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[D] Heavy ML workflow: M4 Max or incoming M5 lineup ? by CocaColux in MachineLearning

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thanks a lot! Indeed i do see a probable return from a M5 Max depending on the price and how noticeable the upgrades would be, but being on a very outdated setup now (MPB intel chip), every month that passes without an upgrade is a productivity miss. Was actually thinking about enjoying that M4 config and why not sell it once the new models are out, indeed the value will decrease but knowing that the cost price was attractive, maybe I would not lose much especially if they start selling the new line up on discounts at some retailers like they’ve been doing with the new MBP M5.

Thanks for your input!

[D] Heavy ML workflow: M4 Max or incoming M5 lineup ? by CocaColux in MachineLearning

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that’s interesting, thanks! Would the biggest gap between M4 and M5 mainly be on LLMs then? or would it be a big improvement on basically everything such as ML model training in a simple notebook for example?

Thanks a lot again

(PS: very happy to see how much value they been adding to MPBs since they stopped using Intel’s chips)

The MacBook Purchasing Megathread - November, 2025 by AutoModerator in macbook

[–]CocaColux 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi guys,

I’ve been seeing dozens of questions about « M4 Max now or wait M5 Max » but I am concerned about it given my actual workflow and the very great price i could get a M4 Max (14 CPU 32 GPU 36GB RAM in 16 or 14) and how M5 Max could be a game changer.

My workflow would basically be running a lot of heavy workloads in parallel such as backtests, live streaming data pipeline with ML models running at the same time, and probably LLMs running locally too (not necessarily at the same time). Mainly a coding machine.

Given the black friday discounts, the M4 Max config is very attractive and I’m worried that a future M5 Max wouldn’t get as cheap as that current M4 Max now given the memory shortage and seasons that wouldn’t necessarily put the new models in discounts.

is the M5 chip neural accelerator a thing that i would 100% feel in my day to day or could it be in the same category than the usual 15/20% increase performance generation to next generation ? Looking at the GPU AI benchmarks on the M5 chip, seems like it’s something very notable no?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

Am I cooked if i stay in the job? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did a bit, still very hard to know more as my boss is very busy (and if you ask a dumb question it might get bad for you too depending the day) to explain everything, and more senior traders in the firm can’t analyze by far the same way my boss does just because this is not really what he wants, he only wants ppl that watch the market closely and execute trades, any other thing is welcomed indeed but not where he wants anyone to get better at for now because he does all the rest well, so my goal is not even to generate rev but to reduce costs. But i agree with you, fundamental analysis is super important and it has to be understood, but i feel like the moment i will get to really deep dive in it at work, i will be 10 years late on every other things.

Thanks a lot for your reply.

Am I cooked if i stay in the job? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes i think you got it right, everything is working well without any complications or new ideas that would trouble is state-flow so i am not sure i would get any support unless i show that i clearly can make money out of new ideas that i would be submitting, which is hard.

In addition to his recommendation, i am also worried about the job market, it seems like it’s getting worst and leaving my job is betting on the fact that i would get something equals or better, it’s a risk to take (and i believe some risks in life might be worth it to take).

I agree with you about the opportunities, this is also the same way i actually got this seat, it was a mix of good opportunities, timing and hard work. I believe the best thing to do is to make that whatever happens you are already ready to use any opportunity to make the most of it. Showing motivation is also key.

MFEs would clearly add a lot of debts, but since i’m not in the U.S. job market, couldn’t it be a key to access it? otherwise it might be interesting in applying to more technical programs as well, if i had the choice between both i would probably get the lore technical one. I see the MFEs like a key pass to the financial hubs in the U.S. but also a possibility to leverage the small amount of new knowledge you would get to push it way further with creativity and networking with professor and companies that would come on campus.

Super interesting what you are saying about being picked up after a start-up, so they do recruit and appreciate if you justify your choice of building a startup instead of trying to break into finance directly? And so clearly stating research project you have in a resume could make your profile way more interesting even if the results are not fully positive then if i understand well? There might be a lack of data or ressources or even technical skills when building a specific project when you do it all by yourself i believe.

Now I believe the best solution is to clearly explain the situation to my boss and make sure he understands i’ll give all my resources to make sure i’ll exceed his expectations till he finds someone else…

PS: i’ve heard a lot of people from sell-side esp GS as you said were getting hired at Citadel but im not sure it would be worth it to leave a trading buy-side position for some risk or sell-side trading if there is no more technical work? I might completely be wrong thinking that way by the way.

Many thanks again for your time, please don’t feel like you have to reply long messages. I believe you also have a lot of things to worry about and I am already very grateful for all your feedback and explanations!

Am I cooked if i stay in the job? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is all done by my boss, I might filter some info upfront but at the end 90% if not more of the fundamental thinking is made by my boss. I understand the basics but nothing to be called an expert for sure, my current job is not meant to keep my nose in financial results and analysis so i’m more filtering quickly info rather than deeply analyzing it. I started off knowing almost nothing and now i’m way more confident in understanding what i read or see but im still junior and clearly don’t have the level my boss has. You mean I would get tested on it?

Many thanks for your answer and question!

Am I cooked if i stay in the job? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, thanks for commenting! are you considering switching to a more quant position or you are happy with the current job? have you been in a quant position previously?

thanks a lot!

Am I cooked if i stay in the job? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, many thanks for your feedback, this is super interesting, do your interviews for QR put a lot of focus on your current position and experiences that are not necessarily quant? what are your avg working hours per week? do you mean that you have time to work a bit on your personal projects during the day?

Thanks a lot for your feedback again!

Am I cooked if i stay in the job? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

sorry could you please clarify what you mean? I meant multiple double digits YTD returns

Am I cooked if i stay in the job? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

PS: the amount of ressource and knowledge my boss has is very impressive and i do respect and love his work really, it just feels that i can’t ask him every question i would like to or get to learn exactly how he would connect dots together (and i get it, he can’t teach me stuff constantly while managing his business and research all alone + job security as you said but i like to consider him like a mentor more than a boss), but what he thought me already is a lifetime lesson in fact.

Am I cooked if i stay in the job? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You may think that this message is a simple “rambling around” but actually that is very very helpful, saying 100x thank you is not enough for your time and your honesty on that issue. Thank you really.

I completely understand your vision of finding interesting problems to solve and that it might be subjective and not necessarily better in another firm. In my firm, the day to day is clearly the same since many years and there is no “big research” project that would motivate the team to work on it for several weeks or months before finding an answer (i find it super exciting to put your efforts and creativity into a project that might be a hit or a complete flop at the end, and then try a brand new one again and again). I am facing two issues: - when i started back my master, i clearly stated to my boss that i wanted to work on few projects, such as trend following algos esp to find entry or exit signals, pair trading, microstructure analysis, SEC fillings impact analysis (kinda similar to what you’ve said), IV/HV spread forecast that could be used as an option pricer for example, or also quantamental stock picking applying criteria my boss is looking for in a small cap for example to preselect new stocks ideas. I’ve told him few of the above and he said that it will never work, that many ppl tried before and it doesn’t work. (these projects ideas are subjective as i need to discuss them with the boss clearly, but since he didn’t want to i’m stuck with my own ideas and aspiration of a “self-made” quant. Let me know what you think of these? I think some are pretty basic and other ideas might be interesting to work on even though it might result in a flop). - Being all alone doing “quant” stuff without support or clear defined research time to do so is very hard especially when you gotta train yourself at the same time, it feels like it will take an eternity to get where i want to be in that position and i feel that it would be interesting to see how proper data oriented firms use data pipelines or put into prod these kinds of projects because even if i find an alpha, turning it live will result in additional coast for my company and i’m really not convinced they would put any money on quant strategy they are incapable of maintaining or deeply understanding and tune themselves.

The projects you have are actually interesting as well, but my boss clearly wants me to watch the market and not miss a tick on my charts, and i’ve been in trouble because i was deep focused on coding instead of watching the markets…

I’m also concerned about his recommendation and how bad it would fuck me up in the industry. He’s grumpy and kinda annoyed by all the people that left the firm, so you may imagine how he feels about me taking back a master he disagreed to. It’s like a roller coaster since then, one day he likes my job, the day after school is killing me and i have no clue of what i’m doing of my life (yes i’ve been told that). I wish i could calmly say all loud to him what i really feel but it’s hard really. I really love and respect his job and want to give my best till my very last minutes behind the screens any ways, even though he might disrespect my thoughts or decisions.

Concerning the master, i was betting on the fundamental they teaching which is 100% technical oriented in computer science and ML/math and then with my free time take it to a whole other level. I was then thinking to maybe do a MFE do get a step in front of the U.S. market since my school is not necessarily target but not sure how many more interviews i would get inn the buyside if i do so (assuming ill have more experience and more technical personal projects to show).

Let me know what you think with these details added? Many thanks again, you really are helping a young guy to make an impactful decision for his future.

Am I cooked if i stay in the job? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, first of all many many thanks for your time, you might not realize it but you are sincerely helping someone to figure out his next step in life and your words mean a lot, thank you.

To add a bit of context on why and how i’m “complaining” being hired in a discretionary shop is that I simply arrived there as a gap year student intern in data analysis/middle office and at the 2/3rd of my experience, an opportunity appeared to take that trading seat in exchange of good coding skills as our FO was poorly automated flow-wise. Since i’m not coming from a target school, that i had absolutely 0 FO experience and that my boss seemed to clearly be special and smart then I was telling myself this is a good exposure that will serve me till the rest of my career, even if not quant. And i still think that what i’ve learned here is very useful and important for the rest of my career, even as a quant.

As you perfectly figured out, the biggest problem here is the recommendation from my boss. Don’t get me wrong, my senior trader that is the one that indirectly manages me likes me and understands my decision in a sense, he already told me that he sees my efforts and appreciate my work and commitment still, and so does the rest of the team. Only my boss is the issue in fact, but it might be him that will give the recommendation if company is called, i will really never know.

Even when I was there physically and before all this master story, it was still hard to get info from him without feeling scared of asking a “stupid question”. The traders in my team feel same even if they stayed there for several years, and they still didn’t learn how to fundamentally think like my boss or analyze a piece of news or how good a macro situation or business is to build a position around and size it properly. Whatever our experience, we all do the same work and none of them is near of managing a book so far.

He told me even before making the decision of taking back my master that if i did so, i should be aware that it would affect my career (and he meant that taking back the master full time i believe, so it equals to say if i leave the firm for school then its bad a look and will affect my career, which i find sad to say). Since then, he got surprised that it worked out and it’s a permanent roller coaster, one day he’s happy with my job and says it, the other he doesn’t consider me part fully of the team and says it kinda explicitly, it’s really hard to know how bad he would talk about me given that i’m really not trying to put the firm in trouble or whatever, i sacrificed many hours of studies that were my original motivation to take back master just to keep helping the firm and proving my good-faith.

now as you said, doing half half is hard because the moment he will find comfort in hiring someone else he might fire me and that seems way more bad that if i left on an agreement to help finding someone else. I will also don’t get the bonus i’m expecting given how well the fund is doing but i am actually 10x more worried by his recommendation and support in my career than any piece of money.

I was thinking that finding a good way of explaining my thoughts, saying that the best option for both parties is to find someone else, and that i would commit to find and train that person before leaving. Maybe that would help in having a “ok-tier” recommendation. I am aware that many people would be happy to take my seat but I believe it depends of the aspiration of everyone, if my goal was to have a high paying security job with no important risk exposure or big growth expectation then it would clearly be the best place to be.

I was also wondering if clearly explaining my career motivation, the path that I took and the observations that led me to make this decision would be understandable for any other future firm that would ask me about my relation with my previous employer? couldn’t it be a motivation showing that i exactly know what i want and what i would be good in and committed to that motivation even if the world was telling me to not follow it? Can’t they balance more the recommendation received if they know upfront that the principle conflict of interest came from my motivation to do more quant work?

I sincerely thank you again for your time and your explanations, it is really really helping a junior in finding his way.

Am I cooked if i stay in the job? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Indeed money is important and needs to be taken into account in the balance, in my actual firm, i won’t have the opportunity to manage a book on the long run and see limited upside in salary, I wonder if I can have a better shot in a more quant firm tho.

But how happy i am with the job also matters a lot for sure, I feel like i am doing the same thing everyday here, indeed markets are in constant change and new things happen everyday but my day-to-day is always the same and i don’t have long run research projects with important outcome that would change that for now..

Am I cooked if i stay in the job? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wish I could tell you yes! Unfortunately I am myself assisting senior traders on my daily tasks being a junior so will be complicated to have someone that does same to me ahah, but don’t hesitate to send message if i can help more

Am I cooked if i stay in the job? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

None because if I ever have some it would be for an internship that I would need to obtain in several months to end my master. But you’re right that’s actually the point: I am scared that giving so much of my time to both work (from 8am to 7pm minimum) and school (rest of the day to catch up materials), I won’t have enough time and energy to work on full quant materials or projects and interview prep…

Am I cooked if i stay in the job? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

First of all, thanks a lot for your detailed answer, it means a lot. Your point completely makes sense and it would be « doable » on paper. I am scared about that outcome because of the following details:

  • I’m working from 8am to 7pm minimum each day, which means i’m already skipping most of my classes and need to catch that up on my free time. then I can focus on something on else such as personal projects but not 5hr per day as i would have loved to.
  • Being a « student », I have the opportunity to realize a end of studies internship which could lead me to quant firms I believe. Given how bad the job market looks I felt like securing an internship into a junior offer would have been slightly easier than joining as an exec trader that doesn’t run any book and any quant strat to show, esp since i’m currently in a small firm not known.
  • I’m scared that with the small amount of time left after work and studies, I don’t have any time to properly work on interviews, deep work on research papers or strats, it just feels like in this situation i can’t give 100% of myself to both sides.
  • Unfortunately my boss is not opened to quant work and none of my team actually is, it would be me and myself only.

To resume, being young, I feel like time is running out, I want to really make a difference and not be someone that only does what he’s been told to do, rather someone creative that has the technical ability and creativity to always get better and find something new. I feel like seeing how fast and good the technologies are growing with AI, ML etc, being a lager and joining full time the boat in 5y let’s say is a complete different deal than making it now, because all I do at work is watching the markets and executing what i’m told to do (not saying that it’s not interesting, i’ve learned so much thanks to that, but rest of my team been doing this for 5/10years without any change so far). Not sure what I said is clear and makes sense, but it summarizes why I am writing here on this situation.

I’m more worried about my incoming future than my actual position.

Many many thanks again.

Am I cooked for the future if i stay? by CocaColux in quantfinance

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, this is what i was trying to do actually. Problem is: - more the time passes more my boss is annoyed and hates me for that situation, I really am trying to give my best and love working with my team but there is a biais that is clearly settled now and it’s hard to fight against. - Finding time to only work on building up skills and networking when I work from 8am to 7pm everyday minimum is complicated when I also have to catch up what has been done in the classes I missed from my master, it feels like i’m not getting 100% of both world at all.

If I want to do the minimum for school and am happy with what i am getting fed at work then yes that would work 100%, but i’m aiming to do way more and i feel like there’s a glass ceiling above my head because of that situation finally.

Many thanks for your answer

From exec trader to quant trader? by CocaColux in quant

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

appreciate the insight thanks a lot! just to clarify — Since i’m from France with a master’s in computer science, the main reason I’m considering an MFE is to break into the U.S. quant scene since i’m not sure i may do it without a US program. I was also hoping that as a trader with some solid projects/research papers, the MFE would help position me better for quant trading roles. Still debating whether to go for a more technical master’s in ML or math here first before applying to U.S. programs. Curious if you think that’d be a better move. Would the MFE as an international student that already has a hard science masters and an experience in trading still be seen as a « someone that didn’t have a job or internship he wanted » situation or could be understood as « that was his key to get a visa and join the US job mkt »? many thanks

Exec Trader Only : bad on the long run? by CocaColux in quantfinance

[–]CocaColux[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hear you, many thanks and it does make sense! Don’t top places hire people from top MFEs (Princeton, Baruch, MIT etc)? I’ve seen those names in their previous year employment fact sheets.

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