this approach worked 5-10 years ago, when there werent as many top 5 MBA, MFEs, and even PHD, singing this song. It might still work at a lesser known firms, but not MS. Thats reality these days. only way you can get a job this way now, is if you actually know someone very very well...
I was trading in commodities. I leveraged all of my returns. I started with $3,000, leveraged all of it, got control of 10 contracts in five different markets for options worth about $150...made a return of $1500. Then did the same thing with $4500, leveraged all of it got control of 15 contracts each worth about $150...made $2250. Now I'm up to $6750...leveraged all of it got control of 22 contracts made a profit of $3300...Now I'm at $10000, leveraged all of it...and so on and so. I always diversified the markets I went in to. I would go into 4-5 different markets. I would never put all of my eggs in one basket. I would then look for markets that were way oversold. I'll give you an example $17 call in silver is worth $150. The odds of silver reaching $17 by july is pretty much impossible, these are the markets I would find.
I definitely appreciate the below response, but I'm sorry to say this guy has watched the movie Wall Street one too many times. Here are a few reasons why this wouldn't work as outlined below: 1. It makes you look wierd - driven possibly - but wierd. It's highly likely your boss would get contacted and that you would be told to stop bothering that MD. 2. Morgan has a firm policy of no internal transfers to other groups without being at the firm, in your current position, for at least 18 months - after which you need permission from you boss to even attempt an application elsewhere. Investment banks are well aware that most people want to be traders (albeit Sales Traders). 3. If you spend all your time doing what the person below described, you'll mostly likely get fired for not focusing on your job. And, speaking from experience, being fired by a reputable firm - without the ability to just leave it off your resume (since it was your first job and probably occupied several months of your time) will make getting the next job seem like an insurmountable task.
A few things, first this was how a obtained to entry level jobs at oppenheimer and bear sterns. First time I went to Bear the trade mngr. interviewed me right on the spot at 1 in the afternoon. Second this advice was for if he didnt take the sales job. Third entry level jobs on desks DO NOT require a business degree. The MD's like to see aggressiveness. Finally if you're going to give advice or make comments with any credibility, you should learn when you type the word "wierd" you shpuld spell it "weird".
Lasner, You were not asking for trading advice in this thread, but I wanted to chime in with the others to say that a blowup is inevitable with uncontrolled risk. Yes, the probabilities are in your favor, and you can win on 95% of trades or better. The 1% catastrophe will wipe you out, and maybe more. Point the gun at your foot, not your head. That being said, no (reputable) option prop firm will allow you to trade this kind of strategy. Proprietary firms that specialize in options typically focus on market-making, and they hold limited risk option portfolios as a consequence of this activity. -segv
Yes I agree with you. The only reason I traded that way was to build my account. I DO NOT recommend trading in that manner. I do feel that writing options outside of the money is a great way to trade. I love the fact that the odds are in my favor. If I were trading on a large account I would use a small percentage of the account to write options. People tell me all the time how risky it is to write naked options. I just don't agree with them. I'll give you an example. I wrote a couple $17 calls in July silver a couple of weeks ago. The third day after I wrote the options silver jumped 40 cents at the end of the trading day. My options weren't even fazed by it, My options went up to about $200 in price from $150. Now if I was in a futures contract I would have gotten CRUSHED!! By staying that far outsided of the money there really has to be a strong run up for me to get stopped out. I use a 200% exit strategy. If the option doubles I get out and I never put all my money into one market. I spread out among 4-5 different markets. I just feel this is the best way to trade. You're basically acting like the casino and writing bets on long shots.
Ehh... It's pretty tough to respond to all resumes that your desk recieves. Hopefully, your resume already demonstrates a fair amount of persistance and tenacity in your prior work, and you don't need to demonstrate it by harassing people on the desk. Calling multiple times might be more likely to get you rejected on the phone by a pissed off person who has already deleted six of your messages. If the resume isn't what the desk is looking for though, no amount of telephone harassment will get you an interview. I could actually see how this might be an appealing quality to a salesperson, but not for someone who has to work with others within the company everyday. IMO, there just aren't jobs out there that trading desks would prefer to staff with people like that, as opposed to people who have the specific qualifications they are looking for. If your resume shows you to be the best qualified applicant, they will get in touch with you, but please, for the sake of everyone involved, remember that one phone call is probably enough.