I wouldn't hold my breath about getting a response. The guys I know in investment banking are run off thier feet. They start at 7am, have a morning meeting at 7:30 and go until 6 or 7, then throw in 8-12 hours on the weekend. The only people I've seen work harder (or at least longer) are the film crews.

I'd also be extra careful about all of your excel work and even telling people exactly how you work. A big part of the business is putting on a show about how in tune with the market you are (or what ever). If they find out that you're not on Bloomberg 24/7 there are people who might take that badly.

I've heard stories about Goldman workers in London, UK. The early years in the firm are drudge work running around like made and reading until you can't keep your eyes open every day.

Have you thought about looking into getting a CFA? They are supposed to be difficult to get but worth it.

Working on some stock reports is a good idea. Being a good writer can't hurt and if you can build a history that can be proven that would be helpful, but it needs to span a good deal of time.

krypt, I think your best bet is to call up every financial place in town..preferably near market close and ask to speak with the manager. Maybe you can get an internship, completely voluntary to get your foot in the door. Tell them you have educated yourself and are passionate about the industry, but understand the need to start at the bottom. You are willing to make copies, assist brokers with routine (boring) tasks, etc. You are looking for experience and exposure to the business...not pay.. Just get your ass in the door and worry about the "big break" later.

quote:

Originally posted by Capitalizt krypt, I think your best bet is to call up every financial place in town..preferably near market close and ask to speak with the manager. Maybe you can get an internship, completely voluntary to get your foot in the door. Tell them you have educated yourself and are passionate about the industry, but understand the need to start at the bottom. You are willing to make copies, assist brokers with routine (boring) tasks, etc. You are looking for experience and exposure to the business...not pay.. Just get your ass in the door and worry about the "big break" later.

good advice +1

It works too..... I always knew PCs ever since tearing open my first Comadore64 just dated myself
I needed a change about 10 years ago and just walked in a law firm in Houston that needed desktop support.....slaved out for about 5 years and now?? I work for the feds doing what I love, making good money and it couldn't be better (network security/admin). So it is worth it man, get that foot in the door and never look back.

Last edited by LazFX on Nov-08-2007 at 03:03

Thanks for the advice. One of ladies in my class is married to a stock broker. I gave her a stock ratings sheet I made with email on the back to give to him. Might be something. I'm just turning every door handle waiting for one to open.

Meanwhile....

The dollar falls even more. Oil rises even higher. And WASHINGTON MUTUAL, a horrible bank that screwed itself in subprime gets bailed out! While the subprime borrowers, who know far less than the lender, gets screwed over on their adjustible rates and foreclosures. All the damn banks are getting bailed for shit that they caused. Is that what the system is for? Citigroup lost 11 billion dollars in writeoffs. That money went somewhere and not back to them. But guess what? They'll get liquidity, no problem. Banks sure have it easy. They can fuck up, but the only thing happening is a departured CEO who leaves with millions in benefits, some firings, and central bank notes to bail out their dumb mortgage securities investments.

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Gold hit $840 yesterday...silver touched $15.80, and oil $98+

My marketocracy fund was up 5% while the DOW was crashing...what fun!

quote:

Originally posted by Capitalizt Gold hit $840 yesterday...silver touched $15.80, and oil $98+ My marketocracy fund was up 5% while the DOW was crashing...what fun!

I took a hit. Went from a high of 11.95 to now around 11.17. I think the market right now is in a very volatile stage. I feel like the market is going scizophrenic on me, so I pulled all my profits off the table, sold my losers, and am currently rating my fundamentals so I can shed any stocks whose fundamentals have gotten worse.

I've got about 350k on the sidelines, 750k still in. But I'm definately re-evaluating my holdings. Only the best..

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Gamma and Fundamental Strength<<-----EXPLAINED (click)

I say always buy high gamma stocks. If you anyone wants to know what a specific stock's gamma is, just let me know.

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Last edited by Krypton on Nov-14-2007 at 01:22

quote:

Originally posted by Krypton I took a hit. Went from a high of 11.95 to now around 11.17. I think the market right now is in a very volatile stage. I feel like the market is going scizophrenic on me, so I pulled all my profits off the table, sold my losers, and am currently rating my fundamentals so I can shed any stocks whose fundamentals have gotten worse. I've got about 350k on the sidelines, 750k still in. But I'm definately re-evaluating my holdings. Only the best..

I took a bit of a hit too. Went from 10.15 and growing nicely to a low of 9.40 I went over some of my picks, they all have strong fundamentals and good potential for growth. Some of them I just haven't gotten their time in the spotlight yet. Today I all my stocks have been recovering nicely except LDK. From what I reckon its a combination of oil dropping and them not realizing the results of an audit of their inventories. In any case, market volatility is really affecting my portfolio. A lot of my stocks have betas of over 1 and shift quite a bit.

I had holdings of RTP but sold them at a profit of $90 per share when it went up this week. I am not sure how the take over bid from BHP will turn up, so I am staying away from it for a while. I've been looking at replacing my investments in RTP with KAT.

Anyways, just some comments.

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Poetry>Byron//Blog>TheMean

quote:

Orbax At that point you kind of crossed the rubicon and you might as well lay siege to Rome

quote:

Originally posted by venomX I took a bit of a hit too. Went from 10.15 and growing nicely to a low of 9.40 I went over some of my picks, they all have strong fundamentals and good potential for growth. Some of them I just haven't gotten their time in the spotlight yet. Today I all my stocks have been recovering nicely except LDK. From what I reckon its a combination of oil dropping and them not realizing the results of an audit of their inventories. In any case, market volatility is really affecting my portfolio. A lot of my stocks have betas of over 1 and shift quite a bit. I had holdings of RTP but sold them at a profit of $90 per share when it went up this week. I am not sure how the take over bid from BHP will turn up, so I am staying away from it for a while. I've been looking at replacing my investments in RTP with KAT. Anyways, just some comments.

I'm doing a massive overhaul of my portfolio. Sold about 30% of it off. About 20-30 losers. Took in a lot more profits though. Like my 100% profit from MTL. I made an initial investment of 10,000$, and when it reached 45 days, I sold the gains off so my holdings were still $10,000, and then I did it again last week when the stock market started its correction. In the beginning of December, I'm checking all my fundamentals by the numbers, buying new ones, and buying losses from my good losers. My 1 month turnover % is going to skyrocket..

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quote:

Originally posted by venomX I took a bit of a hit too. Went from 10.15 and growing nicely to a low of 9.40 I went over some of my picks, they all have strong fundamentals and good potential for growth. Some of them I just haven't gotten their time in the spotlight yet. Today I all my stocks have been recovering nicely except LDK. From what I reckon its a combination of oil dropping and them not realizing the results of an audit of their inventories. In any case, market volatility is really affecting my portfolio. A lot of my stocks have betas of over 1 and shift quite a bit. I had holdings of RTP but sold them at a profit of $90 per share when it went up this week. I am not sure how the take over bid from BHP will turn up, so I am staying away from it for a while. I've been looking at replacing my investments in RTP with KAT. Anyways, just some comments.

The problem with fundamentals is if the market saggs everything gets hit. Or, to say it differently, if the fundamentals of the US economy are weak (which I think they are) all of the stocks suffer.

My top 4 picks are ones that don't have many ties to the US economy. RTP (Rio Tinto), Microsoft, BHP Bilton, and (for shame) Haliburton are all performing well. I think it's because thier sucess is based on the performance of the world not simply the US.

BAM (Brookfeild asset management) is still dragging me down but I have faith that thier holdings are profitable and that the management is competent.

Completely clueless about why RDS.B (Shell) and BP (BP) are doing so badly. I must have bought them at a high.

quote:

Originally posted by atbell The problem with fundamentals is if the market saggs everything gets hit. Or, to say it differently, if the fundamentals of the US economy are weak (which I think they are) all of the stocks suffer. My top 4 picks are ones that don't have many ties to the US economy. RTP (Rio Tinto), Microsoft, BHP Bilton, and (for shame) Haliburton are all performing well. I think it's because thier sucess is based on the performance of the world not simply the US. BAM (Brookfeild asset management) is still dragging me down but I have faith that thier holdings are profitable and that the management is competent. Completely clueless about why RDS.B (Shell) and BP (BP) are doing so badly. I must have bought them at a high.

Yeah, most of my top stocks are not from the US. RTP, BHP Bilton, ICIC from India (IBN), and Grupo Santander (STD) are some of my strongest performing stock. I've also been evaluating other companies in other industries lately, specially mining and alternative energies. But it is troublesome how much dealing with fundamentals opens you up to vulnerabilities due to market fluctuations.

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Poetry>Byron//Blog>TheMean

quote:

Orbax At that point you kind of crossed the rubicon and you might as well lay siege to Rome

this thread is amusing.