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Stock Market

I knew I liked you! How long ago - and - on the floor or on a prop desk?
Last time I was down there was around 2003 or so.
I was on the floor but before that I liked handling QTs cause it was a little more interesting sometimes.

Would I go back? Sure even though I believe the floor isn't what if used to be. In my opinion there was never a better place to be than in that building whether it was upstairs or downstairs.
 
My best man is the head market data engineer for a canadian major. Says all their trading is done within 5 minutes of the open or the close... so computerized now...

Sadly the closest I get is with our block desk if I'm trading our discretionary portfolios. I'm completely retail advisory.
 
What would be the top 5 things to look at/consider investing in stocks that you would advise a newbie to check out?
 
My best man is the head market data engineer for a canadian major. Says all their trading is done within 5 minutes of the open or the close... so computerized now...

Sadly the closest I get is with our block desk if I'm trading our discretionary portfolios. I'm completely retail advisory.
Proprietory trading firms are the most fun places to work I believe. Anytime you get to retail it kind of loses it's luster and the true excitement. It's still there but not the same.

I remember when big volume was 300 Million shares. Those days were great but now the volume is just crazy. Trading in penny increments was one of the worst things that happened to the market I think.....the automation turned out to be a great thing for making it easier but also it has it's down points. :(

My first job interview was kinda funny now that I look back on it..... some of the questions they asked me were "convert 7/8 into decimal.......how about 1/8?....ok....how about 5/16?"
 
What would be the top 5 things to look at/consider investing in stocks that you would advise a newbie to check out?

1. Make sure you're contributing, at an absolute minimum, what your employer will match to a retirement plan like a 401k or 403b.
2. Talk to a financial advisor about your risk tolerance and financial goals. Modern financial planning software is robust. Take advantage of it. No need to pay thousands of dollars for a "plan" though.
3. Decide on an asset allocation that is consistent with your risk tolerance and gives you a chance to both save and invest to meet your financial goals. Stick to your saving and investing discipline.
4. Monitor your investments - stocks, daily; ETFs and mutual funds, weekly to monthly. Focus on the intermediate to long term.
5. Hold your investment accounts at a firm with excellent research available to you for no additional charge.
6. Subscribe to an outside investment newsletter that fits your investing style. A value investor oriented newsletter that I like outside of my firm's research is "Profitable Investing", written by Richard Band. He focuses on high quality stocks and trying to buy them when they're at inexpensive valuations - he has both stock, etf and mutual fund portfolios that provide a good starting point. www.rband.com
7. Do your homework. Nobody will be more interested in the growth of your money than you.
8. Do not be afraid to buy or sell. See suggestion #4 & #7.

My $0.02. I bet @OakleyFrankFMJ has some good tidbits too
 
Nice to hear some other guys are into investing. Have some shares I holding, but I enjoy trading options much more because of the leverage they provide. In the options world, a 2 point swing can easily be 30%(just depends whether its up or down).
To me options are like the market but on crack.

Jealous of you guys who get to work in front office industry day-to-day. I definitely agree that Prop trading would be fun, or possibly PE, but now I'm just day dreaming :).
 
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