Technicals - Masters in finance

Techincal Analysis...

So I just did a masters in finance at a good school, been blasted with maths, stats, EMH (acknowledging some of its minor shortcomings) the law of one price, asset pricing etc.

Now I work on a trading desk at a BB all I hear is support, resistance, the trend line, we're hitting the 50 day moving average, RSI is oversold, the MACD is blah di blah di blah... you get it...

Have others gone through a similar transition? Did you try and forget what you learnt? Do other traders out here use technicals a lot? Is it a BB thing or do HFs, asset managers with their longer horizons use them too? Across all asset classes?

Just really curious because after a year of hearing techincal analysis literally be laughed out of the room at school, it surprises me to see almost everyone around me using it....

7 Comments
 

My internship in wealth management was 100% technical analysis. I find it funny how profs shit all over TA but I've seen it first hand consistently beat the market. I thought my technical background (several years day trading) would be frowned upon so this is good to hear

 
Best Response

It depends on what type of firm you're at. In an intrinsically value based AM firm, no, technical analysis is not used at all since you're really concerned with long term valuation and not what something is going to do tomorrow or next week. Its usually some type of DCF analysis or EVA analysis and traders just focus on getting in at price levels that the strategists/PM's want. There are plenty of firms that use it though that have a different focus.

Although they teach you that it's shit a b school, it's really just another way of looking at things and is fairly prevalent. I also think highly enough of it that I trade personally a lot around it even though my firm doesn't. I look at fundamental, technical, and psychological analysis when I trade because I am more of a short term trader myself instead of a value trader.

The thing with technical analysis is that it's kind of a self fulfilling prophecy. So many people use it that markets tend to respond to it and it becomes real. Yes, it is also used across the product range that it's meant for (FX, equity, futures, etc).

"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." Theodore Roosevelt
 

In my prop desk, people use everything, from technical analysis, fundamental valuation, market sentiment... nobody cares what you do if you can profit from it. Some laugh on technical analysis, but is useful to look at it because of the above-mentioned self-fullfiling prophecy.

If someone said they could only make money by going to work naked, it would be fine.

 

Est et explicabo voluptatum nihil atque voluptatum qui. Soluta iusto impedit mollitia.

Eos alias repellendus quis ut quos. Commodi aut tempora eligendi ab adipisci voluptatum. Voluptatem accusantium debitis laboriosam dicta id repellendus voluptas laudantium. Sed qui alias fugit facere qui voluptatem accusantium exercitationem. Sunt quis autem et veritatis minima consequatur.

Ea expedita eos nemo est. Sint perspiciatis ut at vel voluptas voluptatem. Cum minus recusandae a. Ducimus omnis cumque corrupti rerum ex. Atque necessitatibus voluptatum ut et ut. Dolor tenetur ducimus eos.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”