Soon to be a PhD in Engineering. Should I enter trading?

oilman5

Well-Known Member
#22
Sorry, I don't understand what you are implying here. Are you asking me to consider taking the CMT course? That's interesting. I had been thinking about enrolling in the CFA program though.
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Yes .For trading CMT is better. For investment -CFA, ..........u may not show those cerificate , but this really helps.I am telling from 1st hand experience .Atleast read the mentioned in this 2 course. Just use 4shared,....and collect free material.
read them - spend sometime on seeing price reflection .Spead trading/arbitrage u may learn easily .Avoid pure speculation which is tremendous skill based.
Regards
 

oilman5

Well-Known Member
#23
Let me write some observation on development on trader
.................................................. ..............................
1] survival first.you know ..u have to save ur risk capital...to fight for anather day.
2] trading discipline very imp.u must develop to throw out ....emotion out of u.this can be done by developing objectivity and treating trade as business.
3] To understand this,...........first know urself,...........in detail how u behave/react in certain circumstance, particularly facing potential danger and uncertainity.Actually here u reqd strong behavior modification.stress should be more on following system and a place /method to DECIDE.....choice for OPPURTUNITY/how u decide danger............so go to safe mode to save maxm money to fight another day.
4] this reqd continous development of self with auto-loop mode using trade journal.
5] Must distinguish shortterm and longterm r 2different thing.ITS not RIGHT is imp, but earn more when RIGHT is aim.LOSS is part of trading, only u should lose less.
6]Must create environment to work with minimum stress.
7] For longterm development as trader.........use some confirmation/affirmation method.
.........................to earn continuous basis from market, u have to be extraordinary cautious and knowledgable with forecasting ability
 
#24
Hi all,

Thanks for your answers. It's nice to hear from people who have been there and done that :)

These responses raise a few more questions in my mind.

1) Initially, I think I might go in for purely (data driven) quantitative trading. Are there books/websites that document experiences of individuals (not corporations) trading in the Indian markets using this approach? I am particularly interested in knowing how they performed, and what challenges they faced. Anyone here have personal experiences/anecdotes to share?

2) From my little reading around this site, and the internet in general, it seems like the system is loaded against the small guy wanting to do quantitative investing in India. For ex. I am seeing that brokers demand exorbitant amounts as charges for providing access to their APIs and trade management systems. Hardware, books etc required for quant trading are also very expensive in India. The barrier to entry appears to be much higher in the Indian markets for someone wanting to get into quant investing. Am I reading the situation correctly here?

Thanks again for all your time and help.
 

Mr.G

Well-Known Member
#25
Both quant and fundamental analysis in India is very hard to get into. You need high levels of capital to even do a mediocre job at it. Or If you have some Networking then you can use that to get advanced access to information. From there on it is smooth sailing.
 
#26
Both quant and fundamental analysis in India is very hard to get into. You need high levels of capital to even do a mediocre job at it.
Hmm. Just as I was thinking. Can you please provide a breakup of what the capital would go towards - trading capital, hardware, data...

Or If you have some Networking then you can use that to get advanced access to information.
That's interesting. What kind of "advanced access to information" are we talking about here?

Thanks.
 

Mr.G

Well-Known Member
#27
From a fundamental standpoint, Big brokers usually have news about things going on around the market, rumours. Before they are made public. Of Course insiders already trade on the news even before the brokers get it. And one guy cant focus on all the variables, I leave that to the broker and supervise it.

My relatives are brokers so I get to hear all these things about what the market is expecting about policy changes or company profit numbers. The main thing in fundamental analysis is to find out if the books are cooked. These broker perspectives help make a judgement over the said numbers.

For me, I get the data from the company itself and cross check with what my brokerage house is saying about the information.

Other investors also get a quid pro quo from brokers due to their large account size.

You need a heavy amount of diversification to get any good return due to actuarial spreading of risk over the investments.

It is imperative to find out what the company you own is doing what your managers are doing with your money. Brokers help keep a tap on the inside activities on what your company is actually doing and what it is showing to the public. ( Although nowadays window dressing is not at common as it used to be)

Correct me if i'm wrong. :D
 

jamit_05

Well-Known Member
#28
Hmm. Just as I was thinking. Can you please provide a breakup of what the capital would go towards - trading capital, hardware, data...



That's interesting. What kind of "advanced access to information" are we talking about here?

Thanks.
Lets understand the first things first.

Instead of speculating over whether you will be successful as a trader and surpass your success as an engineer, lets look at your current status.

Your current status is that, you are an intelligent guy... but you have doubts and many many questions about the stock market and trading. So quite clearly you are not ready. So, if you are not ready then there is NO QUESTION of you quitting your current path. Absolutely no question.

In the future, you may know enough. You may find yourself at the threshold. But, sure as hell that time is not now.

Secondly, I agree 100% with Oilman and Ravi in spirit. Trading is a tough job. It requires special kind of a skill set. One can achieve it, but here is the thing... it takes a lot of:

1) Time
2) Money
3) Patience
4) Conviction
5) Guidance (Books, gurus etc)
6) Self-Confidence (Without which, from what I hear, young guns tend to get suicidal a few times a year!)

So, choose wisely.

And a general advise for the future... don't take BIG DECISIONS in life unless you absolutely have to.

To transform yourself start now, move slow and take small baby steps everyday. Your time will come... but it is not now!
 
#30
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Yes .For trading CMT is better. For investment -CFA, ..........u may not show those cerificate , but this really helps.I am telling from 1st hand experience .Atleast read the mentioned in this 2 course. Just use 4shared,....and collect free material.
read them - spend sometime on seeing price reflection .Spead trading/arbitrage u may learn easily .Avoid pure speculation which is tremendous skill based.
Regards
Added to my trading to-do list :) Thanks.
 

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