Hey Guys, Iâm at a real crossroads right now & I was wondering if I could solicit some advice. I suspect that today will be the last day Iâll be trading in a while. DAMNED!! Iâve been working for a prop firm here in Toronto for the last 6 months. It was probably one of the best jobs Iâve ever had. I enjoyed the learning, the challenge, & the intensity of trying to be a better trader. Over the last couple months I felt things beginning to click. I was beginning to see things & my trading got significantly better. However, in the last week or so, trading has been real rough. Unless I had some real huge winners to put me over the top, I wasnât going to graduate the firmâs âtrainingâ program. Which means that I havenât been paid a cent since April & the earliest I could possibly see a dime would be the end of November. I consulted with my bank account & my bank account said âbroâ this ainât happeninâ.â I said âare you sure?â It said âsorry, looks that way buddy.â Trading hasnât been the same ever since. Seeing that I have absolutely no bartending experience, I pretty much respectfully bowed about out a week ago. I just sat there staring at candlesticks go by with a glazed look on my face. This is terrible shame! I loved being active in the markets. I donât know what to do now? Iâm so disenfranchised that I already have my resume prepared to go work at McDonaldâs. Which brings me to question â is there a way to develop as a trader & actually get paid for it!? That would be a dream come true! Iâve just begun checking out postings to get some idea where I want to take my career & its pretty intimidating. I have my MBA & have completed my CFA lvl 3 exam (seems to be the bare minimum these days) but Iâve only had jobs outside of the industry since them. Most jobs that are posted seems to require several years of direct hands on experience â I donât know if 6 months of prop trading would even fit the bill for this? Does it? Iâve been pursuing the forums all day today & I learned a lot. Quants are hot, you can easily get replaced by a black box, I-banks will chew you up & spit you out (I worked in one, its scary), if you work in the back office youâre liable to get stuck there, There was mention that Infinium Capital runs a prop desk in Toronto (but Iâm not quite sure that that its salaried or payout), Refco was actively hiring in their Montreal office a while back ago & they have some training program? Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc., - I donât know where to start. Oh well, I guess I have a lot to look into! Iâm just looking to generate some ideas â I have a lot to think about in the next few days. Any advice that you guys could offer would be immensely appreciated. As well, if youâve been in a similar circumstance it would be interesting to find out how things turned out for you. Thanks you advance! Smooth
With an MBA and CFA3, a job as a securities analyst seems to be the next logical step. Have you approached buy-side firms in Toronto? What was the response?
take a 2 week bartending course. Trade during the day and bartend at night. This will allow you to learn how to trade without worrying about day to day bills. Save all of your trading profits for the 1st year, and half or all in the second year. This will give you the bank roll you will need in the future. After you get a bank roll put it toward some form of cash flow investment (rental property, high interest paper, small business ventures, etc) This will give you steady income in future years allowing you to quit bartending (after all nobody gets an MBA to become a bartender) This is the approach that I would have taken but I was fortunate to get a small salary when I started.
Bartending is not the ideal second job- you will have to work long nights, which will leave you tired during the trading day. If your mind and body is not 100%, then you will not perform well trading. Try getting a normal 9 to 5 where you can do a little trading in the morning, or do some longer term position trading while making a salary. The bottom line is, unless you have 1 year of living expenses covered plus a trading stake, you should not be trying to trade full time. If you feel constant pressure to make X dollars per day to pay your bills, it will make you take dumb trades or excessive risk.....good luck.