How Music Affects Trading [CHOOSE MY PLAYLIST!]

I have recently been allowed to use headphones/airpods during certain times of day on my equity options desk at Jane Street. This made me think: I was curious to see if there might be a similar effect with music for myself as there is with stocks in general - that is, stocks go up generally when the weather is good and people are in a good mood.

This past week, I sorted my PnL over the months by different types of music I listen to while trading. I listen mainly to pop music, rap music, classical music, and Kpop. I observed that classical music improved my PnL by over 30% compared to rap music. My friend Andrew, on the other hand, says that he has done best in days where he listens to lo-fi. My head of desk never listens to music while on trading, but I know he listens to heavy metal at the gym before a day of trading. I wonder if that helps set the mood for a day of work.

What type of music do you enjoy listening to when trading? Or do you just value talking to other people? I would love some recommendations on music: I'll put the most upvoted songs on my playlist next Monday.

12 Comments
 

Yeah, I definitely agree that there is very clearly no causation here. That being said, I am hoping to find certain playlists that may be able to help 'clear' my mind and I believe that this may help me keep a clear mind even better after making a bad trade.

 

Try trance. Stuff from anjunabeats (recommend Ben bohmer,tinlicker,yotto) & (group therapy sessions) or admin van bueuren (state of trance sessions) 

 

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