not simply when you trade;

I applied Trading Assistant Program at PEAK6 and was asked to complete an assessment test. I am wondering anyone has any idea of what it is. Appreciate it.

Please answer.

Is it possible to make the transition?

Hi,

If anyone here is familiar with this firm, can you send me a PM? I have a couple of questions.

Best.

Hi,

I've got a "assessment test" with a proprietary trading firm. It's not Getco, Jane St. or the like, but a solid firm nonetheless. It's an online thing. Can anyone cue me in on what will be tested? Anything I should brush up on in particular? The email wasn't very informational.

Thank you for any advice

I have a question before sending my resume to a few prop shops. Throughout the last 3 or so years, while in school, I have been involved in the stock market - trading equities in the last 2 years and equity derivatives in the last 9 months or so.

Last year was a rough year for my portfolio - this year was also challenging, as I have been fighting the Fed for all of 2012. My understanding of derivatives is very indepth and am more than familiar with derivative trading strategies.

Hi fellow monkeys, it seems some reputable prop trading shops are still hiring entry level traders/trading assistants on their websites, I've applied a few(jsc, drw, first ny) and haven't heard anything back from them yet. I will follow up w/ them this week but I'm not sure if they are really hiring or just having a database created on the website without actual hiring? The size of these prop trading shops aren't that big so I assume they don't really need someone right away to fill certain positions. But unlike investment banks, they can make hiring decisions all year round (correct me if I'm wrong). Any inside information about hiring will be appreciated.

Okay, so you are just graduating and have a FT job offer from a top prop trading firm and top BB bank on a trading desk. Which do you choose and why?

Just interested as to which of the two people would go for in the current financial climate considering it is your first role out of college. What factors would influence your decision? (Pay, training, particular firms, turnover rate, location, etc.)

Hey everyone,

I've been looking into Philadelphia Proprietary Trading Group, but I can't seem to find many reviews or anything about them besides whats on their site. If anyone has any experience with them especially about their training program with new traders I'd appreciate the feedback. Looking for details on anythign from structure/payouts, autonomy, upfront capital contribution, leveraging, etc...

Thanks

How do you network with traders, specifically ones at smaller prop trading firms? Are there like trading symposiums that you can go to? And what about for firms that don't recruit on your college campus? Is it just cold emails/cold calls, like it is with IB, or is there another element to it?

Also somewhat unrelated, but is it worthwhile to get into simulated stock trading? Just those little online simulators, no real money.

I'm a trader who's done very well without formal trading
education, no series 7 or 56, or even college degree's
at all.

I've discovered a system to generate 50%+/month and
am looking for the fastest way to get my hands on more
capital... which is when I started reading about prop trading
firms.

What is a prop trading firm that would work with someone
like me and sponsor me so that I can get the series 56 out
of the way?

What are the best courses to order to study for this?

And which prop trading firm would let me trade from home?

I'm happy to put up my own capital to let them watch me
trade for a few months before they start giving me leverage
but I want to find a good match for my unique situation.

Thanks
Jason Cox

As many of you know, Jamie Dimon was brought before the Senate yesterday to discuss the ~$3 billion lost in prop trading. I've heard many different opinions regarding his testimony, and was wondering if you monkeys had any insight of your own?

Cheers

Hi Guys,

I'm a recent college grad and I'll be starting work at a prop shop in Chicago soon. I'm wondering how easy it is to move between shops in the Chicago area. I've done a search for this topic and haven't really found specifically what I was looking for. I'll be starting at a mid level firm think like Group1 and I'm wondering how likely it is to transfer to one of the larger places like drw/sig/ctc. This is assuming of course that I can do well.