I want to become a trader at wall street. What college should I go to, and what classes should I take?

Question

I want to become a trader at wall street. What college should I go to, and what classes should I take?

Answer 1

There's no particular college you must attend since there are no academic courses that prepare for trading securities and/or commodities.   Also a college education is not a requirement to be a trader, unless you want to work for a bank.

You should have a good understanding of accounting, finance, and economics, be strong in math and speak well (cursing doesn't count). Courses in statistics will also be a big help.  If you want to dress up your resume attend an ivy league school with a 4.0, it won't make you a better trader but it will get you in the door just so they can look at you.

Traders, except for fixed income people, all fit the same mold, they're above average intelligence, good at math, have out going personalities, and are not wrapped too tight,

There are many types of traders on the street, trading many different products.  Therefore you should have an understanding of what are the various products, the markets they uses, and how the markets work.  None of this is taught in the academic world so you should start now with your education by preparing yourself, not only for the academic world but in the real trading world.

Get into the habit of making daily visits to some websites like MSN Money and Yahoo Finance.  (http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp http://finance.yahoo.com/ )

While at MSN following the strategy lab analysts to get a feel for what the pros are doing and why.  This site has some basic information for beginners. If any site offers free information, take it.

Other website that can provide instructions and help with procedures and terminology are

Investopedia - http://www.investopedia.com/  Stock Charts - http://stockcharts.com/

http://www.investorshub.com/  http://www.1source4stocks.com/



Visit some of the more professional websites like Zacks - http://www.zacks.com/

Smart Money - http://www.smartmoney.com/  Schaeffer’s – http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/

Answer 2

the nyse went computerized recently, so no one is on the floor trading now.  the big money is made at the banks (surprise surprise) and so if you love to trade, you should plan on getting a forex trading job at a bank.

if you are in north america, you can take courses and get the job.

in europe, traders are gods, and it is harder to get a job as one, but it can be done if you work really hard.

Answer 3

College doesn't teach you how to trade, or if they do they don't teach you how to trade well. You just need to take the time to learn how the market works. Here is a good site for that.

http://www.stocks-simplified.com

Answer 4

No college needed...all u need is Money + Brains + Direct Access account

I'm 20 and I trade.....Plus I go to a community college (finance major)

Answer 5

A Nobody's response nailed it for you

Rich - you don't have to be registered to be a trader, you need registrations only when you deal with the general public

Tekspirit - I got people working on the floor, if they're not trading for me, I'd like to know what the h**l they're doing.   If they weren't making money I'd fire them computer or not.

Answer 6

If you live in NYC, CUNY Baruch College is a great college for trading on Wall St. (or any other major exchange in NYC).

Go for the Finance and Investments major, and the schoolwill help you with job placement if you need it.

Answer 7

Usually a series "7". However, some trading industries can require anything but a series 7. Now there are different kind of traders out there. And don't make the mistake of mixing up a "trader" with a "broker". They are not the same thing. There are stock traders, bond traders, future traders, commodity traders, currency traders...etc.....so you should think about what industry to focus on because they are entirely different and all require a different methodology. However, I believe all of them require a security license. You should look on the NASD website and find out. However, to get to wall street, you should call some of the tier one brokerage houses, not banks, but brokerage houses and ask if they have a program which you can apply to where they help you get your proper license and they usually have a program to go under their umbrella and once you get your proper license, they will hire you at their wall street firm. From there, you will make all kinds of connections and you can decide what you really want to do in the brokerage industry.