How do you know you'll be 'good' at trading?
I'm still trying to get a good feel for where I want to end up, and from the guys I've talked to, S&T seems really my thing, and I am pretty interested in the markets. My only issue is I have no idea how 'good' I will be on the actual trading floor. Do most traders just trade on PA and then find out whether they are good or not during their SA or first few weeks on the job? I ask because it seems like theres (justifiably) a big gap between the bottom and top bucket for trading, and bad guys, especially in a down period, don't stick around for long. I don't want to get canned, and it seems like your only option if you are a bad trader is to do corp dev or something like that.
By having doubts about my own balling-ness, am I telling myself I'm not actually good enough to cut the mustard?
Can you count down from 1000 in multiple of threes alternating with the square root of 9 x 3.50? If you cant do this is under 5 minutes it is safe to say your chances are highly unlikely
Trade part-time. I have friends who lose thousands / month trading. Very few, however, are making good returns.
For some perspective, read Schwager's Market Wizards. A lot of those guys blew the fuck up in their first years.
You don't really.
whats up with the abbreviations? trade on PA? do corp dev?
Go online and trade with paper money for awhile trying out different strategies and getting an understanding of how the market moves.
Then when you feel ready (that may take a few months or even a year) get a few thousand together and trade your own account for a few months. You must do this step because trading with real money gives you a completely different feel than just trading with fake dollar amounts in some game off the internet. You could be very good trading with fake cash but you may find out later that your main problem is that you can't take the pressure of trading with your own real dough.
If you start to lose bad quit and walk away with the fact that you now know that you suck at trading.
But you never know it could in the complete opposite direction and you could end up being really good.
Thats how I found out.
I disagree with YourWorstEnemy,
I believe key is to be as unbiased as possible. What I mean is don't think from a political point of view(I think this if this bill passes then it will be good for country etc, if this health care doesn't pass then it will be damaging for the country!! etc ) you will have to think of it from an ok this shit it being voted on tommorow I don't give a fuck if it passes, but there is a high probability it will pass...time to short health care.
Ok, XX is reporting earning at 12:30 pm no lunch breaks for me I think they are going to do below expectations, but am unclear ...will buy some options at $$$ short XX to hedge add based on outcome.
Thus, you have to be thinking ahead you can be a math wizard and lack common sense/balls and you will fail miserably.
if youre a complete emotionless asshole, youll be good at trading
Hey...I'm not an a - hole or at least I don't think I am. But they are right, you've got to play this game with zero emotions and you can't begin that process with paper trading you need to lay your money on the line and emotionless only comes with trust in yourself (discipline of your own strategy).
I always thought trying it out and your p&l would tell you if you'll be good
The only way you will know if your good at trading is to go open an account and put your own money on the table. If you lose all your money you will be one step closer to becoming a good trader. I would recommend trading with a mentor that can help you along the way, you will lose less money this way and learn allot faster. Paper trading is not a good way to determine if you will make money but its a good way to see how the market works.
How do you know if you will be good at trading? (Originally Posted: 03/31/2014)
I have a personal portfolio but really don't have any idea as to what I'm doing. I'm a CS major in my sophomore year at an Ivy, so I'm fairly quantitative. I'm trying to decide between banking and a more quantitative path in finance. I know that as a (buy-side) trader, you have limited exit opportunities, low job security and your pay is directly proportional to the amount you bring in for the firm - it's pretty risky. What's the best way to tell if I can cut it as a trader? I have only one summer in school left, so I want to decide whether to concentrate on getting a banking internship or a trading one.
My Z$2c...
The job itself doesn't require any particular qualifications or a sophisticated education or anything of this sort. Therefore, there's no reason to believe that you can't "cut it as a trader". The trickier question is whether you will be any good at it. Even without the path dependency (i.e. who will mentor you, etc), it's a very difficult question to answer. I suppose the easiest way to start is to find out whether you enjoy the process.
How can I get started with simulating actual trading, and not goofing around with stocks by just copying SeekingAlpha suggestions?
I know exactly how to answer this question.
Look at the qualities prop trading firm look for. I'm not talking about banks( who have the luxury of prestige hiring). I mean people who every day wake up and have to earn what they take home.
If you don't love adrenaline please choose banking. If you're not the kind of guy who is always the leader I have to say don't do it. You may think that being an algorithm trader is different than discretionary. It's not true and trading firms are keen to this fact also.
Are you a smart, determined, hard-working, leader who eats fear for breakfast? No noise would shake you.
Your whole post was over the top, but this part in particular is wrong: algo traders (do you mean quant traders?) are definitely different personality types than discretionary traders.
Idk where you people are but that must be why I'm making money
No offense, but I think I'l trust the WSO certified Portfolio Manager over Mr. "I Eat Fear For Breakfast".
On that note, I often notice that the longer someone has worked in trading, the less they exaggerate about the day-to-day demands, workplace environment, personality types, etc.
OK, Mr. Expert. Please enlighten me re: non-quantitative algo trading.
If price goes up 5 standard deviations, buy like there's no tomorrow. If price goes down 4 standard deviations sell immediately.
Presence of mind> fear. Fear is pack mentality. Justin88 you do realize that just because an algorithm uses number it isn't considered a quantitative strategy right?
If the algorithm IS the strategy, then yes it's a quantitative strategy.
If the algorithm is the execution, e.g. some broker's BVWAP, then it is not necessarily a quantitative strategy (though it still may be).
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