trading

I used to be very active under a different username many years ago when I was recruiting for trading roles while in college. Made a new account to not doxx myself. I benefited heavily from WSO (a few very helpful people in particular) and a friend suggested I should pass it on (yeah, cringe)....

21 Jan 2022

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost Title summarizes the road I've traveled… consultant → intelligence community/SEAL Teams/Special Operations → director of research at a well known hedge fund → tech...

06 Jan 2022

As the title mentions I moved from a fixed income EB S&T program to a BB associate IBD - WSO is heavily under represented in S&T so I can answer some q's about what it looks like across various desks as I wish I knew more prior to joining. Background is from a non-target school with good grades and...

04 May 2022

So I'm sure everyone is aware of the huge surge in the price of Dogecoin in the last 3-4 months. It fucking kills me that there are actually morons with no investing or finance experience getting rich off of this intrinsically worthless joke-coin (https://twitter.com/prothedoge?lang=en) AND then go...

04 May 2021

Background - Attended a top non-ivy undergrad with a degree in mathematics and economics. Prior to leaving for a multi-strat hedge fund (think Bluecrest, Millennium, Balasny, etc.), I was a macro derivatives trader on the sellside. The vast majority of my daily work was focused on idea generation,...

06 May 2021

Good evening, Long time passive WSO lurker here that has decided to finally register and engage on the forums. I finished my postgraduate degree towards the end of last year and after several applications and interviews I managed to land a job as a junior trader at a power utility company. I have...

11 Jan 2022

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...

11 Sep 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...

06 Apr 2020

Junior at top liberal arts school double majoring in econ and English w a 3.5 cum GPA. I would love for someone to describe the current state of trading. I'm no quant but I'm pretty good with numbers and am both very personable and assertive. I know that the trading floor has changed over the years...

12 May 2022

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable holiday. I've been using this site for a while now and this is my first post - I don't want this to come across in a tone of arrogance. I am a final year undergraduate reading for a mathematics degree at a UK target (i.e. Oxbridge) and really want to pursue a...

29 Dec 2021

Hi all, I'm currently a student at a target school in Canada studying pure math/stats and am really interested in quant finance and trading. Not looking to pursue higher education and am not really interested in the accounting side of fundamental analysis. Wondering if you guys have any insight into...

21 Jun 2021

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...

17 Mar 2019

Hello - I am facing a decision for where I would like to accept a Summer internship (summer before senior year), and am not sure what is best for me in terms of a career development perspective. I am a Computer Science major looking towards quant finance, and am deciding between Balyasny Asset...

29 Nov 2021

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...

03 Dec 2020

I have no idea how i passed through with my unamazing background but I recently got an internship in the macro team w a pretty decent MM HF in Asia (Balyasny, Exodus, Point 72 ish). I'm a final year student and would doing this internship all the way till I graduate and from what I understand, the...

01 Dec 2021

I'm one month in operations and I'm falling asleep at work; it's not intellectually stimulating. I recently graduated college with a finance degree and could not find a job for the life of me. A little nepotism landed me a job as an operations analyst in NYC, but I want out. I want to become a...

26 Jun 2021

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...

15 Jul 2020

Would love to have a discussion about the current state and the future of a sales-man. Please add your two cents and personal experiences. - For argument sake, assume you are or would be FICC sales or exotics on a good desk making good revenue. - What are the current actual bonus's looking like in...

11 May 2021

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...

15 Jul 2019

Hello Monkeys, I am currently in the process of transferring and was frustrated by the lack of a centralized source of information about transfer friendly schools for IB, so I made one for the website. Anyone who has some value to add related to placement from any of these schools, please comment so...

22 Mar 2018

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...

14 May 2020

I read a lot of misleading information regarding sales jobs in banks on this forum recently (I am lumping sales/sales traders and all products here). I won't mention any particular users, but it got me angry. Given I have not contributed to WSO in a meaningful way in more than a year (apart from my...

29 Mar 2018

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...

30 Jul 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...

02 Mar 2020

Hey all, I'm graduating from my B.Sc. this year and joining a big investment bank as an analyst. I'm excited for the work, but I'm a bit worried about being able to do a masters later on. I really want to do an economics master at LSE or in the U.S. at some point, maybe after 2 years of work. Will...

27 Apr 2021

I'm currently in the placement process for my s&t internship ( trading track) at a top BB Would you guys be willing to shed some light on some of these desks: • rates trading; both securities and swaps • credit indices (CDX and CDX options etc) • high yield • distressed • equity...

05 Feb 2021

Hi everyone, I recently interned with a data + analytics provider for the electricity and power markets, and since then I've been extremely interested in a trading job in the field. Coming from a more traditional finance background, it doesn't seem like there's as clear of a career progression/path...

18 Jul 2021

I am an incoming JP Morgan Trading SA in the Markets division (JPM's S&T). I'm new to the industry and wanted to know how the desk placement process works, what desks to try and be placed on (most lucrative, fun, etc.), and what I could expect for total takehome pay (base is currently $100,000). If...

11 Nov 2021

Hello, I'm pretty deep in discussions with a US BB investment bank about joining as a VP on a power trading desk in London, I'm currently a relatively junior power trader at an EU utility. Anyone familiar with European power markets will know theres a pretty large shortage of power traders atm so...

31 Jul 2021

I'm seeking advice since there's an even split between the people that are advising me against doing my masters out of undergrad and the people that want me to. I interned at this BB in the summer of 2021. I got a return offer to join the bank in the Summer of 2022 (rotational program). I would like...

25 Feb 2022

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...

24 Aug 2020

What is the best investing tip for beginner investors you wish you knew when you started? Here are 10 investing tips for beginner investors: Acknowledge the need to invest and decide your goal. The first step is to actually understand why you need to be invested and not just keep your savings at...

27 Aug 2020

Hello everyone, I see people on instagram bragging about how trading is turning their lives around basically acting as finance gurus teaching you how you should live your life. Most of them don't have an economic or quantitative background (not that is strictly necessary) and can't even understand...

22 Apr 2021

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...

08 Jul 2020

I am a freshman Computer Engineering major at UT Austin with hopes of entering management consulting at MBB or a NY boutique. My current situation is this: Finished out the first semester with an abysmal 2.7 GPA due to poor prioritization and mental health struggles, and I have two options for how I...

12 Jan 2022

I have a question: For about a year now, I have been paper trading, starting from 3000 USD and I'm now at roughly 50.000 USD. Most of that money was acquired through buying and selling a few different stocks, for example SNDL and most recently TNXP. On average I made around 100 trades in a day (I...

24 Apr 2021

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...

26 Dec 2020

WSO fam - I've been working in a middle office operational role for the past ~1.75 years at a Top Tier BB for the LevFin Capital Markets/Syndicate group. I specialize in loans and have been awarded with great transaction experience, connections within our market making/sales/syndicate groups, and...

26 Oct 2019

Hey Everyone - BallStreet is offering a $50,000 Super Bowl trading game, "The Market". It's totally free-to-play. No strings, just a live trading experience while you watch the game. There are few audience as well placed as WSO so we wanted to reach out about the giveaway. My background is in Fixed...

02 Feb 2022

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...

25 Nov 2019

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...

23 Jan 2020

I just received an invitation to take the Shell TDP assessment, and I was wondering if any TDP alum can share their insight. Also, I hear the interview is brutal.. so if anyone has anything to say about that I would appreciate it. Thanks

15 Sep 2017

Hey guys! For the context, I'm French, 24 y.o., top 3 French engineering school and top 3 MSc Finance in the UK! That being said, Im coming to you as I plan to redirect from IB - where I was doing Project Finance - to trading. I feel like it's the only field of finance where it will be quantitative...

15 Mar 2022

I just got an offer for a Trading Summer Analyst position at a large international bank. Being from a non-target I know very little about what a trading internship entails. I am curious if anyone who has had one can tell me what they thought of their internship and what work interns actually do in a...

03 Nov 2021

Hi all, My father has been actively trading stocks for many years. I'll be starting FT in 2022 as an IB analyst at a BB, which has stringent rules around employee trading (for understandable reasons). This might well be my anxiety talking, but I was wondering what if, by a crazy coincidence, my...

18 Nov 2021

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...

19 Jan 2021

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...

15 Sep 2019

Hey, This might be quite a silly question, but I was wondering whether BB traders are allowed to take advantage of 'statistical arbitrage' opportunities they see in the market? Few points on this: - I realize 'statistical arbitrage' is a fairly vague term that encompasses lots of things, but I hear...

28 Dec 2021

Been studying up for a S&T interview and this is driving me crazy. (1) Inflation vs. Currency Value: Negative Correlation The relationship between inflation and currency value is by far the most straight forward in my opinion. Inflation decreases the value of currency in purchasing goods, which...

23 Feb 2021

I have signed an offer for a top tier BB's research division (think GS/JPM/MS) as a lateral hire and my background check was already completed. But I just got this other offer from another top tier BB (GS/JPM/MS) but it's with their trading division (which I definitely like more and and the role...

22 Jul 2021