The Trader: Balls Of Steel

Varun Jaitly

10/22/13

Brian Lewis

Word count: 1,498

   Balls of Steel: The Trader

The pace of the financial markets is nothing less than an all out sprint, you start the day waiting, thinking, watching. Like a sniper on a cold morning stalking his prey you watch your prefered stock or asset class. You wait for CNBC to put out news or for a report to fall through the treasury and start moving your markets. Then when markets open you hear the bell ring and like an all day boxing match the boards light up with buyers and sellers. Real people with real opinions and its your word against theirs. As you analyze and move quickly through the charts to find something to trade the markets are moving and people are screaming at the top of their lungs. While brokers try to fill orders you are scrambling to look for a quick play in your prefered asset class. This Desk Job is like no other, there are no boring pauses, or water cooler breaks. There are no early or late days, every day you come in with your analysis, your opinions and a fresh face to throw into the markets to get bloodied. This is the Financial Markets, a place where men come to test their worth, few people can walk in and do what these monsters do without breaking down and wanting out. To some its an art, to others its a struggle that has its own kick. To me its an addiction brought on by passion and fueled by instant rewards.

The Human mind is susceptible to all sorts of stresses, Home, Family, Work, School. However when you have a job or steady source of income, you feel secure, you feel as though there is always going to be an anchor in your life you can rely on that will be there to support you when you need it. You go to work, file your reports, and do what you need to do.Then every 2 weeks you get paid. However, there is a group of like minded individuals who after a certain period of time decided they would take on a challenge that literally throws your net worth, your property, and your capacity of stress into a the ring. The Financial Markets and the Fearless traders who trade day in and day out are part of an ingenious sub-culture that puts an individual’s life in the balance for untold riches. The Trading Sub Culture is one surrounded by preconceived notions of ivy league brats and elitist kids who are messing with their trust fund money; however, there is a whole group of individuals who seek financial freedom and have created a culture to go with it, one of intense thought, higher order understanding, and a lifestyle that not many can deny but few can truly attain.

The Eyes Behind the chart

What I describe earlier, however, was the scene of a trading pit, a dying arena where old men screamed their hearts out day in and day out.  obviously the Chart is only half the story but its the one half that all traders understand and can agree upon. Chart analysis is one of the many schools of thought that are constantly growing in the Financial Markets. Some people believe charts are like scripture and when read properly lead the way to untold riches, while others feel as if it is only part of the picture and that people should not rely so heavily on them. Now trading is a bit more refined, and many schools of thought rely on things outside of the Auction system and basic analysis. I myself am a currencies trader. I am very technical and I use what is probably considered half the story of trading. I use the Chart. Stocks, or currency charts will make anyone who sees it say “Oh you trade stocks”!, even if you don't touch stocks people instantly recognize the chart and know what it means even if they can't specify its origin or its true purpose. In trading there is a saying, “all charts are the same”, Obviously that is a little misleading yet at the same time it describes what connects traders. When a technically savvy trader pulls up a chart, he or she can instantly see things that may be of importance to the approach they may take towards trading that asset. This goes for any and every chart,

The Life of a Trader

This job pushes the mental limits of a man, driven insane by economic happiness and fulfillment and thrown into a world where you watch your paycheck, you life savings, or your college fund multiply, or disappear before your eyes. Through my own field study and interactions with different traders I have found that we are an amazingly scary basket case for sociologists. We have Financial Freedom and a job with intense social interactions and constant use of the flight or fight response, coupled with high stress high reward atmosphere and a job that literally is a mind game as long as you are working, and for some thats all the time. This idea that day in and day out, you can time, and play the markets like a constantly changing puzzle where the rules are different every morning. Throw in all the responsibilities of your regular life, this job has made mincemeat out of men because it is a meat grinder. In the end you have a diverse group of individuals who have a higher order of thinking and are usually very apt sociologists and theoretical thinkers. It is an intoxicating environment to be in, in my own research I have found that they appreciate hard work and love to see someone with drive who is pushing the boundaries all the time. That is what goes in the world of trading, not sitting back and relaxing and smoking a cigar like everyone thinks.

The group mentality of most traders is similar to boxers, many think they are all crazy bald guys who have no off button. However the reality is very much different, traders are usually extremely calm individuals, which makes sense since they manage so much stress on a regular basis they tend to use the time not being stressed out to relax. We are very open and free thinkers, in our down time we enjoy discussing things ranging from politics to sports, to the hottest cars. For those who have taken it on as a profession its a fast life and is usually filled with a privileges not available to the average person.  

A dying Subculture

Despite my interest and the sense of fulfilment I attain from working with traders and in the trading environment, I know that this culture of traders is a dying breed. They are being minimized due to the introduction of Automated Algorithms, which are run not by professional money managers but by Computer Science engineers and financial Engineers. This new age of technology is taking out the gun slinging cowboy that was the trader, just like computers and computerized trading charts killed off the great trading pits of Chicago and New York. In front of my eyes I can see what I want to become get wiped out and making it harder for me to become one. For many this is a tough blow, and for some an opportunity but I will be the first to admit, I wish it was like the old days where guys like PAUL TUDOR JONES could swing 2 million dollars in a single crazy day. There are still those who can pull in that kind of weight, but it requires knowledge and balls of steel to be able to take on massive positions and hold steady through insanity.

In the conclusion, todays society is filled with many jobs and individuals who enjoy living a fast life. However there is no faster life than that of a trader, however its not all about the money, or the privileged lifestyle it is about this ability to take something that people hold so dear- Money, and use it in such a way where you can easily lose it all. For most people cannot relate because they have security which is lacking in the lives of everyday traders. This lack of security, this high stress environment and the ability to control it and harness ones mind. That level of constraint and control is what is lacking in most of society, the lifestyle that is taken on by most traders is one of clarity, they can see the reality of what is happening to society better than most people can and they can go on to quantify it. It is an amazing subculture of individuals who go beyond themselves and disconnect so much from their own emotions, that it is not surprising that the outcome is an interesting person...