Note: This interview was recorded 3rd February 2016
This weeks guest is Daniel Goldberg, an active trader and partner at Futex – a proprietary trading firm located in London, UK.
Dan has been involved with financial markets since 1995 (straight out of college), and got his start as a book-runner on the exchange floor. He later became a pit trader, and was also there for the transition to electronic markets.
These days, Dan plays a major role in training new traders to the firm, and predominantly focusing on two markets; Bunds and Euro Stoxx.
Some of the topics we covered during our discussion; how Dan seeks out trading opportunities and uses tools such as the price ladder and market profile. And how macro events effect have a significant impact on his trade decisions.
I also ask Dan a bunch of questions centered around prop trading, and he has some really interesting points to share on the topic of risk. So there’s plenty to learn from Dan, enjoy!
Lessons learnt in this interview:
- How Dan landed his first job as a book-runner, and later traded in the pit, basing decisions off of ‘gut instinct’ (which came with many challenges).
- The “free money” that was available in the transition to electronic trading, and what lead to an improvement in Dan’s trading performance.
- An overview of how Dan analyzes the market for trade opportunities, and the value of understanding correlation between various markets – the big picture!
- How Dan uses tools such as the price ladder and market profile for greater context about the price action and to confirm trade idea.
- We discuss the advantages of prop trading and ‘risk tolerance’ – can it be taught, or is it something built into your personality?
- How traders new to the firm are trained during a 12 week initiation process, and the anticipated length of time before consistency is achieved.
- A guide to the success/failure rate of prop traders versus the retail sector, and words of advice for traders who feel stuck in the mud.
Links and resources mentioned:
- FutexLive.com – Follow this link to learn more about Daniel, Futex, and the resources they have available for aspiring traders.
- Futex.co.uk – Similar to the link above, except this site is more centered around Futex as proprietary trading group.
- @DMG_FutexLive – Go ahead, follow Dan on Twitter (especially if you trade similar markets).
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