Where do you get your freaking information? His friend is definately accurate when it comes to actual institutional (asset managers, hedge funds, sell side) trading. There are sales traders, execution traders, and portfolio managers (which is what I think he's referring to the last category as). And as far as the original poster is concerned, his desire to be "trader" is the same as a fella who hasn't gone to med school and probably hasn't even taken basic chemistry asking how he can be a surgeon.... because he just really wants to be one. The solution is pretty simple; much like the usual idiots around here wanting to manage own/friends/family money, he just needs find a bigger idiot who'll let him operate on.
If you don't have the ability to seek what type of trader you want to be or what a trader even is then you have zero ability to seek enough knowledge to be a good trader in the first place so quit being a dreamer.
I only know one kind of trading, the kind where we traders create a system or series of systems that tell us automatically whether or not to push the button and how. I think you were deceived.
You won't get the kind of answer on this thread or anywhere buddy. If you want someone to turn you into a profitable trader......lemme in it too. no free lunch in the real world....not just in this field. it's all you man. good luck
1. Google Sales and Trading. 2. I am just going to say this off the top of my head, but what your friend told you is accurate. For institutional sales and trading, you are working with clients in either helping trade flow or actually trading flow. The Sales side can include everything from entertaining clients to figuring out how to market certain products to your institutional clients. The trading side is (in terms of S&T at banks) is trading FLOW, meaning, you execute the orders the clients want you to make. These guys do a job that is quickly being automated, but they do provide a service in providing liquidity for the client. This is not something that is going to grow in the future as algorithms and systems have already started to replace the human flow traders. As for the third kind she said, I'm not sure. But that is Sales and Trading in a nutshell off the top of my head. Now, if you want to trade flow, go for it. If you want to trade your own book and be a "trader" that makes his own calls, you are looking to get into proprietary desks at banks, or starting off as an analyst at a hedge fund. I am not sure a lot of people know much about the institutional (S&T) side of the business (this is not meant as an insult) because they have not been exposed to it, or care (and maybe they shouldn't). Hope this helped, and I hope my information isn't completely off. 3. Really, google it and find out for yourself. Vault guides are helpful. EDIT: xxfunguyxx? Really?
Separate post, too late to add to my first one in this thread... Some traders dropped out of high school, some spent their twenties in school, but none of them got a free education in trading. Those same two guys might now be driving the same model beemer but you can bet they had to dig and wrench their guts into pushing the buttons just like any other trader. No free lunch. Seems to be the common general response in this thread. If you are seeking mentorship, try asking in that vein. You will get more of a helpful response if you ask for the first step, instead of asking for someone else's staircase built from scratch, with splinter scars and not-so-hidden cut mistakes to prove it.