Do monkeys on the trading floor get a better deal

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Do monkeys on the trading floor get a better deal

You get asked whether monkeys on the trading floor get a better deal than monkeys in IBD. Interesting. You think for a moment...

A typical junior banker will say that of course a trader didn't get the betetr deal. Come on, they wake up when its still dark, they don't get to make headlines and shape the futures of corporate America, England, Europe or wherever and they are far more likely to suffer from erratic moving eyeball syndrome from being glued to 12 constantly flashign screens which they need to monitor.

Ask the same banker five years later, when they have lost all preconceptions about being a master of the universe, and you will hear the recognition that despite getting up when its still dark, they do get to go home when its light (and not because they're leaving the office at dawn after pulling an all nighter).

Also, the 12 blinking screens are usually coupled with a Lambo or a Ferrari parked outside, so in that light, they don't sound so bad.

Also, you just need to look at the price of Trader Magazine - £10! £10!!!

Last time you checked, Financial News was going for a third of that.

So there's some food for thought.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aaaaaah, the monkey finally got the point !

Anonymous said...

trader monthly is free

Anonymous said...

I was hellbent on banking, but couldn't score a banking internship because I have yet to complete my junior year of college (just finished my sophomore year). Then I read Monkey Business, decided I didn't want to be a banker, then read Liar's Poker and decided I wanted to be a trader. Therefore, I started applying to trading desks (who apparently don't care what year you are in college). Landed an internship at a top trading desk in Chicago. Worked on the floor as a clerk for a month. The job was so mind numbing and so boring that I actually started wishing I was pulling all nighters working on excel (i.e. wanted to be a banker again). In the meantime I talked my way into interning at a hedge fund for the rest of the summer, which so far has been good. In summary, trading is so boring now that everything is electronic I would rather work 90 hours a week glued to excel than 55 hours a week in a pit.

Anonymous said...

@ED
You have no frig'gin idea what its like to be doing all nighters glaring at a couple of spreadsheets. I'd rather go for trading