SMB offers the very best intraday equities training program on the Street. We meet hundreds of college students seeking an invitation from our desk. And many ask what it is like to trade with us. Before anyone is asked to accept an invitation we mandate that a candidate meet with traders on our desk. A candidate may ask any question they would like to our traders.
And this is the way it ought to be. I am a partner. Steve is a partner. GMan is our Head Trader. JToma, one our Senior Traders, is not credible (just kidding). But his training over a decade ago consisted of being ordered to do twenty push ups everytime his trainer thought he made a mistake. So to him SMB’s training is the most incredible thing since the birth of his daughter. Hearing all that we offer from us is not as meaningful as from a trader who has gone through our training program. So we set this up.
Some of SMB’s training program was highlighted on the TV documentary “Wall Street Warriors.” I am not a TV producer but I would guess that showing all that we do might not be the best way to increase ratings. And some of SMB’s training program was highlighted in Trader Monthly. But even after this exposure we felt that we could still paint a clearer picture of what we do for that new trader. That new trader who was trying to figure out where to begin his trading career.
And then one weekend while at the office late on a Saturday night, Steve had an idea. I was tired. I was even more hungry than tired. My Blackberry was buzzing with an unanswered message from my significant other wondering when I was gonna take her to dinner. Steve offered that we ought to develop a video that trails one of our traders for a day. He offered that we ought to create a video “A Day in the Life of a SMB Trader.” I let the idea marinate. I had about ten other things that were more pressing than this. Mainly writing my next blog.
So some time passed. Steve brought the idea up again. And I started thinking about all the work I would have to do to get this done. Ripper. Who would shoot it? What would they shoot? My head started hurting. Further, the Yanks had just signed Sabathia and I wanted to read all about that. I still wasn’t on board.
And then one day I was interviewing a top recruit from Williams on their campus. And somehow the idea of a video depicting a day in the life of a trader was broached. This recruit’s eyes lit up. This was one of those candidates who during the interview you say to yourself, “He would be a great fit at SMB.” And so it finally hit me. Steve really had had a great idea. And we needed to start working on this. So when I returned to Manhattan we just started working on this project.
Below in a link to a guest blog that we were asked to write by INO TV. Inside this guest blog is our video “A Day on the Street” that follows one of our traders around for most of a day. We hope that you enjoy it. Most importantly, we hope this gives you a better idea of what it’s like to trade on our desk.
