Hedge funds and the stock market - ask me anything til i get bored

[Scorpion Man]

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Do you need a finance degree to get into the hedge fund game? I'm in college right now double majoring in Information Technology and Economics and I'm wondering if that's going to give me the knowledge I need.

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Most of the best colleges do not have undergraduate finance programs. I did economics. No...what you need is all the stuff I mentioned in my previous posts. You need to be impressive. People need to believe they are getting a steal by hiring you. YOu have to exhibit the confidence that would come from having spent years keeping up on the industry you are interested in and not be like the guys who post here with the "i have an interview in xx industry tomorrow and have no idea what questions to ask" posts. If you go for a investment bank interview and have read every book and are up on the last 50 big M&A transactions and have networked and done informational interviews as well as had long conversations with guys a year or 2 ahead of you about the actual job content it goes a very long way.

[Scorpion Man]

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It sounds like you've been in the industry for a while. Were you able to take advantage of all the perks before the SEC came in and ruined all the fun? Soft dollared trips to Hawaii and strip clubs, hookers on the trading floor, etc.

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im very interested in an answer to this, basically have you had the time/interest to lead the balla lifestyle (vast sums of money at the best clubs, packing a room full of the fittest hookers, going out on yachts with a bunch of mates and hot hot girls, ordering champagne like it's nothing, going out till 7am and going into work at 7.30am still shitfaced from the night before and then making loads of money etc etc etc)

becuase trading may be enjoyable and make you lots of money, but loads of money is meaningless if you cant balla it up.

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Her is how I balla'd yesterday...did not set my alarm to get up in the morning, checked stocks when I woke up, had breakfast with my 6 year old and helped her make her valentine's day box for kindgarden as well as generally entertain her. took her to school, sat at breakfast in a cafe and read the WSJ, NYT and SF Chronicle, then worked out with a personal trainer, tried to learn how to use the M5 i bot a couple days ago, spent a couple hours coaching my 9 year old son's basketball team and then took him to ice cream because he was in a bad mood cuz he had a bad practice, came home and played a little poker and drank a little wine with the wife. Maybe I got lucky, maybe not, I will never tell.

I live an unremarkable life in the suburbs and spend a lot of time helping old friends with their current work/life travails. I learned awhile ago that that other stuff doesn't mean much.

[MrBlue]

Thanks for answering.

Related to this question, I often see people try to 'get in through the backdoor' by going into back office positions then trying to make the jump. In your career, how often have you seen someone successfully make the jump from back office to the front office? My guess would be 1 or 2 exceptionally smart people.

[ahnuld]

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What I was very skilled at was reading financial statements and dealing with management teams.

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I need to do my first complete valuation of a company for next week. As such I (think) I need to go over the last few annual and quartely reports. What do you suggest to look for specifically?



edit: just read your typical day [img]/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img]Jealous

[Scorpion Man]

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Thanks for answering.

Related to this question, I often see people try to 'get in through the backdoor' by going into back office positions then trying to make the jump. In your career, how often have you seen someone successfully make the jump from back office to the front office? My guess would be 1 or 2 exceptionally smart people.

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never.

[Scorpion Man]

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What I was very skilled at was reading financial statements and dealing with management teams.

[/ QUOTE ]


I need to do my first complete valuation of a company for next week. As such I (think) I need to go over the last few annual and quartely reports. What do you suggest to look for specifically?



edit: just read your typical day [img]/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img]Jealous

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have u chosen a company?

[ahnuld]

Loblaw, the canadian grocery chain. It was chosen for me, need to prepare a report and 45 minute pres. for my job interview with fidelity.

[ChromePony]

What is your opinion on the various Financial Engineering/Mathematical Finance programs out there today as opposed to an MBA with a focus on finance?

This is coming from someone with little finance background but mathematical apptitude who could be interested in quant or trading type jobs.

[claudenm]

What is your opinion on naked shorting?

[mwgr5]

Since we're all poker players, what is your opinion of including poker on a resume for hedge fund or I-banking jobs?

Also, how important is it to have a degree from an ivey league school when applying for these jobs? How great of an importance is placed on a degree from an ivey?