Options/Stock Trading (1 Viewer)

[velox]

I am also interested in trading. I have recently started considering transferring from B Com to Com(Fin)/Sci(Math). Note - I am currently in my 2nd year. Should I be transferring at this stage (at the end of the year) or just see the degree through?

ohman! Dont bother transferring. All the trading jobs i have seen always ask for finance majors. (aswell as others). Honours will help you.

 

[Rorix]

All the trading jobs i have seen always ask for finance majors. (aswell as others).

No offence velox but that's completely wrong.

 

[lizbon]

quant would be ideal to get into trading especially when you get into the modeling side, but it isn't essential. I know quite a few guys in trading with comm, com/arts or com/law, majoring in finance. what is important is experience (preferably in the industry) and the ability to cope with the pressure of a trading job. At the end of the day, it's whoever brings in more money.....

besides, from what i've heard, its hard to get into a trading position but even harder to stick it out, not everyone is cut out for it and IB's often take 5-10 interns but only offer one grad position. I don't think they even take grads in prop trading, the well known UNSWer been the exception.

 

[velox]

No offence velox but that's completely wrong.

Lol good grammar Maybe you misunderstood me. What I was saying is that, finance is an element of the set of degrees they ask for.

I.e. Trading job no 1:

Want: Finance, Engineering, Maths etc


Trading no2

Want: Finance, Combined Law, Actuarial etc

I dont remember seeing any roles where they dont ask for a finance degree/major

 

[Rorix]

oh ok yeah I thought you were saying finance was required. My bad

Agree that you don't HAVE to have a maths degree etc. to become a trader.

 

[velox]

No problems. Commodities and Carbon seems to be the next big hit in trading.

 

[maserativ8]

Apparently there is a high demand for good maths/finance grads with programming skills ^.^.

So what would be better for trading:
BCom(Finance)/BSc(Maths) or
BSc(Maths)/BSci(Comp Science)

Can you learn all the programming skills you need from just the programming in Maths ie. MATLAB or do you really need Comp Science?

 

[§eraphim]

Neither degree is good for trading. They are for financial modelling jobs.

You are expected to pick up programming on the job. Most people have programmed in C or VBA before.

A Finance/Econometrics degree with Finance Honours would probably be the best way to enter trading. Traders use models to trade and leave the actual modelling to quants. A trader needs to know the pros and cons of each model and when they should be used, and are not involved in the nitty gritty of actual modelling and programming.

 

[velox]

In the end it doesnt matter too much. You will see there are really diverse people in trading with diverse backgrounds. Just need to get the first interview and impress them with your personal attributes then. The degree doesnt go too far past the first interview.

But I would pick something professional as a degree, traders get cut easily if they dont perform.

 

[Conspirocy]

I hear they are going to start trading diamonds next year as well. I think I saw it on sky news when i was in melbourne when they were talking about the Kimberley Diamonds takeover. Not 100% thought. Tried to find an article but couldn't

 

[choco6]

So is a commerce degree with a finance major good enough for stock trading or not?

 

[wrong_turn]

it is a good to start with finance but its better that you do certain subjects within finance than a random combo.

 

[Cookie182]

Once you find out more about the field, you probably won't want to trade stocks. Trading equity derivatives is OK though; research the field a bit more to see what sectors appeal.



You need maths. Finance major is very low in maths; but good because it shows an interest in finance. Engineering/Commerce is good but has the disadvantage of doing Engineering (assuming you don't want to do Engo). You will get trained on the job (and in your years of bookkeeping after you're hired) so its not really about the subjects you take.

A lot of firms that seem like allowing you to trade are actually market makers; this is probably not what you are looking for.

If you can prove yourself, there are undoubtedly opportunities at major banks (theres a well known current UNSW student whos a prop trader at a major IB).

However, what it takes to get hired? Some basic knowledge and an interest in finance..its a high risk job though. If they give you say $10mm and you lose it in 2 days, you're going to get a tap on the shoulder.

If you want to throw some money on a brokerage account (which is not a bad idea) you're going to need more than 1k...probably 4k at least for each stock you want to invest in (e.g. if you've only got 5k you can only hold one stock). Otherwise brokerage will eat you alive.

Quick question- do u learn PDE's and the BS model in a stockstandard commerce degree with a finance major?

And yea do many accounting grads enter trading?

 

[Affinity]

PDE -> not in aust (unless you do extra things)
BS -> yes but probably not variants.. pretty useless: here's a few formulas.. substitute.

accounting grads in trading.. there are some.. depends on what you meant by alot.

 

[Cookie182]

PDE -> not in aust (unless you do extra things)
BS -> yes but probably not variants.. pretty useless: here's a few formulas.. substitute.

accounting grads in trading.. there are some.. depends on what you meant by alot.

hmm yea thanks for your reply. Im enrolled in commerce/law anyway, so for me its either accy or finance as my major choice. Im inclined to lean towards finance out of interest, however i dont like the mathematical restrictions which are placed on it as u say. Why don't we learn PDE's? How weird? Furthermore how can you understand the BS Model if you don't understand PDE's. Another thing I noticed that was lacking in the Finance degree at my uni was solid grounding in probability theory. This is also very important in fniance from what iv'e read.

And yea i like accounting, but really the degree aint that varied or interesting- just financial/mangement accy the whole way through. I got told choose it though as it is a safe job prospect compared to financial jobs??? And yea of course, accounting has a total lack of maths (this sounds funny but anyone who has studied it will understand. Really, the most complicated it has got was simple depreciation formula!)