Also, they're not necessarily quant-oriented; thats just the edge you could absorb with their top traders.
Thanx a ton, Fractal! Your suggestion goes up near the front of my list. Now that you've brought up the whole anti-depressant issue, I'm about to take the risk of revealing way too much personal information here. It'll still be worthwhile if the following personal account reaches just one of the people who desperately need to hear it: A few months ago, my 16 y.o. baby sister began rapidly descending into the pit of internal torment known as clinical depression. Her mental state was deteriorating fast, and she did the whole 'swallowing an entire bottle full of pills at once' thing. The doctors prescribed her prozac (of course), but many different telltale signs led me to believe her depression was rooted in Endorphin Deficiency Syndrome (same as me), and that boosting her serotonin levels with prozac would accomplish little more than adding negative side effects, on top of her depression misery. I insisted that before causing herself to become physically dependent on prozac (which wasn't likely to help anyways), she needed to first try LDN, which is a non-narcotic way to boost one's endorphin levels by 200 to 300 percent. It took me a couple weeks to procure the LDN and get it to her in Israel, and during that time she & my mom were angrily chastised by the medical professionals for ignoring their advice to immediately get on prozac. Now, so far every single personal report I've received has documented a 100% success rate for (probable E.D.S. case) refractory depression patients who go on LDN. Some of them feel relief the very first morning, and it was nerve-racking to hear my sis tell me initially that the treatment wasn't helping her mood at all. The payoff came four days later, when I found out that my sis had turned a complete 180°; Her gloom & torment replaced at last by happiness. Luckily she was one of the few rare Endorphin Deficiency Syndrome sufferers who are informed that their problem is rooted in the Endogenous Opioid system, and NOT the monaminergic system (serotonin/dopamine/norepinephrine). (For more on this: www.ProhibitionKills.com ) A side motive for my including my sister's case in this particular thread, was to explain why I don't just privately take my trading position search (the topic of this thread) to every specific contact of mine, one by one, on an individual basis. I lack the normal sense of 'shame' that most people seem to have, and see no need to keep anything in the closet. Some people will still respect me, and some will not... which is the exact same result achieved by those who feel the need to keep all of their potentially embarrassing flaws hidden under lock and key.
RM, as far as I understood, this syndrome is not recognized by the medical field. based on your family history, the syndrome could be heritable. the most convincing data for the medical practitioners would be a genetic test that diagnoses this particular variation of depression.
I really hope she finds healing, and I have to say that's a moving and powerful example of truly taking care of family when they're at the mercy of presumed experts. I just want to throw props out there for this, and for your larger cause. For someone who has dangerous problems with depression, I want to see success for alternatives to treatment-refractory depression. SSRIs/SNRIs are not enough. You're really the only source of info I've seen that actively investigates real alternatives (and who has the talent for, shall we say, "seeing through" things) for the benefit of those who are on the edge. The industry is understandably slow and cautious to test and green-light drugs, but for certain people alternatives need to be out there before desperation takes over. I'm gunning for you and your sister. Please continue to have no shame, as you're a source of hope -- and thanks for the LDN link: that's the first I've ever heard of it, and I'm incredibly thankful that there's another option to investigate.
A friend of mine worked at DES through 2007 and left to start his own shop. Virtually all of their intraday pure-spec is high-freq/microstructure-related and fully automated. A traditional buy-side fund would be a better fit to RM's talents.
canyonman00: Hang in there guy!! I''ll add in a special mention tonight while on my knees. Thanks! You just left yourself wide open with that one! ...but sometimes cracking a joke is just too obvious, there's really no point. Kind of like the name of that PartyPoker co-founder guy. ____ Shortie: RM, as far as I understood, this syndrome is not recognized by the medical field. based on your family history, the syndrome could be heritable... Endorphin Deficiency Syndrome is actually widely recognized in China, where it's usually treated with acupuncture- an effective treatment for boosting endorphin levels, but not nearly as powerful as LDN. It didn't work for my sis. My site also has the approval of two U.S. doctors... that I know of. I really need to get their official endorsement up there, it could seriously help add credibility. Regarding the whole concept of certain depression patients innately gravitating to opiates, unknowingly attempting to compensate for an endorphin deficiency by ingesting a nearly identical substance; I didn't come up with that part at all, as mentioned on my site. _______ Thanks Fractal... I HIGHLY recommend looking into LDN! If I continue to keep getting all these positive anecdotal reports with no instances of failure, I might even have to somewhat reconsider my original core message, that the most gravely afflicted EDS sufferers sometimes have no other known alternative to taking the drastic measure of deliberately beginning an opioid habit to quell the inner torment. LDN also looks highly promising as a treatment for all sorts of auto-immune conditions, which makes perfect sense, since I've believed for years that many diseases in that category are rooted in endorphin deficiency.
You know, that's actually what I suspected from what I've heard, but wasn't fully sure about. I had a friend interview there and almost took the job, and I've heard there's other stuff going on there, but I expect you're right. Hardcore and successful independent traders really are a different breed for these types of places anyway.
Right. They're looking for academics. DES rarely buys talent from traditional buy-side; their preference is to mold recent grads into their culture. >90% of their trading is stat-arb.