I'm graduating in may this year and have been am solely focused on trading. I've been investing through etrade since i was thirteen and definitely want the stock market to be involved in my job. I've been looking at prop shops as a way to enter a business where i can trade the stock market and have a lot of profit potential. However, i'm not sure if prop trading is something i should be getting into out of school. Does anyone have any advice on career paths which would satisfy my strong interest in the stock market, but is not necessarily prop trading?
Do it now before you realize you are 30 and can't do it anymore having dependents, a wife, mortgage, etc
thanks for your reply, but my main question is if anyone can suggest a possible career path to satisfy my interest in the stock market besides prop trading?
Get your licenses, Series 7, 63, 55 and go work for a brokerage firm that allows you to trade while working...at least on a limited basis. If you can't afford the tests on your own go work for a large company at a crap job and have them pay for you to get the licenses, then go to a firm that will allow you to trade your own account while working. If none these seem like something you want to do simply go to work and save every penny until you have enough to trade for yourself retail.
there's a lot of pieces to prop trading at legitimate firm. sometimes the "trading" part is the least important. how do you come up with strategies, research, and tests? what tools do you use and can you leverage them to make the firm better?
I understand your question, but I would suggest you try prop trading. I wish I had when I finished school. I wasted my time at some other companies as an analyst, and realized that it wasnt the way I wanted to spend my life. Find a good reputable firm, and give it a try. You need to do it while your young with little worries about supporting kids/wife, im assuming your not married or dont have kids. The learning curve is quite steep, and you need to be able to sacrifice 6 - 12 months before becoming consistently profitable. In this time you should learn alot, even though you have been trading for quite some time. I started trading 5 months ago, and wish I had right out of school. All the best, in your trading.
thanks again, it makes sense to me also, but would something like sales and trading at a firm be good also, or is there any other career i'm not thinking of?
You might consider applying to the USA Treasury Department. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 is a law authorizing the United States Secretary of the Treasury to spend up to US$700 billion to purchase distressed assets. You could learn a lot. The treasury staff member responsible for administering the bailout funds is Neel Kashkari, you could write to him, send your resume. Maybe something might come of it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Economic_Stabilization_Act_of_2008
Apply to all the big banks and hedge funds. You will have to get a trading job and just live with that because no reputable firm will let you touch your personal account when you work for them, even if you are in investor relations or something.
You could always move to Minneapolis and lease a seat at the MGEX for $70 a month. There are still some good trading opportunities in the pit there, and you will learn how to really trade. Plus, successful pit experience does give you good cred on a resume. Jeff