Working on Wall Street anyone?

[Vinny]

Hello,

I know there has to be someone on StevePavlina.com that has a career on Wall Street at a respectable firm. I am currently a professional Aerospace Engineer. I have discovered my passion. I have a passion for stock investing, stock trading, options, short sellling, day trading, investing in general. I have wanted to do it professionally since highschool, but at that age what do you know? I have been paper trading for several months now and I see I am making very profitable trades. I read every material that I can about the overall market trends, I have learned different strageties when it comes to investing in the long term & short term. I am applying this to my own account. I am a fast learner and I pick up the information at a rapid rate. I am finishing my B.S. in about 6 weeks. I am working for an Aerospace company now for about 2 1/2 years. I have been educating myself everyday about the market. Basically what I am asking is: I want to connect with the right people. They say they would love my background on Wall Street. I am ready to go to Grad to learn about economics & finance. Any advice on what I should concentrating on? Or maybe get my foot in the door and let the experience take me from there. I am ready to pursue my passion.

Anyone with any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Vinny

I am ready to go to Grad to learn about economics & finance. Any advice on what I should concentrating on?

Yes, given your background and interests you should look into Masters programs in Quantitative Finance. Here's a good resource for you:

Global Derivatives Masters Degree Programs

[zpivat]

Hi,

I'm not working at WallStreet (not even in USA), but I'm intrigued by the fact that you're an Aerospace Engineer. I'm a recent Computer Science graduate. I did really well in it but somehow I don't like it and wish I've gone to Aerospace Engineering/Naturopathy instead.
So could you kindly tell me what it's like working in Aerospace Engineering? For example, how is the study like? What's the work like? What do you do exactly? Do you deal a lot with outer space stuff/vehicles/equipments?
Thanks .

[FXTraderWill]

Depending on what you want to do, grad school might not be the best option. If you want to work for some big firm and be an economic advisor or a financial analyst then a degree in finance and/or economics will be a must. If you just want to trade stocks, none of that is necessary. I "work" two Wall Street "jobs" (well, okay, only one of them is actually on Wall Street) and I'm only seventeen and a highschool "dropout." Trading doesn't require degrees, especially if you're as interested in short term daytrading as you say you are. Furthermore, you'll find that unless you're planning long term investment strategies, all that you learn from academia will be useless. My advice would be to finish your degree and get a job at a respected prop firm that will provide you with hands on training.

If you're located in New York I can talk in more specificty about what I do and how I do it, but basically I shift my time between being a daytrader and developing mechanical, automated trading systems. Both are really rewarding and fun and require completely different skillsets/patience.

I also recommend you go the entrepreneurial route instead of working at some big investment bank that doesn't care about you. There's something uniquely satisfying (as well as scary) about being your own boss and responsible for your own destiny and not getting paid any fixed salary, only bonuses of a size of your own choosing.

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by zpivat

Hi,

Aerospace Engineering/Naturopathy instead.
So could you kindly tell me what it's like working in Aerospace Engineering? For example, how is the study like? What's the work like? What do you do exactly? Do you deal a lot with outer space stuff/vehicles/equipments?
Thanks .

I will tell you this, the study was pretty difficult but I had an interest in the avaition field. That led me to Aeronautical Engineering. Currenlty working on gov't secret work at this moment. The work for me is really easy. I design aero & machanical parts on a program. If your into designing parts that are needed for the aircraft, then its fairly easy, however if your into the math portion such as analyzing structures and loads at given points then thats a stress engineer. it really gets down if you can do it or not and the people who i work with will tell if your able to take on that kind of responsibilty. If you have a passion for it, then go for it full steam ahead. Highly rewarding career, but my passion is with trading. hope this helps any other questions just let me know.

[babuji]

It's great that you have a passion for Wall Street, that's definitely needed as a career in the financial services Industry is not for everyone.

I would definitely recommend that you get as much information as possible about the industry and which area you want to focus on. You can go to many of the websites for the major players in the Financial Industry and get an overview about their depts, and what they do.

Secondly, talking to people who currently in the field definitely helps.. as mentioned earlier.. trading is one aspect of wall st., and may not require a degree in finance, however, if you're looking to working on financial strategies, quant analysis, etc.. then a masters degree or MBA would be the right way to go.

Nevertheless, best of luck with your endeavors.. if you really want it.. and believe in it.. then follow the intention-manifestation method that Steve describes...

cheers.

[thadroe]

Hi Vinny,

If your passion is with the market and trading. My advice is when you get into it....make sure you stay on the buy side of things. Don't go into the sell side where you just get your series 7 and work directly with clients. I made that mistake. I love trading and the stock market in general and thought being a stockbroker would be my thing. It isn't...working directly with clients does not fulfull that desire to be involved in trading and the market. Stick with institutional type firms where they either do analysis or actually manage investments.

Just my 2 cents

Thad

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by FXTraderWill

If you're located in New York I can talk in more specificty about what I do and how I do it, but basically I shift my time between being a daytrader and developing mechanical, automated trading systems. Both are really rewarding and fun and require completely different skillsets/patience.

I also recommend you go the entrepreneurial route instead of working at some big investment bank that doesn't care about you. There's something uniquely satisfying (as well as scary) about being your own boss and responsible for your own destiny and not getting paid any fixed salary, only bonuses of a size of your own choosing.

I am trying to become a day trader. I am located in NY. Can you tell me more about day trading or your experience? thank you very much

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by thadroe

Hi Vinny,

If your passion is with the market and trading. My advice is when you get into it....make sure you stay on the buy side of things. Don't go into the sell side where you just get your series 7 and work directly with clients. I made that mistake. I love trading and the stock market in general and thought being a stockbroker would be my thing. It isn't

are you a day trader?

I should have named this post "Day trading"?

[thadroe]

Originally Posted by Vinny

are you a day trader?

I should have named this post "Day trading"?

No, not a day trader myself. Although I did it for a while a few years ago but was not successful at it. I would do well for a while but then all it would take was a big blow-up here an there to wipe out my profits. I should have managed my capital a little better by trading in smaller proportions.

I'm not a big advocate of it because I meet with thousands of clients every year but I've only seen maybe 3 or 4 that are successful long term at day trading.

Thad

[MichaelL]

Could someone explain to me the difference between a day trader, an analyst and an associate at an investment bank?

[ViceVirtue]

"analyst" and "associate" are just the names for the first 2 levels within the firm and don't represent a specific job function. Analyst is the entry-level title out of college, and Associate is the level of MBA's (or 3-5+ yrs exp).

A Day Trader is just the term for anyone who regularly buys & sells positions during the same day, usually not holding anything over night. It's not a "Wall Street" job title.

[reuben]

Originally Posted by Vinny

Hello,

I know there has to be someone on StevePavlina.com that has a career on Wall Street at a respectable firm. I am currently a professional Aerospace Engineer. I have discovered my passion. I have a passion for stock investing, stock trading, options, short sellling, day trading, investing in general. I have wanted to do it professionally since highschool, but at that age what do you know? I have been paper trading for several months now and I see I am making very profitable trades. I read every material that I can about the overall market trends, I have learned different strageties when it comes to investing in the long term & short term. I am applying this to my own account. I am a fast learner and I pick up the information at a rapid rate. I am finishing my B.S. in about 6 weeks. I am working for an Aerospace company now for about 2 1/2 years. I have been educating myself everyday about the market. Basically what I am asking is: I want to connect with the right people. They say they would love my background on Wall Street. I am ready to go to Grad to learn about economics & finance. Any advice on what I should concentrating on? Or maybe get my foot in the door and let the experience take me from there. I am ready to pursue my passion.

Anyone with any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

Dear Vinny,

I personally do not work on the Street, but i am active on day to day basis in trading forex.

My response will not have a great structure as i have a few ideas and i am to tired to put them out nicely.

First of all tell us how old are you?

If you plan to become a trader, position keeper or whatever similar at a wall street firm you might be too old (of course unless you have a very good education in the field). Many companies tend to hire young people directly out of college/univeristy or even still studying. The idea here is that younger males(as there arent too many women in this field) or much more likely to take risks and they wont be palying it too safe. Of course education in this field just as one of the posters above has stated is not necesairy as the only way to learn this is by actually trading and not reading about it in books.

You mention that you have been trading by yourself. As i see it this could be your only or a good ticket "in" to a wall street firm.

Maybe trading the stock market is a bit different but in currencies a trader to be hired by a company usually is expected to bring a trading record, of course an audited trading record for the past say 2 years.

If a trader is good, that is he/she has proved in the past that they can produce a good healthy return with low drawdowns getting a position at trading firm will not be a problem.

People dont realize that there are huge, unbelievable amounts of money flowing around the world, and that if you are good people will throw money at you and beg you to trade for them.

Well this is a simplistic and idealistic view of this trade, but this is how things work.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Vinny

Hello,

I know there has to be someone on StevePavlina.com that has a career on Wall Street at a respectable firm. I am currently a professional Aerospace Engineer. I have discovered my passion. I have a passion for stock investing, stock trading, options, short sellling, day trading, investing in general. I have wanted to do it professionally since highschool, but at that age what do you know? I have been paper trading for several months now and I see I am making very profitable trades. I read every material that I can about the overall market trends, I have learned different strageties when it comes to investing in the long term & short term. I am applying this to my own account. I am a fast learner and I pick up the information at a rapid rate. I am finishing my B.S. in about 6 weeks. I am working for an Aerospace company now for about 2 1/2 years. I have been educating myself everyday about the market. Basically what I am asking is: I want to connect with the right people. They say they would love my background on Wall Street. I am ready to go to Grad to learn about economics & finance. Any advice on what I should concentrating on? Or maybe get my foot in the door and let the experience take me from there. I am ready to pursue my passion.

Anyone with any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

Hi Vinny

Why would you want to go to 'Wall St'

Why tie yourself up in bureacracy and compliance when as you say so yourself.." I have been paper trading for several months now and I see I am making very profitable trades"

You dont need a certificate to be a successfull investor.

[kmr321]

Would you consider just sticking with your current job and using all of your salary to invest for yourself?



By the way to the person who mentioned ForEx i was just doing some reading on this. It sounds even more interesting than the stock market.
How do you find it? Im finding it difficult to understand since its quite different to stocks.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by kmr321

Would you consider just sticking with your current job and using all of your salary to invest for yourself?



By the way to the person who mentioned ForEx i was just doing some reading on this. It sounds even more interesting than the stock market.
How do you find it? Im finding it difficult to understand since its quite different to stocks.

FX trading is far riskier (in general) than investing in the stock market.

There are to many fators beyond your control or information that you are not privvy to.

I often look at FX trading as similer to the Stcok Market. Only - I project a currency as a company and the CEO as the President/Premier/Prime Minister of that Country. Get the picture?

In this way you will get a feel of how risky FX trading is. Political interference is too real a risk for my liking.

[Colin]

Originally Posted by Stephen

FX trading is far riskier (in general) than investing in the stock market.

I don't really agree too much with this statement. What is true is that trading of any kind can be rather risky if you don't really know what you're doing. Most people at least have an idea what the stock market is all about, and so have some familiarity with the link between a company that does well and the stock price of that company going up.

Once you understand that it is the relative value between the currencies of two countries that underpins how forex pricing works, then you're well on your way.

Originally Posted by Stephen

There are to many fators beyond your control or information that you are not privvy to.

Again, true, and worth knowing about, but once you come to grips with this reality it's not a dealbreaker.

Just realise that whereby insider trading is pretty much illegal in most countries, it is part and parcel of the forex market. Central banks can intervene at any time for their own ends. Large commercial, business related forex transactions can take place at any time, which the bank involved in the transaction is naturally privy too in advance, but no one else will be.

The forex market is too large to be controlled by any one entity though, so its large liquidity negates the problems that are caused by this sort of thing.

Originally Posted by Stephen

I often look at FX trading as similer to the Stcok Market. Only - I project a currency as a company and the CEO as the President/Premier/Prime Minister of that Country. Get the picture?

A close analogy, but a rather false one. If you want to draw a parallel with the stock market then you are better off comparing it like this:

Imagine comparing the stock of two companies (and for the sake of simplicity assume that two companies are in the same field, eg two tech companies, or two car manufacturers). Each company represents a country. Imagine buying the stock in company A, paying for it using stock you own in company B. The amount of your stock in company B that you're willing to pay for stock in company A depends on the relative health and prosperity of both companies at a given point in time.

That relative difference or ratio between the stocks of the two companies will change over time as the companies do well or poorly. Both companies might be doing well at the same time, but one will be doing better than the other, thus the value of its stock should appreciate more than the value of the other company's stock.

You are not concerned about the absolute price of a stock share in either company, but the price of one stock share relative to the price of a stock share in the other company.

Finally, it is not the prime minister or president of a country that should be seen as the CEO of our phantom companies, but rather the head of that country's central bank. In the US this would be Ben Bernanke (head of the Federal Reserve Bank), while in Europe it is Jean-Claude Trichet (head of the European Central Bank).

A very good website to learn the absolute basics of forex trading is Forex Education, Forex Training, Beginner's Guide to Forex Trading - BabyPips.com.

I also recently wrote an article that beginner traders might find useful entitled Keys to Trading Success.