rhyme wrote:
I used to work in a pit once. Open outcry is pretty wild, but seems to be dying via the route of electronic everything. but anyway.... I have some questions:
* Is S&T what it sounds like? Literally, being a trader in the traditional sense of the word? That is, market maker?
* Whats the sales side of things?
* If its being a trader, whats the big draw? As an undergrad, going into trading was what you did if you couldnt find a normal job. It meant a year plus as a 'runner' - basically doing nothing but being someone else's b***. It wasn't a glamorous job, nor was it a well paying job, nor was it a low stress job, and on top of that, there were no guarantee's you'd actually get to become a trader. In fact, pretty much the only thing you could count on was a high probability of becoming a cocaine addict, since that stuff flows like water in the pits. In fact, I know a friend who quit and got his MBA from Columbia (or is doing so now) precisely because he couldn't deal with all the blow anymore. In any case.... With an MBA, do you actually start trading from when you join or do you go through a similar multi-year good luck getting-of-the-desk-and-onto-the-floor role?
It just seems like trading, as I know it - being in a pit at some options exchange or something - is the one job you basically don't need anything but guts and some quant skills for. No one I know at the firms I know would give a flying !(@# if you had an MBA.
From what I've gathered and please correct me if I'm wrong: yes, traders are the market makers. Salesmen interact directly with clients to persuade to buy at the trader quoted prices, maybe less and pocket some $$ for their own.
I believe a fresh MBA enters a bank's trading program and can either be a trader at completion, or assistant trader who if he learns quickly enough becomes a trader. The difference between this scenario and the dreaded "can't find a job so I'll take a stock broker job" position is that you'll be working for a bank with huge assets which means you'll have support and you don't have to put in any of your own money.
I think the trading floors have been cleaned up a bit, albeit not entirely, and behavior is tamer compared with the past. I guess the allure is that trading is the closest thing to a true meritocracy in any industry. Also, the hours are more bearable and at most banks trading is the top earning branch.
Here's an excerpt from a NYMag article:
In the third quarter of this year, the company’s trading and principal investments (both equities and FICC) pulled in $5.1 billion in revenue, 69.5 percent of the firm’s total; asset management and securities services, $1.2 billion (16.6 percent); and investment banking, $1.02 billion (13.9 percent).
I think this
Princeton M.Fin. is best geared for future traders. Take a look at curriculum, it's highly quantitative and the program is very tough to get into. Their placement record is excellent, but taking a look at student resumes, students probably wouldn't have a hard time finding a job w/o the M.Fin.
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06 Mar 2007, 07:05
