It wasn't the engineering that sucked. I enjoyed it for many years. What burned me out was the corporate environment. I hated the fictitious "must make" deadlines that you kill yourself to hit because the product is "late". Well it only takes a couple product cycles to figure out that the product is always late because no one in management had the brains to plan the product in time. In fact they hadn't even thought of it until a competitor came out with it and they realized they needed it. The money is fantastic if you were a performer. Let's not forget that. A good EE can easily make six figures. An assumption in this whole thread is that you make nice, but unspectacular (high five figure) money as an EE. This is true on average. But if you are a good engineer the pay is significantly higher when you factor in benefits, bonuses and options. I think that's what you should be comparing against because these six figure numbers being thrown around for traders are also for exceptionally good traders. An average trader loses money. An average engineer still makes 70K + benefits.
I know many guys at the firm i work at who make 6 figures a year consistently, and most have been there no more than 3 years. I know of a couple guys who have had six figure months as recently as december. I even know of a couple guys who have had almost 6 figure trades no more than 2 months ago. 13 pts on 7000 shares of RIMM just to give a quick example. The opportunities are out there, many of the nay-sayers will have you believe that its not possible but they would be wrong. Its not easy mind you, but usually stuff that is worth pursueing never is....
I have traded it a few times. I have shorted it only though. RIMM is way over priced even with the strong balance sheet. I love how fast and hard it drops when it does. I also shorted TASR. I shorted the airlines about 2 years ago too. Shorting can be scary when you do it and get squeezed a little, but man is it a freaking rush when the stock drops and you are shorting.
Don't count me as one of the naysayers because I've made the transition to full time trading. And I'd definitely say that trading has more upside. But let's keep this in perspective. Your office is full of survivor bias. The guys that get it, really get it and are doing quite well. But how would you rate the average in your office if you count the people that failed? I don't know where you trade, but let's take a place like Bright that actively recruits new traders. I don't remember the exact number Don stated, but well over half fail. In this business (trading), if you don't figure it out you're going broke. In engineering, if you got your degree and got a job offer it's pretty damn hard to get fired.
It may be true that I trade amongst guys who have survived and excelled, and that may contribute to my views on this subject. But I wouldnt want it any other way. Seeing guys excel at the level they do, makes it that much easier to stay focused, disciplined and positive because you know it CAN be done. I am sure many others have not had the luxury to work around good traders and see what is possible so they do not believe that daytrading can really bring all that people say it can. And maybe I should take this into consideration when posting. But all I know is from what I have experienced myself trading as well as knowing what others have done around me and I know there is big money to be made everyday, and people are making it.
Sorry, but life is not a Star Wars movie. Am all for taking the big leap from the high-dive board, but that's not how you run a business (your career in this case).
Hey OP, what did you end up doing? I just found this thread through a search and it's been 9 months...
Well I've been prop trading through the firm for about 5 months now. I'm becoming more and more profitable and consistant every day. I love the job. It's great.
Did they train you? I'm in the Chicago suburbs and I'm looking for a new job (I've been in systems design/IS for almost 2 years since I graduated). Are they hiring?