How often are you told you did a good job?

desecrato — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:26:37 -0500

I know our generation is addicted to praise, but how often does an Associate or higher tell you "thank you, well done?"

Does anyone feel that no matter how far out of the park you hit the ball, there's always something they're complaining about?

For people who have completed DealMaven

desecrato — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 21:31:24 -0500

Kid I know is taking the test for a winter externship.

Are you timed on the Certification Case Study quizzes?

i.e., can he just skip all of the crap preceeding them-- thus immediately starting on the important tests-- and look up any answers if he gets stuck?

I understand some of the tests can't be retaken.

thx.

Hollywood Boulevard or Wall Street

desecrato — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:27:47 -0400

Which claims more victims, dashes more hopes, and ruins more dreams?

Is the analogy of the entertainment biz and finance even appropriate?

fixed income / structured product lay-offs

desecrato — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 01:19:37 -0400

Can anyone add to the list?

1: RBC Fires Fixed-Income Salespeople Amid `Challenging Market' (Confirmed.)

2: Barclays Capital and RBS Greenwich Capital, Royal Bank of Scotlandâ€™s US capital markets subsidiary, are among the first to change their structured credit arms in the last month. (Confirmed.)

3: DB / Citi?

4: GS moves half of its analyst class to operations

Tips for making living at the office more enjoyable?

desecrato — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 00:38:36 -0400

Seeing as some of us literally live at work... any tips along these lines?

For example, I have a colleague w/ one of those Sharper Image vibrating chairs. He swears by it.

Anything else? Foot massager? iPod charger? mini-dumbbells? Jack Daniels?

what do you see as the future of CDOs?

desecrato — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 23:10:29 -0400

Given recent events, what do you guys see as the future of CDOs?

less issuance for awhile? no subprime issuance? more secondary trading as people try to evaluate / unload existing CDOs?

Banking jobs outsourced to India?

desecrato — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:05:44 -0400

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118179147499434968.html

â€¢ Situation: Wall Street firms are increasingly turning to outsourcing for nuts-and-bolts investment-banking work, like producing "deal books."

â€¢ Latest Example: Merrill Lynch, following rivals Deutsche Bank and Citigroup, bought a stake in Copal Partners, an Indian research firm.

â€¢ Bottom Line: Such outsourcing frees up the Street's deal players to focus on building relationships and more detailed investment-banking work.

targets who missed on-campus recruiting

desecrato — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 21:06:31 -0400

This is a question for my friend:

do any of you have advice for people who are about to / did graduate from a target, but missed out on IB recruiting?

let's assume their GPAs/majors are competitive, and they have finance/consulting experience--just not in IB. i.e. my friend thought he wanted to do an econ masters program, but then changed his mind.

thanks in advance for helpful<

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Exit Ops for CBO (CDO/CLO) Structuring?

desecrato — Thu, 31 May 2007 02:28:28 -0400

Does anyone know anyone who has gone from CBO structuring to another area?

Given the skillset, what are the logical exit opportunities? For either the buy- or sellside. Does it lend itself to any trading? Sales? CDO management on the buyside?

Please be as specific as possible. Is it a valuable skillset? Ive had some ppl say it'd be hard to go into IBD from structuring, for example.

Analyst bonus system for S&T is inefficient / unfair?

desecrato — Fri, 18 May 2007 00:56:10 -0400

My roommate brought this to my attention. Is it just me, or does the analyst system for S&T programs in BB firms seem misaligned?

As an analyst, your pay isn't tied to your desk, it's simply tied to your boss's review. They bucket all analysts into 3 or 4 categories, with each making like +$5,000 more than the next.

So let's say two people are in the 2005 analyst class. One does Prime Brokerage sales and works 55 hours a week. The other does Correlation trading and works 65 hours a week. The final one does CDOs and works 85 hours a week.

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