To OP, Making money in any speculative endeavour does not require academic genius, indeed, high-level academic attainment can lead to mind traps that ultimately cause spectacular blow-ups, think LTCM or the more recent subprime debacle (partly attributable to Archimedean Cupola modelling). All that is needed is a positive expected value of a series of bets. A basic math understanding is sufficient. I am not implying that constructing a system, that you will be able to follow, which generates the aforementioned series of bets is easy. I wish you the best.
I completely understand what you're going thru.... First let me say that 90 percent of traders fail... then let me say that out of the 10 percent that can make a living doing it about 80 percent of those people barely make a living and grind it out like a conservative professional poker player and struggle to make rent, bills, etc. I went to a very good school, had a good gpa and a passion for trading. However, even though i graduated from the business school my education only covered beginning stages of statistics and algos so I had no chance to trade for one of the bigger houses right out of school. What I did do is get 5K and a job at night. I made NOTHING for the first year, in fact a dug a deep hole but I stuck with it b/c I loved doing it. Anyone that says it takes 3 or 6 months to learn is A LIAR. After a year and a half, not sure what happened but everything seemed to click and from that point my months went from making 5k to 10k and doubling until I was making six digits a month. If you really like it you have to stick with it. Even though you have a valid point in your post NO ONE IS GONNA GIVE YOU SHIT FOR FREE. A college degree doesn't mean anything unless you don't have one, everyone goes to college that is in this business unless they are old floor brokers/traders. The way someone like me got into a big firm that then invested a large amount of money in me was by working my ass off for five years and living like i was a bum until I got consistent and put together three years of really good numbers.... You forgot to mention that even though you can't get in right away unless you're a math genius, if you put in some real effort EVERY FIRM TAKES ON TRADERS, NO MATTER THEIR METHOD, THAT MAKE BIG MONEY. And I haven't met anyone that wasn't struggling, broke or went bust atleast once that has gotten to where you wanna be. Pick yourself up and make it work, b/c if you want to be successful and get a top spot an a job with a 6 hour workday then you can't be a whiner. You bust your ass, put up the numbers and then sell yourself to a big firm.
Decide one way or the other, but don't leave one fingers tickling the pussy of trading while the rest of your life has moved on. Shit or get off the pot. I mean this with honorable intent. If you allow yourself to pick at trading once-in-a-while or just on the side, you know you will not be at the top of your game and you will lose money once-in-a-while instead of how often you lose it now. I would not have retired from a job at 30 had I given up. But I thought about it. Any trader is lying if they say they never thought about it. This is a psychologically difficult discipline to master, and if you are even a little emotional about a trade, your entire day's attitude and outlook is tied to that trade's loss or win. That can wear on you. I have even see it age people. It's not for everyone. Some are better suited to work 40 years and retire with a gold watch. I almost became a cop. Steady job. Yeah, there's stress, but the department gives you ways to burn it off. That doesn't happen it trading, you have to create your own coping mechanisms. I would not say that you're weak to bow out. I almost quit half a dozen times, after blowing my account as many times. Make a decision and live with it. Walk away clean or keep plowing ahead. But DO NOT treat it like an ex-girlfriend and think you can keep fucking her on the side after you break up with her.
By the way, one of the most successful traders I know, guy makes 20 million a year strictly trading short term and his college degree came from the esteemed Devry University. Up until the guy was thirty something he was a plumber in brooklyn. He busted his ass and now he has a mansion in Brookville, LI.
I'm not a full time trader but I've met a lot and talked to quite a few, traded prop a long time ago so I've got a little bit of experience. Here's my $0.002 You're right and wrong at the same time. For some kind of trading, stat arb, like you say requires that blend of high level poker player instincts and ivy league quant ability. If you're trading a gimmick or arb, you could be retarded and still make bank. Ask the swift guys who caught onto the millenium arb early or the guys who were trading momentum in the mid nineties or the SOES bandits. So if you have that gimmick, trade away. If not, know your limitations. Good luck.
Then open a personal account and trade for YOURSELF. You don't have to work for a prop shop or on a floor to be a trader and enjoy doing it.
Pheonix, While I'm sure your intentions are genuine please refrain from giving anyone advice if your post begins with I'm not a full time trader. The retardation in what you posted stands out boldly from the rest of the comments on this post. ONLY A RETARD would say that stat arb guys or quant guys that have a "gimmick" make "BANK" even if they have no clue what they're doing. YOU ARE A MORON THAT HAS NEVER MADE MONEY TRADING OR BEEN SUCCESSFUL AT ANYTHING IN LIFE. You're post shows that you are completely ignorant and oblivious to what goes on in finance. There was this tiny firm a bunch of years ago that traded quant and arb, all ivy league grads and making billions a year. They lost everything they had when they unwound their losing positions and almost took the market with them. Maybe you've heard of them, they're called LONG TERM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT. Obviously if the room of MIT and Harvard grad's "gimmick" didn't work i doubt that your friends do. What the hell do you mean by a gimmick anyway? Please explain what that is. Unless you're talking about being one of those morons who used to use bullets and now doesn't know how to trade anymore.
This is my first post and i read the OP's story and i got to say it is true the natural and social scientest are making their way to wall street and trading but the fact is yes the markets are getting more sofisticated and TA will be less relavant as time passes but the fact is you have to ADAPT TO VARIABLE CHANGE. I mean i didnt know anything about programming but I studied up on vba and NN and now im fully automated. So my point is yes trading will be tougher but the minute you stop consuming knowledge and admit to defeat you lost. I dont really know your education level but their's so many resources out there to learn math physics and other studies through school weather it be a state or city university and books. So i wish you luck and i hope you dont give up because you believe that the quants will take over ADAPT.....
JP.... do you think if you tried you could have possibly spelled any more words incorrectly? Before recommending physics to others, why not first try and get your GED.