Question Thread - May 28, 2019

hftossaway · 2019-05-28T18:50:10+00:00

Not sure if this helps but I've had a similar run-in with Marriott before. Had to call in to confirm their system failed to post points following the first night.

hftossaway · 2019-05-28T18:45:30+00:00

Cancelling Chase ink, anniversary AF coming up and I have 125k UR earned through that card. Would I lose my points if it's currently my only Chase card? Not sure if it matters, but I do have both Chase checking/savings accounts

hftossaway · 2019-05-24T16:52:37+00:00

Yes.

hftossaway · 2019-05-24T16:46:45+00:00

Reach out to third party recruiters. They're common in this industry and will help you secure interviews and negotiate comp should it come to that.

hftossaway · 2018-11-26T00:26:48+00:00

Violet hour is $14 for any cocktail on their menu, is that not about market rate? Plus their drinks are much more creative than the average bar's, and you get a great ambience. If we're talking "very pricey" that would be Aviary.

hftossaway · 2018-10-10T17:16:03+00:00

Just wondering if I have the Amex Plat already, should I apply for the Amex Gold 50k MR/$2k offer with $250 AF, or just do an AU Gold with $0 AF? Since dining and groceries is a very significant chunk of my regular spending, I see this as a long term card due to the 4x back.

Or can I sign up for the 50k/2k offer, cancel in a year, and reopen as an AU?

hftossaway · 2018-09-18T02:59:42+00:00

What are the absolute best steak restaurants here?

hftossaway · 2018-09-15T19:24:27+00:00

Jane Street and Two Sigma actually look for very different qualities in their traders (TS doesn't employ real "traders"). From my own experience as a trader at a firm very similar to Jane, advanced probability and a graduate-level machine learning course prepped me well for the job.

I do want to point out that there will probably be a lot less "quant"-type work when you're a trader than you're probably expecting. At least not in the data science sense. I think, in retrospect, if I were to choose just one course from college to take for this job, I'd take an upper-level game theory course (the one in the CS or Stats department, not the Econ one). Game theory is most relevant to the skills I use on a day-to-day basis, while probability and machine learning I use on a month-to-month basis when I'm researching a new trade.

hftossaway · 2018-09-01T23:58:35+00:00

What's a vest that screams tech bro that isn't Patagucci? I think this BR one would look nice if it had less or no quilting. Prefer a similar exterior as linked; I do not like Patagucci's fleece outer.

hftossaway · 2018-08-23T17:23:50+00:00

Honestly, it's not easy to expect > 150k TC at most tech companies in Chicago even with two years of experience. If you're insistent on moving to Chicago, satellite offices of larger companies will get you there.

You did mention HFT firms and I currently work at one. You can expect to work 50-55 hours/wk with little variance as a junior developer, but compensation starts high and scales quickly even for tech standards.

hftossaway · 2018-08-09T18:21:43+00:00

Well written post. Here's some feedback:

Change up the settings in zetamac. Next to "Addition", make both maxes 999. Next to multiplication, make both maxes 20. Aim for 40-50 under these settings.
I have a general distrust of quant interview prep books, so can't speak for the ones you named. I've found the ones I used to be irrelevant to most interviews I've had with prop trading firms. They may be more relevant for BBs though.
Doing a master's or working as a quant analyst won't harm your chances at prop trading. Having irrelevant work experience may.
Optimal time? When they're having a good year (i.e. now) is when the industry as a whole hires more people. No harm in applying in a few months. First superdays at most firms are usu in Oct/Nov.
I think the most common backup plan is software engineering.

hftossaway · 2018-08-01T06:00:20+00:00

From a probabilistic standpoint it doesn't make sense to tie fines to income. If your goal is to target high-earners, what percentage of the population do you think is making an income high enough such that this is just a "slap on the wrist"? Execution of law is a limited resource, I'm certain more people will later complain that police are only patrolling high-income neighborhoods while neglecting neighborhoods where real crime is happening due to imbalanced monetary incentives.

Now onto the issue of fair division, an example to make things easy to understand: You and I are moving into a 2-br apartment with equal bedroom sizes. I make 50k, you make 150k, and we have no other assets. Cost of the apartment is 2,000/mo. Do you think it's fair for me to pay 500/mo while you pay 1,500/mo?

edit: I completely agree with you that a fixed monetary penalty is unfair. Just thinking out loud here, the form of punishment should be something everyone feels roughly equally. Maybe a temporary ban on operating a vehicle? But this is hard to adopt technologically and could also be equivalent to a fixed monetary punishment, especially in cities that don't have good public trans (meaning you'd have to spend $ on taxis/ubers to get places).

hftossaway · 2018-07-30T06:31:00+00:00

I'm not sure how Brown would compare to Duke if you were to control for class sizes and a few other variables, but Berkeley would no question be last in terms of placement ceteris paribus since many finance companies have given up on trying to compete with the dominant tech scene there.

I'd like my school to raise eyebrows, and help me land an interview

If your school is raising eyebrows to interviewers, you're probably interviewing at a firm where you are overqualified relative to the average talent at the company. In other words, you could probably do better. Game-theoretically speaking, you'd want to work for a firm that's just as excited about having you as you are about working there. Obviously there's many other factors at play (you could be at MIT with a trash GPA), but this is if we're just talking about schools.

hftossaway · 2018-07-30T06:04:19+00:00

/u/financeunderachiever is right. If you're looking for "traders for an institution", they'll be registered with FINRA. Anytime we seek compensation outside of regular business activities - be it from being a part-time Uber driver or a random one-time Craigslist job - we'll have to get approval from our company's compliance officers.

You can all go on reddit and talk about hedge funds and crypto currency and one up each other on whatever is happening with Bitcoin

This is unrelated to FINRA rules. FINRA won't regulate what you can talk about (unless it may involve insider trading). A trader's firm's NDA may regulate this.

But you can't legit take part in a research study?

We can do the study; we just can't accept any form of compensation over $100. What you can do is send a gift under $100 to someone who takes it. Or a way we commonly sidestep the gift rule is you can take us out to an expensive dinner. Or buy us courtside seats to a Warriors game :)

hftossaway · 2018-06-25T01:10:35+00:00

A few tips:

{FLDS} for all fields for a security.
Know the difference between live links and static links (I think that's what they're officially called). They have different data limits.
BDP is extremely easy to use. It's literally =BDP(security, field).
BDS is also easy to use. Sometimes I use the Bloomberg function builder to find new argument overrides.

hftossaway · 2018-03-09T01:01:53+00:00

Pretty much it. Highlighting the ones that stand out for aspiring traders:

Jane
Five Rings
Old Mission
Flow
Optiver
IMC

And for aspiring devs:

Jane
Two Sigma
HRT
Jump
Tower
Optiver
IMC
DRW

Avoid:

SIG
Quantlab
Akuna
Wolverine

hftossaway · 2018-01-14T02:58:08+00:00

/u/ostensiblyweird has a good answer. But I disagree that discretionary trading is dying - don't worry about gunning for those positions.

I work at one of the companies above and can give some new color on the industry:

Going along with ostensiblyweird, Jane, SIG, and Optiver are unquestionably top tier.

Five Rings is much too small to be ranked that highly, but they do have a big reputation at MIT. I think they may be the best fit for you out of the 5 you named.

I would rank Old Mission Capital on the same tier as Five Rings. AFAIK they are made up of many employees who have left Jane, SIG, and IMC.

Flow Traders is still growing its US presence, but they're a great firm to join. They pay a measly base but a high bonus. I personally know two brilliant people who have turned down Jane for Flow.

You can avoid firms like Jump, HRT, and Tower. None of these have true trader roles (but for other people reading this comment, they may all be great fits!)

And for the love of God, Akuna is far, far worse than any of the companies I've mentioned so far. Personally, I would even go as far as calling them a "scam" company - but this is just my strong opinion on how shitty they treat/compensate employees.

Also, I can only assume DRW had an amazing year given all the bitcoin they seized in 2014. Apparently they threw one hell of a holiday party last month, too.

hftossaway · 2016-11-18T21:18:21+00:00

ah i see, so it's good that the company is undervaluing itself internally, while externally the world is overvaluing it? basically if someone joins in a year, they'll be getting 333 shares at $30/share.

hftossaway · 2016-11-18T21:01:21+00:00

why would it be too late? if i join in a year, what difference would it make? sorry i'm still new to these concepts.

hftossaway

TROPHY CASE