Commodities Trading - Differences between firms?

Anyone know the differences between trading at an oil/energy firm like BP, on a commodities desk at an IB, and at a huge diversified producer/marketer like Glencore/Trafigura, if any?

If you had the choice, what would you go for?

Thanks in advance.

 

why would you want to trasfer? there is some dumb notion on this board that you would want to leave to work for a BB. up until about 5-7 years ago BBs were not even intersted in Commodities

FYI where do you think the BB's desk heads come from? its not another BB.. Its Enron, Dynergy, El Paso, Coastal. BP, Shell etc etc

Huge world out there outside of the BB's

 

This isn't hard to figure out. If you make money and can do so with risk control and consistency then you will have people beating down your door with offers after a few years. However, is trading something you actually even want to do? Sounds like you may not be 100% committed (which is totally fine!)

 
Best Response

No I am very commited. trust me. Ill explain to you why I ask so many questions. Assuming this pans out, I may have an offer to take on a sort of Trading Assistant role at one of these commodities trading firms. Unlike banks where you it is very difficult to move out, I was told by a few people (and read on this site) that at these types of firms, they sort of require newbies to start out in the role and work up. Also, I currently have a job at a botique consulting firm which while not great, isnt bad. My dream is to be a trader. I basically just have to make sure this investment is going to be worth it. I just dont want to be stuck in this assistant role all the way out in Stamford (i know its not that far..). As it stands, I am willing to take on this risk in the hoped that i will be eventually be able to be a full fledged commodities trader (preferable in NY). I'm not so what is so difficult about my question as it seems quite simialr to the 100 other posts posted on this site daily. My only difference is I don't care so much about prestige, just more about possible opportunity and making sure im not heading down a dead end road where as I could have just stuck out my current job for a year or 2 and then gone to BS.

 
ultratrader89:
big bank > small one. more structured, larger balance sheet, less risk and hounding over what you are doing.

I don't agree with this.

Bigger bank = more BS, more layers of bureaucracy/deadweight between you and the big bosses, more useless meetings, more paperwork to do anytime you or your team want to do something innovative, more organizational and strategic inertia, more time wasted watching powerpoint presentations, more politics affecting what should be purely monetary decisions.

 

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