trading

Mod Note (Andy): Q&A/Interview Tuesdays! Email me ([email protected]) if you'd like to do a Q&A or interview for WSO My background is working in a high yield/distressed trading desk as a research analyst and trader, before making the move to a credit hedge fund within one of the major PE firms. The guys on the public side of the wall are a different breed than the private-side banking guys, who I think have a pretty high level of representation on this board relative to fund guys. A little rougher on the edges, and probably a little more intense in general. Hopefully I can shed some

11 Sep 2020

Hello everyone! Just brief info, about us... So, we are the Team Traders with more than 20 years old of Practice & Experience in trading sphere... Accurately suppose, that our abilities doesn't have some boundaries and limitations & knowledge skills more deeply than you able to expect... We are glad to everyone! Novice & beginners, do not hesitate, you can ask us all about the Trading. Sure, we able to help. Let's find theTrue of Trading together! Kind regards, Team Traders "PowerfulTraders"

15 Sep 2020

I'm a fresh grad with a BS in Economics and am looking to get into trading professionally. I've heard that SMB Capital is a legit, reputable prop trading firm from people on internet, reddit, and the opposite from some old posts about SMB on WSO years back. From more research, I think SMB is an arm of T3Trading which does not have the greatest of reputation. Is SMB Capital both a profitable and reputable prop firm?

22 Oct 2020

I will be as honest as I can and will love hate or advice regardless what it is. I transferred to a target school a year ago as a junior, if you look at my post history it will explain everything. And after being there for a year I've slowly re-evaluated everything. IB was the most promising career that would be lucrative with time whether it be going to PE or whatever else. Although after coming to a point, doing a random accounting internship this summer, just so I can have the opportunity to recruit for next summer, (which if I put the effort in I will land something, and just started the

30 Jul 2020

Hello Traders! Here is a place of silence, reflection, logic and research ... We are always glad to your interest, questions and thoughts ... We just contemplate and rest after a hard day ...))) Regards, Team Traders "PowerfulTraders"

16 Sep 2020

Hi everyone, I've been in this forum for a long time and underwater, recently got an offer from Cargill, more specifically in their World Trading Group based in Geneva. I've always been work in the IB/Hedge Fund as a derivative quant/trader, but never heard Cargill before as I didn't touch aggs. Can someone in this field shed some lights on it, ideally I'd like to stay for a good job for as many years as possible, but if say I find I'm not a good fit there, what are the exit options? Thanks in advance!

10 Sep 2020

Hello everyone, I was recently told I would be teaming up with one of my PMs to start to learn the process of flipping IG new issues. Does anyone have a good amount of experience doing this and would like to connect with me? Are there any specific learning materials anyone can point me to? Thanks!

05 Oct 2020

Hi guys/gals. Anyone who did the HireVue for Morgan Stanley 2021 SA S&T in either FI/IED S&T or PBCS yet? If so, would you mind sharing the questions? It almost seems eerie that I can easily find IB questions in the most 3 recent years - which appears to be unchanged - without even a single post even inquiring for S&T. I heard from an alum that apps are not even gonna be looked at until July but somehow my dumbass still do it early. Anyhow thank you for the help!!

14 May 2020

Hi all, I'm a rising junior and am currently applying to 2021 SA programs in S&T. This summer I do not have a real internship so I have doubled down on coding and following the markets everyday and formulating my thoughts on the macro picture. I got rejected from Citi back in late April so have been feeling a bit down, and was wondering how can I best prepare myself to be competitive for other banks that are kicking off soon? If anyone is willing to be my mentor and talk for 30 minutes - that would truly mean the world to me. And any advice/encouragement would be truly appreciated. Thank you.

08 Jul 2020

Can any buy-side traders speak to trading with Nomura counterparts? I'm considering an offer and looking for some insight on how smooth these transactions are, and how I've been told that prices and volume are competitive but want more perspective. Thanks

27 Jul 2020

I know it's quite a random question but I have some friends that switched to Algo Trading from engineering roles. They've told me how they're trying to find market inefficiencies and capitalize on that. However, isn't arbitrage not possible if markets are efficient? Don't you think that, when algo trades make up about 95% of total trades, markets are going to be quite efficient? I guess my question is: once most trades are algorithmic, will there still be arbitrage?

28 Aug 2020

I feel like I've been answering a lot of questions regarding the state of S&T going forward as well as what a S&T trader does (and trading in general) so I figured it might be helpful to do Q&A. I remember as a freshman in college I used this site extensively to help me eventually land my internships and then my job. Some background on myself... I went to a target school (non-ivy). I've been in industry a little over 5 years and am a VP level trader at a macro type desk (metals/fx/rates) at a BB. I spent my first year focused specifically on rates. My focus now is more on metals and fx, but

06 Apr 2020

Hi, Questions: How would you go about "following the markets" for S&T/trading internships? S&T interviewers, what do you ask and what are you looking for in the markets portion of an interview? Also please critique my preparation methods: 1) Prepare for the classics * cheat sheet table of indices on the day of the interview * how would you invest 1 mil * 1 Long/1 Short stock pitch - First pitch:

15 Jul 2020

Hello everyone, My name is David, I'm 20 years old and from the Netherlands. I've always wanted to make a career in trading, I've been studying it from a young age (mainly TA even though I am becoming more aware that TA isn't actually used as much professionally). I'm in my second year of my bachelor in Economics, which I specifically chose because I read that it was sought after for a career in trading. I've been trying my best to get a good GPA, currently around a 7.7/10. I got some sales experience to get out of my comfort zone, got some work experience in a place where you make 14hour days

24 Aug 2020

Hi everyone, My cousin is a strategy consultant and he was made redundant due to Covid. As such, he is currently near the end of the interview process for a 'Junior Trader' role at Akuna Capital. He has developed a passion for the markets and wants to ultimately try and move into an L/S HF within their investment team. He hopes to grow overtime to become a PM. He believes that getting a foot in the HF world, considering how hard it is to break in, would help him grow and move around in the future. I offered to post this on WSO so that he can seek guidance from experienced HF guys who might be

22 Sep 2020

Just wondering if anyone has any advice as to what a junior trader resume should look like? Currently have 1yr trading intraday FX risk at a BB, and was wondering some things that people have written about as a junior. Of course, it all comes down to individual experience, but was wondering if it is worthwhile to talk about specific days with outsized returns? Or just talk about general day-to-day trading that occured?

09 Sep 2020

Well... this market is fun! Worst week since the crisis followed by the biggest single day price gain in history... Question I have here, is the bounce back driven by: a) A waning of the fears over the Coronavirus? b) A bounce back because the market was oversold last week? c) Biden's win in South Carolina and backing by Klobuchar and Buttigieg? d) Something else? From what I am seeing, the options market is still pricing in a pullback, to somewhere around the 2900 level on the S&P, so will be interested to see how the week goes. What does everyone think and what are we buying? Do we think E&P

02 Mar 2020

I mean like the spam emails you get or the very suspicious commercials you see on...suspicious sites. I know basically nothing at all about crypto or...trading scams in general, but just out of curiosity...what exactly do these people do? Is it just a pyramid scheme type of thing?

21 Apr 2020

Hi, I would appreciate it if anybody could give some opinion on Flow Traders. I am a student potentially interested in their Amsterdam office. How is it compared to other trading shops, how is the culture, hours, pay, etc.

23 Sep 2020

Has anyone applied for this program or know anyone that has been through it from the past? I was able to secure an interview and will be interviewing tomorrow. Figured I'd start a thread if anyone wants to discuss the program!

22 Jun 2020

Hello WSO, I'm a student at a target university and want to learn more about finance and investing fast. I don't know much as the only thing I have been doing is reading certain articles/publications on WSJ and Seeking Alpha. What books did you guys use to teach yourself accounting/finance/investing/trading? I have some "for dummies books" but I'm not sure if they're the best.

21 Nov 2019

If you had to pick one book and one book only that was your favorite on the topic of trading, which one would it be?

25 Nov 2019

which platform(s) would you recommend for trading PA? For mostly macro products like indices, fx, vol, futures & etfs for example, and not really focusing on single name equities.

02 Apr 2020

Hi folks, I am choosing two spring part-time internships and will need to make a decision in a few days since both roles are starting soon anyway. Any feedback would be appreciated. Offer 1: Market Risk role at a large regional commercial bank. However, it is non-traded and I'll be working mostly on liquidity stress testings (and MAYBE one interest rate risk and fx risk). Offer 2: Operational Risk role at a well-renowned MM bank. I'll be working on operational risk management in the Commodity and Global Markets group and the day to day work involves working with data analysis and reporting

23 Jan 2020

Hi All, Hope you are all safe and healthy through these trying times. I am a MO Operations (Trade Support) Associate at a bulge bracket bank in NYC. I am in dire need of some advice. I really want to be in a Sales/Trading role, it's been my passion since I was in middle school and I know it's my calling in life. I have listed a short summary of my journey for context. 2017 - Interned with a FX broker on their Sales desk, and received a full time offer a few months later. Unfortunately all interns were let go 2 weeks before my graduation date because of illegal wrong doings by senior management

19 Jan 2021

Assuming you know sports betting, you are probably familiar with the many different sportsbooks that are around, some way more established than others. You may think "These other sportsbooks are useless," but if I came back and told you that you should want these inefficient sportsbooks to be around because you can make risk-free profit from them, you shouldn't think I'm crazy because many people are making 6-figures a year doing this lucrative task. When you sports bet, you HAVE to know the sharp (i.e. liquid) sports books. As far as the lines that you could trust, they include Betfair

12 Jan 2021

Hi everybody. I'm currently recruiting for a SA position at CS for S&T, and I was wondering if anyone knew how desks there compared to each other. I know Securitized Products is their best, but I'm more interested in being a trader in credit/macro/derivatives than I am for that role. I was wondering if anyone knew how these desks ranked among one another.

01 Aug 2020

I am currently working in an Investor Relations role at a top tier PE firm, and want to break into S&T - more specifically trading. I have a very analytical background with an engineering degree from a great school and have passed my Series 7 & 63 as well as my level I CFA. Given my analytical background, I have a particular interest in trading derivatives or structured products. Without having any experience on the trade floor, what are my chances of landing myself an analyst interview in the current market and what can I do to bolster my current resume? Additionally, how can I best prepare

12 Jan 2021

All I've heard is that the markets become more efficient and that people can now buy/sell assets at the correct price at the moment of the trade. Please enlighten me. Thank you.

12 Aug 2019

About me Been working at a top tier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Firm in New York for 7+ Years which makes me an old geezer. Ask anything you want about the industry, happy to answer and help guide you. Separately, I worked for three years at a proprietary trading firm in Chicago before jumping into real estate so happy to answer any questions about that as well and how the two industries compare.

15 Jul 2019

I am a Secondary Marketing Analyst at a mortgage lender. My responsibilities include pricing loans, establishing and maintaining lines of credit, locking interest rates, reporting on our profitability and competition, and trading MBS on the secondary market. What kinds of exit opportunities are there, both inside and outside of the mortgage industry?

02 Jan 2021

I will be doing an internship at one of the top prop trading firms next summer. I have two questions: 1. How to convert the internship to a full-time role? 2. (more general) What should I focus on know to become a successful trader in the future (eg. some people say I should play poker, do mock trading but does it really help?)

31 Dec 2020

Hi, I want to start out by thanking anyone for reading this. I am a 23-year-old male who is optimistic about life even when I probably should not be. I have been lurking here for a while, drooling over the success stories of some the most intelligent and hardworking people I have ever been exposed to. I feel ashamed even sharing my story, but I figure its time to atleast get an opinion. So I will tell you my story. I am a 23 year old college student who matured only a year ago. I entered an easy admission public state school after highschool because all of my friends were going there and we

16 Aug 2019

I'd imagine there's a fairly simple answer to this question, but I haven't yet come across one. It seems like bank compensation pales in comparison to what one can earn at a HF, even at the junior level. That said, it doesn't seem like many juniors are actually making the move from the sell-side to the buy-side. Is there something I'm missing - maybe most traders prefer the job security at a bank relative to a HF, or maybe they want to develop their trading skills on the sell-side before jumping directly into a buyside PM role? This is from the perspective of an Analyst; I understand that once

26 Dec 2020

Wanted to get some opinions/suggestions here about getting into trade. I'm in my mid-thirties, and have been in the financial industry almost my entire career - I love the industry, I started investing in stocks when I was 13, and featured in Fortune when I was 14 for a 'young investor' piece. I digress. I f'd around in high school and ended at a non-target, primarily because I stopped caring. I actually took a bunch of college classes while HS and then thought HS was a bunch of nonsense I didn't need -- it turned out that joke was on me. Anyway, after undergrad I started working in the HF

19 Dec 2020

Hey guys, I just got word that I will be getting let go at the end of the year. It wasn't due to bad performance or anything. (Comp and reviews have been pretty good this year), but I am getting getting caught up in yet another active shop moving their exposure to passives in my asset class. I have worked my way through various roles throughout the years (across client roles and operations and now in buy side cross-asset trading) Anyway, while the surprise sucks and it certainly doesn't feel great, it's a bit of a blessing in disguise since I was already planning on working to transition away

25 Nov 2019

Hi, I am holding two trading internship offers SIG (Dublin) and Optiver (Amsterdam). I would appreciate any advice on which I should choose and why?

15 Dec 2020

I'm in my second year studying Maths at a Target Uni in the UK and I need advice in which one of these two internships to go for: The first internship is in the Markets Division (Cross-Asset) at a Tier 3 Investment Bank in London. The second internship is as a Trading Intern at a high-frequency trading firm in Amsterdam. I'm really looking for something that's going to be more quantitative/mathsy and so it'll make sense for me to choose the second over the first, however there's a few things holding me back. Firstly, because the first bank set an exploding deadline, I've already had to accept

12 Dec 2020

Hi all, Currently i'm in an investment research role at a BB and I have doubts about this whole industry, mainly job security, the culture, work/life balance etc. This is not the team/area I wanted to end up in but nonetheless I make good money, more than all of my friends/peers my age. The progression is also good, so everything is in place but my interest in what I cover is fading (only having been in the job around 2 years). I have an offer from a T2 consultancy to join their grad program on a 50% pay cut (meaning the last 2 years have been a waste and I have to start my career over). Even

21 Jul 2019

Hi, I would like to set up a thread about prop trading in UK/Europe. What are the strongest players, how much can a new joiner make, etc

07 Dec 2020

I wanted to make this post in order to say that S&T as in "sales" 'and' "trading" is better than i-Banking bc In my job i am able to have hands-on experience trading sT0nks and talk with cli3nts. i also am passionate about Marcuts. i laugh at all i-Bankers for working so much hours when you could make more $$$ and have better exit ops in trading these days due to the rapidly increasing demand of h3dge funs and asset managements. ik many i-Bankers will have a hard time reading this post, but i would encourage u to channel that frustration into trying to land a top tier trading role.

03 Dec 2020

Hi, Recently completed hirevue for BAML Diversity Inclusion BANKING/MARKETS MARCH5-6 IN NYC FORUM. Has anybody hear back or know when we can expect to hear back?

11 Feb 2020

It's been a while since I've visited WSO. Yet in my early 20s, this was the place that I would often come to for information and guidance. In the spirit of giving back, I'll share my story and a few nuggets of wisdom that I believe may help others who are also trying to strive in their professional lives. #### My background I went to a Canadian semi-target university majoring in finance and economics. In my 2nd year university, I discovered capital markets, trading/investing. I knew this was what I wanted to do but still had much to figure out. After I graduated, I worked in research at a

17 Mar 2019

I have an interview coming up for an entry-level trading position at a New York City trading firm. They informed me that there will one final round with the CEO. What is the CEO trying to understand from the interview? How can I be more prepared for his questions?

28 Nov 2020

Hi, I'm currently an algo/equity trading intern (sell-side) in Manhattan from a semi-target school (10 - 20 US news rank school non-ivy). I am trying to apply this summer to different kinds of trading firms (buy and sell side). I was wondering what are good places to work at as well as how to better prepare for these interviews. I was also wondering what kinds of trading jobs/firms provide the most lucrative offers (assuming I get in). I am kind of late into the game in finance, but managed to get a few late internship offers from both a sell-side and a prop shop. I have somewhat decent

11 Jun 2019

Hi! I'm currently finishing my MSc in Quant finance at an European University (not the most famous but well quoted) with an OK GPA. I have a Bachelor in Business from a somewhat unknown uni in Europe as well. Previous to my masters I worked as a P&L Analyst for a major IB for 1 year. During my masters I really developed my Math and Stats skills as well as my coding skills with are pretty sharp in R and Python. I also know VBA. I don't really have experience in Finance outside my year working because I had a part time in normal sales (non finance related) and a summer internship in logistics

22 Nov 2020

Hello, I would like to understand better what a sell side trader does in the day-to-day. Let's, for example, look at a trader in an Equities Trading desk at a major IB. What do they do? Do they just fill orders sent to them by the clients in their ptf? What about risk management? Are they required to make risk models or does the risk department implement the risk measures for each trade? I'm really confused abou the day-to-day of a trader and in the internet I cannot find any clear answer so I thought here I could get a direct answer from people in the industry. Thanks!

22 Nov 2020

Hey all, I'm thinking about doing execution trading for a career, and I was wondering what tests I would have to pass in order to be able to do that job? I'm assuming the series 7, but not sure if there are any others that I would have to take.

13 Nov 2019

I'm currently a public finance analyst at a MM with a strong presence in munis (Stifel, Baird, Piper). I've been doing this for a few years now, and starting to think more long term. It seems a lot of the job at the senior level is "knowing people" and pitching. At the junior level, it doesn't get very stimulating (for me at least - also important to note I'm primarily in GOs). Especially with the curve where it is right now, it seems like my days are just endless refundings in DBC. And then there's always pitchbooks and RFPs. I don't know if I see myself as a MD bringing deals in. Whenever I

15 Sep 2019

Good afternoon, folks! I'm new to internal trading. By entering this field, I found a huge number of brokers who offer their services. I'm at a loss. In some articles there were many positive reviews about IQ Option. What do you guys know about this broker? I don't want to get caught with a cheater...

30 Apr 2020