fox base alpha
4 weeks into the job and I still don't know what it is I do. If I had known, before starting at JSC, that I would be saying this, I would have been alarmed. But now I've accepted the fact that if a total noob to the financial system (me) could internalize that which makes JSC successful in 4 short weeks, then those tools and ideas would be known by everyone in Wall Street. People at the firm like to talk about adverse selection, and a major part of the interview process is determining whether a candidate understands whether they are in a situation where adverse selection may be in play. If you don't own up to mistakes or can't shed your pride the moment you think a situation needs reevaluating, you're a liability and JSC doesn't want you making decisions. At a meeting with some partners and the rest of this summer's new hires, a story was related by one of the partners about a dinner he had with a friend at Goldman Sachs. The upshot was, admitting to having made a mistake at GS was tantamount to career suicide. It meant going to the back of the line for any future promotions. People have criticized JSC for saying on their website that they like to use poker to (occasionally) teach aspects of trading. It seems from the Goldman story that bluffing is a part of the culture at other investment banks as well, even internally.
One pleasant side effect of the job is that I feel like a quasi-competent coder now. Not Mudd CS competent, but good enough to quickly dash off a simple script to do this or that on a spreadsheet with several thousand lines, or a text file with several million. On Friday a deskmate complemented me after I ran a study on several months worth of trading data from earlier this year.
(I had to revise that sentence and remove tons of adjectives. The 'Intellectual Property Non-disclosure' documents they make us sign are, well, very extensive.)
Today I went into work to do some studying, grab a free lunch (bwah!) and then go running in Manhattan. I've found that a good space to run is along western Manhattan, right along the water. From my office building all the way up the island there is a connected set of trails and parks. The views are stunning, there's a breeze off the Hudson, and lots of interesting people-watching to be had :-P
Today I was really ambitious: ran up to 125th street, swung around to Morningside Park, then into Central Park. I ran from the north end all the way to the south, and it was breathtaking. So many people, yet so relaxing. The space is enormous. I stopped at the southern end of Central Park and got on the subway to head back to the office (where there's an on-site fitness room and showers). But goddamned weekend subway construction -- I had to take four different trains to get back to my building. It took an hour. Good lord. And after running 13 miles, I was not in the mood to take 4 trains. I wanted water. And food. And a shower. In any order, I'm not picky.
So clearly I need to plan more for any future run that entails taking the subway afterwards. Maybe pack a few dollars to buy some gatorade or a snack from a vendor when I finish. Maybe go on HopStop and check to see if there's subway construction that day. The route I took went through so many neighborhoods I had never seen before, it was wonderful. I want to do it again, maybe in a few weeks. But definitely with some more planning.
I am using my just-earned first vacation day on Friday to drive to North Carolina. I will be leaving my car with my parents and then taking the train back all day Monday. I've had that Mazda for 6 years and put over 88000 miles. I've driven from Cali to MN and back at least 6 times. Driven from Cali to New York. It costs me $300 a month to put the car into storage here in Brooklyn, and I was recently charged for all of September even though I'll be removing the car on the 5th. Note to self: read every damn contract carefully. Friggin'.
One pleasant side effect of the job is that I feel like a quasi-competent coder now. Not Mudd CS competent, but good enough to quickly dash off a simple script to do this or that on a spreadsheet with several thousand lines, or a text file with several million. On Friday a deskmate complemented me after I ran a study on several months worth of trading data from earlier this year.
(I had to revise that sentence and remove tons of adjectives. The 'Intellectual Property Non-disclosure' documents they make us sign are, well, very extensive.)
Today I went into work to do some studying, grab a free lunch (bwah!) and then go running in Manhattan. I've found that a good space to run is along western Manhattan, right along the water. From my office building all the way up the island there is a connected set of trails and parks. The views are stunning, there's a breeze off the Hudson, and lots of interesting people-watching to be had :-P
Today I was really ambitious: ran up to 125th street, swung around to Morningside Park, then into Central Park. I ran from the north end all the way to the south, and it was breathtaking. So many people, yet so relaxing. The space is enormous. I stopped at the southern end of Central Park and got on the subway to head back to the office (where there's an on-site fitness room and showers). But goddamned weekend subway construction -- I had to take four different trains to get back to my building. It took an hour. Good lord. And after running 13 miles, I was not in the mood to take 4 trains. I wanted water. And food. And a shower. In any order, I'm not picky.
So clearly I need to plan more for any future run that entails taking the subway afterwards. Maybe pack a few dollars to buy some gatorade or a snack from a vendor when I finish. Maybe go on HopStop and check to see if there's subway construction that day. The route I took went through so many neighborhoods I had never seen before, it was wonderful. I want to do it again, maybe in a few weeks. But definitely with some more planning.
I am using my just-earned first vacation day on Friday to drive to North Carolina. I will be leaving my car with my parents and then taking the train back all day Monday. I've had that Mazda for 6 years and put over 88000 miles. I've driven from Cali to MN and back at least 6 times. Driven from Cali to New York. It costs me $300 a month to put the car into storage here in Brooklyn, and I was recently charged for all of September even though I'll be removing the car on the 5th. Note to self: read every damn contract carefully. Friggin'.