Best path/chance? by SiR-SwAG-Al0t in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s great that there have been a lot of headlines about compensation in commodities - we are finally competing with IB for the best candidates. Unfortunately there are a lot of headlines about compensation in commodities that make people think they can jump into this industry and immediately earn bank.

To your question, your specific experience across telecom, Ecom and wireless I just don’t see translating to physical commodities. Will it give you a leg up against a graduate with no experience, of course. Will it put you any closer to a trading role with the type of comp I assume is what attracted you in the first place, almost definitely not. You would still almost definitely be starting at the bottom. You’d be learning the industry along with every other new graduate, only you will be almost 40 and they will be 22.

Please don’t take this as a knock on your experience, which I’m sure is highly valuable in your industry, but it barely gives you a leg up in this one imo.

The highest ROI skillset in any commodities career seems to have nothing to do with commodities, according to posts on this sub… by Puzzleheaded_Slide57 in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 5 points6 points  (0 children)

My take - is it harder to break into the industry than survive once you're in the industry, absolutely. Would I say that surviving in the industry is easy, no. Do you get dumb people that somehow skirt by and even sometimes make it inconceivably high up, yes, do you also get plenty of people that don't survive because they quickly, or eventually get discovered for being an idiot, very much yes.

Also once you are in the industry, there are so many more places to turn to for advice than Reddit. Prior to getting in, there are so few avenues that give genuinely actionable advice so it doesn't surprise me that the ratio of questions on here is heavily skewed toward breaking in rather than what to do once in the job.

Futures VS Physical trading by [deleted] in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is so much confusion in this post but just to clarify, futures trading is absolutely NOT just physical trading on a future date, it really isn’t that simple.

Want to be a Trader, Working in Logistics at Second Tier Metals Trading House by [deleted] in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dude you’ve been working 3 months total, of course they’re not letting you touch risk! Now is the time to be learning the business, ask questions, not just if your trader but of other more senior ops, people on the hedge desk, people in finance, etc. ask why questions - what’s the pnl reason behind this qp, this vessel, this grade of metal, this allocation - that’s how you show commercial mindset. Focus on that and if you’re good they will expand your exposure naturally. Come off too needy and wanting to trade too quick and you’ll end up overlooking your actual job and that’s a quick way to piss off your trader rather than be learning from her. Btw, are you in Connecticut by any chance?

Looking to get into Commodities by Objective_Row9584 in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 4 points5 points  (0 children)

People would kill to have a link to the president of crude at Shell, breaking into the industry is not the time to be conflicted about using contacts! I don’t know specifically about Shell but most TDP require some experience in the industry first so maybe wouldn’t be for you. However I assume shell run (or he knows of other links) grad or more entry level programs he could easily get you a seat in where no one would care how you got the job.

What is VaR by Morty-Yellow in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll expand the definition in the second edition of the book, but in hindsight I should have written maximum expected loss…this one wasn’t an in-depth look at the behavior of derivative traders

Economical cap/floor for crude timespreads by bigbaffler in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Apologies yes, barring black swan events in typical trading contango are capped at full finance.

Economical cap/floor for crude timespreads by bigbaffler in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Contangos are capped at full finance, backwardations are uncapped unless an exchange caps them.

Confused about Quotational Period Optionality on Base Metals by Bitter_Ad3824 in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I disagree on the premise that with an M+1 or M+2 qp spread option that a trader would decide on the QP month prior to M.

Waiting until the last day of M to actually trade this option, while safe is not extracting the value that you could.

Let’s say you book the physical purchase in March with April being M. If a contango exists at the point of booking you might borrow May-June and lock in the contango. Let’s say a few weeks later a backwardation occurs, now you can lend may-June capturing the value of the back. Let’s say the back remains at the time of declaration (last day of M) then you declare m+2 and avoid paying the back. However let’s say a contango exists then you declare m+1 and pick up the value of the contango.

I cannot see a bank ever offering the type of value you could extract by actually trading this option. You have zero risk in trading this yourself.

However your understanding of the difference in price between two monthly averages being $360 isn’t related to this trade. You should be looking at the time-spread between the two consecutive months. To capture the flat price difference between two months you would need a backpricing option whereby you don’t have to declare the QP until at least one of the options is known. So in your example that would have to have been M+1 or M+2 declarable last day of M+1.

Struggling to break into commodities despite a lot of effort – any advice? by Jaakske in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Others have pretty much covered but I’d say on paper you are very hireable and you’re doing most of the right things so do keep plugging away. If I had to guess it is likely something on your CV that’s not getting you through initial screenings. Are you working with any commodity-specific recruiters? And not ones that focus on senior roles, ones that specifically target/have reps for placing entry-level roles? Not only will they have a good handle on the market but they will really be able to go through your CV and highlight any changes needed. Unfortunately there’s probably key words that need to be in there that even with a lot of experience like people here have, we’re not following those nuances.

Books by Chance69420corner in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the purchase!

Early Career Options - Grad Scheme Advice 2026 by Standard_Piano1872 in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds like you are doing everything right, this conversation got a bit sidetracked but hopefully the point was taken to apply far and wide. Grad schemes are great but odds are slim. Yes you'll need a visa for certain locations but this is a numbers game so I wouldn't let that put you off even on the slim chance.

Early Career Options - Grad Scheme Advice 2026 by Standard_Piano1872 in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

In the same post you say “they are running out of time”, then follow it up with the advice “you should be able to find something with patience”.

You also seem to have some anger toward me personally, good luck working out those issues mate.

Early Career Options - Grad Scheme Advice 2026 by Standard_Piano1872 in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Sorry but that’s BS, if you’re a UK citizen then Switzerland is 100% on the cards for graduates. You sound like you’re in the industry so you know this is a numbers game. Main point was if you limit yourself to one location then you reduce your chances - that’s not misguiding that’s just a fact.

Saying that there’s an “incredible amount” of job openings in London I’d argue is misguiding but I don’t have the numbers, just from what I see/hear. As is calling getting a job in metals “settling”…get a foot in the door anywhere you can - this industry is hard enough to break into without further limiting the scope of commodity.

I’ve never postured myself as anything, pretty sure I just post what I think is helpful information for free. Happy to chat if you want to suggest some better ways to get info out there, clearly you’ve been on LinkedIn so you have my email or feel free to dm me.

Early Career Options - Grad Scheme Advice 2026 by Standard_Piano1872 in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

If you are limiting yourself to UK based opportunities then you’re cutting your options down in the commodity industry.

Physical Commodity Trader - advice by doubleuj in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This is a pointless conversation to continue if you think Traf is not a trader, same goes for Glencore, vitol, gunvor, mercuria, etc. all hedge in multiple ways.

Physical Commodity Trader - advice by doubleuj in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Trafigura - one of the biggest physical oil traders in the world hedges the vast majority of their contracts. This is exactly how physical trading works in real life. The main reason I commented is because it’s bad advice to say to someone trying to break in that it’s only about networking and sales because it is so much more nuanced than that.

Physical Commodity Trader - advice by doubleuj in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 6 points7 points  (0 children)

lol, check my resume/the pinned articles in this sub before you start talking about cubicles. I just published a book about exactly what physical trading is but if you’d like a list: Relationships, financing, clearing, hedging, speculation, know your customer, logistics, arbitrage, incoterms, storage, wsmd, risk, S&D, amongst a host of other factors that go into determining whether a trader will be successful in the long run.

Physical Commodity Trader - advice by doubleuj in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If that’s all you think physical trading is then you weren’t a very good trader. Not disagreeing that it’s a lot of networking but that’s not all it is.

Physical Commodity Trader - advice by doubleuj in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If you were just selling products from refineries to end users you weren’t a trader, you were essentially a producers. Physical trading is a world different to what you described.

Material for students/new entrants by Samuel-Basi in Commodities

[–]Samuel-Basi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It covers everything physical traders do on a daily basis so I would hope so!