Hey Brent, loving the substack and just finished the Alpha Trader book (great book btw). I’ve been trading for 3 years now and have finally seen some consistency in my trading. Currently I work as a software engineer, but am looking into doing a career switch into trading.
I know there are many jobs that overlap with tech and trading, but was wondering if you could give any insight on how to break into more traditional trading roles. It seems like most roles today are focused on quantitative analysis, market making or HFTs, but maybe it’s just my bias as my peers in tech work in or around these businesses. If you had to start your trading career all over again today, how would you go about it?
Keep up the great content, and wishing you a great 2023!
Hi the most difficult issue with breaking into trading is that the banks are generally highly elitist and only hire graduates from the "top colleges." I always hated this and found it produced a lot of generic candidates who think and behave similarly. Anyway, the best way to get into trading now, other than through a bank .. is generally through a smaller prop shop where you can develop a track record and then, if you're lucky and build a bit of a network, go to a larger hedge fund. The other best option is to simply trade yourself and grow your balance and remain self-sufficient. This can be hard with limited capital, though, obviously. Feel free to email me if you have other questions.
Thanks for the advice Brent! I have been thinking about going this route, and have started looking into prop firms and prepping for the interviews. I do have some sort of advantage as I did go to an okayish school and studied CS. It seems like a long process, but trading is something I would like to do for the rest of my life, so whether I can get in a firm in a few months or a few years I'll keep trying! I'll reach out if I have anymore questions, thanks again!
A thought on Tesla. I wonder if the discounting is less about the larger competitive environment and more about brand damage to Tesla specifically around politics.
They skew young, educated, and relatively well off. Among the most represented occupations is software engineer.
California has the highest rate of ev ownership in the US as well as the highest share of Tesla ownership.
Now if this were a statistical analysis I would no doubt be missing confounding factors, but based on this limited info I would say Tesla owners skew left, and are exactly the kind of people who would be inclined to abandon the brand based on Musks politics.
As such I might not be quick to assume this is a negative for ford. It could be Tesla shifting its supply curve to simply maintain existing share lost in a wave of politics.
Or maybe it does portend a price war. That’s just another possibility to consider. If you start seeing other manufacturers cut prices then I think the case for the lowest margin producers being hit hard is much stronger.
Thank you, Brett. Could also be that Toyota and others are hurt more, depending on the crossover of consumer. Good points thank you. Or this simply speeds the transition to EV and everyone wins somehow. Stranger things have happened!!
Great article as per usual, always learn a lot from this. Appreciate the context, insights and tactical advice.
Hey Brent, loving the substack and just finished the Alpha Trader book (great book btw). I’ve been trading for 3 years now and have finally seen some consistency in my trading. Currently I work as a software engineer, but am looking into doing a career switch into trading.
I know there are many jobs that overlap with tech and trading, but was wondering if you could give any insight on how to break into more traditional trading roles. It seems like most roles today are focused on quantitative analysis, market making or HFTs, but maybe it’s just my bias as my peers in tech work in or around these businesses. If you had to start your trading career all over again today, how would you go about it?
Keep up the great content, and wishing you a great 2023!
Hi the most difficult issue with breaking into trading is that the banks are generally highly elitist and only hire graduates from the "top colleges." I always hated this and found it produced a lot of generic candidates who think and behave similarly. Anyway, the best way to get into trading now, other than through a bank .. is generally through a smaller prop shop where you can develop a track record and then, if you're lucky and build a bit of a network, go to a larger hedge fund. The other best option is to simply trade yourself and grow your balance and remain self-sufficient. This can be hard with limited capital, though, obviously. Feel free to email me if you have other questions.
Thanks for the advice Brent! I have been thinking about going this route, and have started looking into prop firms and prepping for the interviews. I do have some sort of advantage as I did go to an okayish school and studied CS. It seems like a long process, but trading is something I would like to do for the rest of my life, so whether I can get in a firm in a few months or a few years I'll keep trying! I'll reach out if I have anymore questions, thanks again!
Very nice article.
A thought on Tesla. I wonder if the discounting is less about the larger competitive environment and more about brand damage to Tesla specifically around politics.
If you look at teslas demographic here
https://www.businessinsider.com/typical-tesla-driver-owner-income-age-careers-demographics-2022-10
They skew young, educated, and relatively well off. Among the most represented occupations is software engineer.
California has the highest rate of ev ownership in the US as well as the highest share of Tesla ownership.
Now if this were a statistical analysis I would no doubt be missing confounding factors, but based on this limited info I would say Tesla owners skew left, and are exactly the kind of people who would be inclined to abandon the brand based on Musks politics.
As such I might not be quick to assume this is a negative for ford. It could be Tesla shifting its supply curve to simply maintain existing share lost in a wave of politics.
Or maybe it does portend a price war. That’s just another possibility to consider. If you start seeing other manufacturers cut prices then I think the case for the lowest margin producers being hit hard is much stronger.
Thank you, Brett. Could also be that Toyota and others are hurt more, depending on the crossover of consumer. Good points thank you. Or this simply speeds the transition to EV and everyone wins somehow. Stranger things have happened!!
nice work by UBS and MKM, and great work by BMO.