If i love the stock market, love following it, love math, and like risk and investing in the market.....????

Question

what do you think i should try to become. Or what is there in store for me?

I have had a little sales experience.

Stock Broker?

Day Trader?

I am in middle of undergrad!

Answer 1

If you're really good at math, you can consider a career as a Quant. A quant is a mathematician (or physicist or other scientist) who models financial products. Usually the investment banks will need you to have a Ph.D.,so you have to be willing to do 8 years of university. Here's an example of the math involved: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-Schol...

Here's a book that describes in layman's terms a look at what's involved in the quant world: "My Life as a Quant" by Emanuel Derman.

Paul Wilmott has an excellent textbook on financial mathematics, it's accessible to undergrads: Paul Wilmott on Quantitative Finance.

A stock broker is basically a salesman.

To be successful at day trading you need to develop a really good system for trading. Most people (even those with your skills) are not able to do this. But there are a few who do, so you might want to consider it.

Answer 2

I recommend two book titles. One is called "Which Is Better, Buy-and-Hold or Market Timing?" The other is "Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Market Timer?" They will give you plenty to think about.

You must also be able to deal with human shortcomings the market plays to, that are wrought with failure. You must be able to be brutally honest with yourself. And you must be able to deal with uncertainty.

Certainty is predicated on a myth. Certainty can never really be had in life. Why? Because certainty can only come into being when the future is fully known. People don’t realize either that all a trader can really hope for is a superb ability to assess the odds of being right. That’s all, and we have to learn to live with that. It is a fruitless activity from which there can be no rest, for it will never end. Paradoxically, peace and clarity of mind can only come into being when one realizes that “certainty” cannot be achieved. Tomorrow can never be known. Otherwise we are inviting a future that is wrought with failure, disappointment, and dismay.

Answer 3

A trader for an institutional investor.

Answer 4

Stockbroker sounds cool, probably what I'm going to go for.

Answer 5

Start a no risk trading portfolio on the Internet to test your stock picking skills.  Take a course or read a book on real stock investing.  Read the IBD.  Buy a study guide for a stock broker or day trader and see if you like it.  Burn out rates are high in these fields, so you really have to love it or plan ahead because a lot will love it for 3 years and then burn out.

Answer 6

You should seek a summer internship at one of the brokerages or a financial research firm in summer of 2009.   I reaction is to your question is that you need to firm up your life plan.  If it going to be in the finance field,  I would complete a graduate program, MBA.  

Answer 7

You don't want to be a broker or trader if you like those things. Both of those jobs are similar in that they don't do research, don't do any mathematical analysis, and don't care what the risks of investments are. The qualities you are describing would make you a great financial analyst. That job description is pretty general, and so you could be working anywhere you want. You definitely seem to be just like me and I work in investing.

All traders do is learn how to buy and sell, they don't need any knowledge about finance, and that don't necessarily care what they are dealing with. They are just trying to make money on leverage. Brokers are similar, they don't care anything about the items they are trying to sell or how to analyze them, they only concentrate on selling as much of whatever they are told to sell.

You should definitely be looking at a degree in finance, then you get all the core knowledge you need to make your own decisions on where you want to work. You can work in so many areas and make lots of money. There are lots of jobs out there always for finance majors, even now. You'll also want to take classes in accounting, math, quantitative measures, and economics. I love the job I do, I make great money, and I influence decisions everyday with my research and analysis.