136: Take care of the short term, take care of the long term w/ Mike Agne

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I first interviewed Mike at CWTNYC, in May 2017. The 100-listeners (give or take) who attended, will already be very familiar with Mike and there may be a few moments of déjà vu throughout this episode. But for everyone else…

Mike came into trading around 20-years ago, beginning at Chicago prop firm, TransMarket Group, where he ultimately spent 12-years of his career. Over the course of his time there, Mike became one of their largest 30-year Treasury basis traders, both in terms of volume and performance.

Now days, Mike is trading a relative value strategy through his own book, and building out a track record with the aim to launch a hedge fund in the coming years…

Topics of discussion:

  • Mike’s progression from phone clerk to proprietary trader, lessons learned from mentors and growing a capital base, and the influence of Ray Cahnman.
  • What you gain from having skin in the game, how Mike increased his tolerance for greater risk and his rule of thumb for avoiding the loss of too much money.
  • A primer on trading Treasury bonds; major participants, barriers to entry, economic influences, characteristics of different maturity terms and more.
  • From a high level, Mike explains his relative value strategy and the various relationships he tracks. And lastly, why you must take care of the short term!

Mike Agne and myself at CWTNYC, May 2017.

Links and resources mentioned:

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