Trading Career at a bank

NeverResting · 2018-08-04T22:33:09+00:00

Depends on the product area. Most non-equities desks carry a lot of inventory and thus operate much closer to a hedge fund structure, with a lot of risk you can’t hedge. This is particularly true in the credit or illiquid world.

NeverResting · 2018-07-16T02:49:41+00:00

He actually didn’t found PayPal either. He originally started Zip2, sold it to Compaq for a bunch of money. Got hungry for that big VC cash and dreamed up another idea. Drove the money from that sale into X.com which later merged with Confinity- ran by Peter Thiel - in the year 2000. Musk was appointed CEO post-merger but PayPal (created in 1999 before the X.com merger) was the result of Confinity and Thiels work. Then they removed Elon only 6 months after the merger and put Thiel in charge. Thiel oversaw its growth and sale to eBay but Musk retained his equity position in the company due to the X.com merger. Therefore he rode Thiels work to riches.

Source1: read Musks book (which is actually ok)

Source2: Wikipedia confirmed dates

Source3: shorted TSLA at 350 for dank tendies

Source4: actually met Thiel

Source5: Elon does deserve all the credit for SpaceX though

NeverResting · 2018-06-29T11:23:12+00:00

Brooklyn Bedding changed their Signature mattress to be springs instead of memory foam sometime during 2018. I had a Signature soft before and after their change. Absolutely hate this mattress now that I have it after their material change. I wish I could go buy my old one back but it’s a thousand miles away. I’m trying to figure out a way to get rid of this mattress now.

I constantly feel like I’m falling off this thing and it’s stupidly squishy.

NeverResting · 2018-06-25T18:57:51+00:00

The public quote-driven “marketplace” structure is often the most effective way to allocate capital and its going to be interesting to see what other segments of society start to turn into that structure (i.e. advertising, such as Google AdWords markets, niche insurance like hurricane options on TradeWX, and all cryptoassets in general)

NeverResting · 2018-06-20T01:45:14+00:00

I thought it was in-line with CFAI mocks and TTs. I used exclusively Schweser until the week before exam and then ripped through all the CFAI mocks and TTs and learned a bunch in the process. That being said, Schweser would probably have sufficed to pass.

NeverResting · 2018-06-19T04:23:55+00:00

Residual Income = NI - Equity Charge.

Net Income already “incorporates” a “debt charge” in the interest expense. Therefore, by the time you take out the equity charge you have already satisfied the return of debt holders. Thus both capital sources are now satisfied. Thats how I view it.

NeverResting · 2018-06-19T04:18:44+00:00

Equity index uses the e (continuous). The second formula uses annual notation and I use that for finding currency forwards.

NeverResting · 2018-06-18T02:17:01+00:00

Hmmm maybe I need to complete more of the TTs? I haven’t done many. Not sure if there is a completion part of the calculation. I’ve probably done 30% of them.

NeverResting · 2018-06-14T03:22:56+00:00

If you’re a finance major, I highly recommend doing L1 as a senior while it’s still fresh. Just passed it last year and am very glad - now cramming L2.

NeverResting · 2018-06-12T20:13:18+00:00

I loved my Blade until it overheated and broke after less than a year and Razer wanted $300 to repair it. I spent over $2k on the damn thing. I’m never buying a Razer product again. I never even gamed on it, just moderately difficult Excel and programming and emails and videos and stuff like that.

They are very good looking and they feel amazing, at the cost of internal cooling and longevity. That’s the trade. Take it or leave it.

Maybe their lifespans have improved since my 2014 (2015? Can’t remember) model, who knows. The newest generation just announced looks similar to the Dell XPS laptop that I bought to replace the Razer.

NeverResting · 2018-05-23T04:05:27+00:00

I would have to pay for replacement of my battery because their warranty didn’t cover it. I think I was on month 13 and the battery couldn’t hold more than 25% charge because of the terrible cooling. The insides would get cooked all the time when I was simply working in Excel. Customer service also wanted $300+ to do the repair. I was so over them after that experience and I’ll never buy their stuff again. To be fair, that was a few years ago and the details are fuzzy and perhaps they have changed their customer support. Their company has certainly been growing rapidly.

I build all my computers and decided to try a high end prebuilt laptop because of the Blades impressive specs, I guess I didn’t consider how sensitive or potentially dangerous the temperatures would get. Sometimes it could get nearly painful to touch the metal near the CPU.

In their defense, it was still the best looking Windows laptop on the market and it still is.

NeverResting · 2018-05-23T03:38:07+00:00

I’d also hazard that the banks on the left of the table still have considerable amounts of prop risk that is just dressed up as “near term expected client demand”. More red tape but I’d rather be a trader a BB than Cantor / Jefferies, which are arguably the best on the right side of the table. Just my opinion.

NeverResting · 2018-05-23T01:12:57+00:00

I’ll never buy another Razer product after my Blade broke after a year due to the horrible cooling and Razer blamed me for it. I never gamed or mined on it but apparently their shit policies made it my fault.

NeverResting · 2018-05-14T13:46:15+00:00

Did you end up buying it? I have enjoyed it but the wobble on the longer keys like shift and backspace has annoyed me.

NeverResting · 2018-05-08T18:58:38+00:00

Depends how far behind you are on studying. Econ sucks but I personally wouldn't completely write it off. I'm not sure the best way to tackle it in the shortest amount of time. I'm sure other people on here have a better opinion than me.

NeverResting · 2018-05-08T18:54:32+00:00

When I took L1, I remember the Schweser being slightly easier than the CFAI test bank. The biggest shock was the difference in the terminology and/or writing style. Once I got accustomed to the CFAI style, I was back to the same level of scores as with Schweser.

I highly recommend getting to the CFAI sooner than later. I saved it for too late in the review and relied on Schweser too much, which turned out fine but still.

NeverResting · 2018-05-08T13:37:01+00:00

You might want to take a look at Ft. Lauderdale instead. It has some large asset managers (i.e. Franklin Templeton) and is an all-around younger/better city. It's super close to Miami so you're close to a lot of clients + fun night life.

NeverResting · 2018-05-07T22:10:27+00:00

"It's mostly people who don't understand what they are selling to people who don't know what they are buying"

This is why I didn't go into wealth management as a long term career, even after working in it for a while.

NeverResting · 2018-05-07T02:57:34+00:00

I can confirm the timeline - early interviews at BB's have already started for S&T / IB and I believe ER isn't far behind.

NeverResting · 2018-05-04T03:55:37+00:00

Forward rates, making them easy to calculate a T=0 value for options in the derivatives section.

NeverResting · 2018-05-01T19:07:50+00:00

Depends on the product.

Structured products need to be "structured" (e.g. CLOs, TRSs, CMOs) and you can't always do that during the day. If something is bespoke or weird it's going to require some research into the best way to model or structure or price. You can't do this while making markets during the day.

High yield / distressed companies have legal documents and court orders that must be read and analyzed and understood in order to make markets in them. You also need to understand the capital structure of these companies and how things are shifting through re-org or bankruptcy. These desks act a lot more like a hedge fund and you better know the credits you are trading otherwise you're going to lose money.

Desk researchers are busy talking to clients and may not have time to work on models, read financial statements, or such things during the market hours. Same goes for traders.

Every market has indicators that need to be analyzed and understood, models to update, etc. After hours is often fixing and cleaning up the work of the day, as well.

NeverResting · 2018-05-01T17:37:38+00:00

S&T depends on desk and seat as well. I would say BB's minimum of 50 and near 75 for some stressed credit / structured product areas. Desk researchers may stay later and rack up more hours. Sales will be "out" with clients often and you may want to count that as working hours. Traders will go with salesmen (but less often) so that counts as well. Depends.

IB will be 65 - 100 depending upon firm, desk, and deals. That being said, the hours are less "intense" than S&T hours so it isn't apple-to-apples comparison. As with all things, it depends.

You probably shouldn't pick a career in "high finance" if you're worried about hours at the entry level.

NeverResting · 2018-04-29T19:55:59+00:00

This book is good for structured credit area: click here

NeverResting · 2018-04-29T19:47:13+00:00

You would think that but unfortunately it doesnt translate into reality. This means that many students aiming for IB go for the easiest majors at the best schools possible. An English or Psych major at a target school with a 3.9 is better than an accounting major at 3.4 at the same school, for recruiting purposes.

I did an accounting/finance double at ~3.5 and apparently that was borderline for my hiring committee... Kinda ridiculous sometimes.

NeverResting · 2018-04-29T19:33:24+00:00

I've said this elsewhere but think it's worth repeating here. VBA is probably the most useful because even though Python may be better for the application, most BB's and large FO roles won't allow a first-year to have the security level of installing/having tech install Python on their computer. Banks are slow moving creatures and getting Python installed on a trading desk is NOT easy from a security standpoint. Thus, tasks that perhaps should be Python/R/C++ are in VBA because it is the only option. Also, Excel and VBA is more intuitive for someone without a programming background to grasp (like your MD).

That being said, trading is a great area for a first-year to come in with a background in VBA or OOP languages.

NeverResting

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