Completely New To Trading...

Discussion in 'Prop Firms' started by wildshoe, Jul 14, 2008.

  1. wildshoe

    wildshoe

    I am going to be a sophomore @ Pepperdine, currently interning @ RBS Greenwich Capital in Credit(blow my brains out) the work on this desk is incredibly boring. While I was looking through a firm's financial statements I noticed that they were a proprietary trading firm.

    I did not know what this was, so I googled it, and decided almost instantly that if I was working in the Financial industry that trading, especially Prop Trading is what I want to do.

    I've requested to sit with a few traders here, and just sat in awe, some TIPS auction was going on, and when he asked me to leave and come back when it was ending, I just stood at the entrance to the trading floor, and had a moment similar to a little boy looking at a major league baseball field.

    I love poker, I love the idea of having to follow something (the markets) and read up on it everyday, and just love the idea of a well researched, executed and profitable gamble.

    Honestly, this sounds like an incredible career path, and I am excited that I have found it perhaps earlier than I think most people my age (I don't know many people even from top notch schools who dream of becoming traders).

    My question is: What should I be doing to get ahead and learn early?

    Are there any prop shops that accept interns (i'm willing to work for no pay, just for the experience)?

    http://www.geneva-trading.com/careers_internships.html

    that is all I've found so far.

    Is there anything I should be reading/watching? (Books/Newspapers/Magazines/TV)

    Is there anything I can do to start trading without the risk of losing money, I've been using Investopedia's 100,000 stock simulator.

    I'm up 4.8% in two days just following trends and cutting losses, but investopedia is really frustrating as there is a 20min delay whenever you buy or sell a stock.

    I have another account where I am following a more contrarian approach where I'm shorting big gainers at about mid-day and I'm up about 2.6% in the past 2 days.

    I understand this is beginners luck, and I am probably taking alot of risk (diverisfied w/ about 10 stocks), but I just want to show that I'm already trying to learn this stuff, and experienced some minor (albeit fake) success.

    Would you guys reccomend paper trading?

    Anything else is MUCH appreciated.

    Thanks again,

    elliot.anderson@rbsgc.com