may not be any big boys using trading floor traders..... but why don't you think retail traders/prop traders wont be around in 20 years????
let me tel you, what im saying is not my opinion. this is where the industry is going. this is solid fact. i myself wanted to be a trader and still do. i did economics at uni thinking that's the best subject for it (fundanmentals etc.). i could've done maths if i really wanted to, but i didn't know enough then. till this day, i've met only 1 trader with a economics degree at a investment bank. all others come from physics, chemical engineering, applied maths etc. but the truth is, even these guys won't be much in 10 years. i've always been very skeptical of algorithmic trading. i never thought such a thing can actually exist. but if u look at the industry - if u have access to see the volume trade flows entering the exchanges, u'd be shocked at how it's all changing. there be only space for execution traders who won't even be paid as much as current traders get. few months ago i met a director at a bank who told me the only reason they have the sales team is cus the trader is the lazy ass who can't do all the tasks, and the only reason they have them for now is because they can't replace them - YET.. seeing how much quants actually get - out of the profit cut - they're everything.. if i was you and wanted money, i'd go do physics. the thing is while many others know about fundamentals and shit, only physic students know shit about things like 'phase-locking' that is fundemental in todays algorithm arbitrage games.. and for those who think automated trading and statistical arbitrage is some fancy story, we visited a hedge fund in london last week who specialise in algorithim trading and all i can tel you is THINK AGAIN. honestly. go do phyiscs/engineering.. learn programming.. and find a hedge fund. goodluck ps. EqtTrdr i never said they won't be around. they will, but won't be as successful as today the more volumers r placed on systems - thats because machines r far more efficent at executing in mili seconds and there won't be much of a gap for them to make money.. i won't if some long-term trader here has recognised this alreadyin the past 5 yrs.
Go to college work your ass off. Then go get job with Goldman. Then quit after 4 years start a hedge fund. My freind from Stanford is currently doing this, he did the Bachelor + Master degree program at Stanford in 5 years. I think he got his Masters in financial mathmatics. Bachelor might have been in computer science. Not 100% sure.
my brother is a doctor, so i've followed his career throughout. the great thing about being a doc is nearly guaranteed income. however, i think your estimate of making $500,000/yr by 32 is ridiculous. average doc makes low 100's first 5 years after residency, then more after that. some neurosurgeons my brother works with are making $500k only after 20 years of working in the field, and they work their buns off. (neurosurgery is one of the highest paid fields in medicine, in case you're wondering why i mention this) a friend is also a neurosurgeon, just graduated residency, and he makes $250k. don't get me wrong, the money is fine by most people's standards (only 4% of americans make 6 figures or bettter/yr), but not phenomenally high, and you work your buns off for it. then there's always the ungrateful, demanding patients and the fact of tons of malpractice lawsuits. most of the docs my brother works with are not super happy campers and would not recommend their loved ones go into medicine. if you're doing it for the money, probably better to go the trader route. on the other hand, if you really love medicine, want a secure job, and don't mind not making a mint, you could go the doc route, maybe do a little trading on the side. sounds like you'd be better off trading, IF you have a pretty sure bet of making good money doing it, which you should be SURE of before you do it. good luck in your choice.
confirm? not sure how many people here could actually confirm that for you. just know i didn't give u my opinion, i gave u the fact. one other thing. if u do plan to be a quant heading for the hedge fund, forget the big boardroom meetings, the big name bankers, directors etc. you'll be a absolute no-body. you won't be in the finance magz etc. and no one will recognise you. but youll earn 10 times more. so that's another thing to think about ur careers. and who the hell wants to be on wall st these days?... think bermuda, connecticut, Mayfair, LA..now you're talkin..
such a joke! where are you getting your stats? my brother works with all of the above and none of them makes that kind of money straight out of residency. furthermore, cardiothoracic surgeons work their behinds off, don't even get out of residency till their mid 30's. residents make roughly 50k or so. retinal ophthalmologists have to do a retina fellowship after residency, then pay their dues in a practice before making the big bucks. you need to do more research, dude. trust me, money-wise, you're better off with a major firm and subsequent hedge trader status, like the gentleman above said.