Retail Trader in College, helpful for certain careers?
Freshmen in college (non-target, 3.8 GPA) here. I've been very excited about my gains in the markets, even though this is possibly the easiest market to make money in. I have real strategies that I've stuck to since I started 3 months ago. I'm currently up 25% in my equities account, and 40% in my options account. I've been paper-trading /CL & /NG, and have been successful so far; wanna test the waters soon. Would start with /ES but volatility is non-existent right now.
For Equities I mainly just stick to traditional s/r, breakout patterns (Bulkowski), and 1:2 risk-management (these days, I just let my winners run very hard). For options, I usually open some 3 month vertical spreads, or sell credit-ICs on high-IV underlyings. I've used a script that tracks changes in open-interest so I can get a feel where institutional money is moving, and have made some great plays off order-flow.
This is stuff I really enjoy but I also stay on top of my part-time job as well as keeping my grades up. What careers can I realistically pursue with my interests. I go to a college that is terribly ranked but got a scholarship. I want to be very realistic because even Ivy-League students get rejected from top-banks.
I know market-making, stat arb, and HFT is typically dominated by those who are better at math then they are at studying different securities so I know that's out the question.
Thank you so much!
Concrete Jungle, way too quiet in here. What about these resources:
Any pros willing to rescue this discussion? howardhuang anishras Jake-Cormack
I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.
Seems a bit early to be concerned with what desk you want to be in. You seem very bright & know a lot about how different products work for a freshman. You have a couple of options.
You could go to a Sales desk if you like talking about the markets, I wouldnt say you dont have a chance at trading desks so you can look into those too, you could also go into Equity Research if analyzing is your thing. Or if you want you could go to the buy-side & work as a "trader" at an Asset Management firm & work your way to Portfolio Management.
My honest opinion is trade and make money. I started trading when I was a "sophmore" in high school at 15 yrs old. I actually never really finished high school legitimately, and never applied for college.
6 years later, I'm trading my own account and trading for a smaller investment firm in Eastern Europe. I started trading /ES as well and eventually moved to /CL because of lack of volatility. I don't know anything about job specifics in the states because I only grew up there and moved to Europe when I started trading at 15.
The good thing here and in many other places in the world is that living costs are extremely lower compared to the states. The other advantage I have here is being a "big shark in a small tank". If I was in the U.S. I'd be digested shark bait a long time ago barely making ends meet. It's hard to find talent in other words.
Maybe its not any help to you but someone will run into this and realize as wild and extreme this sounds, living in this type of environment will give you more bang for your buck, you'll have less financial pressure and be able to trade for yourself or if you find a company, or investor, you will make good money compared to living standards. It's definitely a challenge if you don't speak a second language or have no family, relatives around but I'm sure that comes with time.
I think if your trading futures and actually good at it, and have a solid track record, you could track down wealthy individuals and start your own shop. In the states it's easier to find those individuals and you'll need the cash as the cost of living is high. You don't need a fancy office and high overhead if you want to do something you enjoy and get paid a fair amount.
It's all about the grit.
That's awesome to hear man, thanks a ton for the advice!
How are you liking /CL?
I like it. It's very volatile so you have to be careful, manage risk. Don't get too greedy. That's all fine tuning. Risk varies from person to person. How much can you handle without getting emotional. I think the most important thing is to make sure you don't wipe out within a day or a week. When the small winners come often, they add up. Be careful of small losers adding up as well.
Trading while in College. Helpful for certain-careers? (Originally Posted: 01/06/2018)
Freshmen in college (non-target, 3.8 GPA) here. I've been very excited about my gains in the markets, even though this is possibly the easiest market to make money in. I have real strategies that I've stuck to since I started 3 months ago. I'm currently up 25% in my equities account, and 40% in my options account. Looking to test out the waters with futures soon (please volatility return :D), I have so much to learn and can't wait to do so (currently studying MarketProfile right now).
For Equities I mainly just stick to traditional s/r, breakout patterns (Bulkowski), and 1:2 risk-management (these days, I just let my winners run very hard). For options, I usually open some 3 month vertical spreads, or sell credit-ICs on high-IV underlyings. I've used a script that tracks changes in open-interest so I can get a feel where institutional money is moving, and have made some great plays off order-flow.
This is stuff I really enjoy but I also stay on top of my part-time job as well as keeping my grades up. What careers can I realistically pursue with my interests. I go to a college that is terribly ranked but got a scholarship. I want to be very realistic because even Ivy-League students get rejected from top-banks.
EDIT: I know market-making, stat arb, and HFT is typically dominated by those who are better at math then they are at studying different securities so I know that's out the question.
Thank you so much!
start your own fund with those numbers ya lil wizard.
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