Trading at a bulge bracket bank?

Hello, I am a 21 year old college student wanting to work/intern as a trader over the summer. I already trade my own real capital trading equities. I have become consistently profitable over the past year and am aiming to have a minimum 8%+ return on investment by summer when I apply . My question is: Where the fuck do I look?

Prop firms don't really appeal to me as I don't want to put up my own capital. I can just do my own thing in that case at home.

Hedge Funds- From my understanding they are sort of like prop firms but you don't put up your own capital. And they're highly selective.

BULGE BRACKET BANKS- This is where I'd ideally like to work as these banks are stable and I feel could provide me with proper mentorship and polishing of trading skills. Except I heard they've really cut down on the trading aspect of their business although an associate from Goldman said they still have the equities trading desk.

Can any trader here give me any insight?

13 Comments
 

So you're specifically looking for equities trading? What kind? Cash, Options, Exotics, Prime Brokerage...?

Incoming Spring Discovery Day Participant at J.P. Morgan Stanley
 

If I'm understanding correctly, you want to make money through unlevered investments on large-cap companies? I'm afraid BB's are not the way to go for you. With the Volcker rule the only way you can take on any positions is if you can justify to regulators that the positions you're taking on equities are because of anticipated demand in the markets. Otherwise, the instant you start taking directional bets with BB capital without justification other than "because I think it's gonna go up" is the instant you get fired from your job.

Incoming Spring Discovery Day Participant at J.P. Morgan Stanley
 

ur way off --- theres phenomenal traders in fixed income--- the difference is they' re looking in a relatively short time horizon (say a few days, few weeks, a maybe a few months)--- S+T doesnt make as much money as it does just collecting bid/offer (especially given the illiquidity of the markets)

IVY for Life
 

Executing trades for a client is called agency trading, and is almost exclusively restricted to equity sales-traders, who make up a very small percentage of traders at an investment bank. Most traders are flow traders, which means that a client will ask for the price of an asset, and if they want to trade the trader takes the other side of a client's trade. There is plenty of prop trading at BBs - there just won't be as many prop desks. A sellside trader still makes prop trades fairly often.

 
gammaoverthetaExecuting trades for a client is called agency trading, and is almost exclusively restricted to equity sales-traders, who make up a very small percentage of traders at an investment bank. Most traders are flow traders, which means that a client will ask for the price of an asset, and if they want to trade the trader takes the other side of a client's trade. There is plenty of prop trading at BBs - there just won't be as many prop desks. A sellside trader still makes prop trades fairly often.

I thought the Volcker Rule banned prop trading in BBs?

"The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets." -John D. Rockefeller
 
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