5 ms·

> uptight social culture of finance looooool ... You mean like the men having competitions to see who can hit the urinal from furthest away? or barefoot wrestl

> uptight social culture of finance looooool ... You mean like the men having competitions to see who can hit the urinal from furthest away? or barefoot wrestling on the trading floor? Those are both reputable stories I've had relayed to me about people I've worked with. More like a frat than an uptight environment ;)

SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
Don't forget midget darts.
kthejoker2 9y ago
Things I've seen on the trading floor: * Impromptu breath holding contests complete with prop bets and name chanting * Chairs shoved, phones slammed, mice thrown, (full) drinks thrown, (Other people's) paper piles toppled, soooo much profanity. * One time a trader yelled FKING FK very loudly as our EVP of Trading was giving a tour of the office to a business journalist. To which the EVP turned to the journalist and very calmly said, "With us, you always know where you stand."
trhway 9y ago
Frat environment in its core is among the most conservative ones.
anigbrowl 9y ago
Frat-like behavior on trading floors is for members of the rich kids club or those willing to go through the initiation rituals. The lower-level staffers who support the traders are not invited to participate in such japes and are expected to look and act professional, not to be goofy individualists who have just as much fun at work as the traders.
danso 9y ago
I couldn't think of the right word, but whatever word is used to describe an environment in which suits are mandatory -- regardless of the frat like behavior :) http://www.businessinsider.com/dress-code-london-city-banks-2017-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/dress-code-london-city-banks-... I have a VR system and I wear it knowing that it makes me look like a total doofus. You also have zero ability to discern what's going on around you, e.g. to easily socialize with someone walking by. The productivity advantage a VR application would have to be huge for it to be worth doing things by VR, and the fact is that the fidelity just isn't there yet. I would also argue that even with fidelity, the usecases seem specious. But I also thought that the "Minority Report" scenes (which didn't involve a siloed-VR-helmet experience), while cool-looking, seemed like an extremely inefficient way to solve crimes.
Sukotto 9y ago
Wow, maybe I was just lucky? I worked on two different (energy) trading floors. One was a fairly large venture (30 or so trading desks + mid/back office + dev/ops/DC teams + management). The other was one of the huge banks. Both were in Stamford CT. I spent well over 5 years there and never once did I see those sorts of shenanigans. There was some stuff: the guy that liked to throw a football across the floor, occasionally smashing a monitor; the guys that bet $1000+ each over who could lose the highest % of body weight in 2 months (or was it one month?); and the occasional swearing, but nothing near the "like a sailor" level I hear about. Pretty much everyone I worked with was highly professional. They were profit motivated (for sure), but even there I personally witnessed people making fair deals where they could have squeezed someone dry and unwinding deals at a loss to keep a good counterparty relationship. I'm so glad I never worked with the handset smashing, drug abusing, loudly swearing, king of the world, type-A assholes that I hear about.
- Jaruzel 9y ago
  > Both were in Stamford CT. Been there done that. Was the big bank one, the one with the keys in it's logo ? If so, you were using the Desktop OS build I designed :) > I'm so glad I never worked with the handset smashing, drug abusing, loudly swearing, king of the world, type-A assholes that I hear about. I think these days, thats largely confined to the Hedge-Fund traders. And those guys are EXACTLY the sort of people would love AR/VR based trading UIs - anything to make more money is always welcome in their world.
  - rch 9y ago
    They would also enjoy the opportunity to simply walk around a bit, or maybe grab a coffee.
  - Sukotto 9y ago
    > as the big bank one, the one with the keys in it's logo No. We were the other BS across the street.

SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago

Don't forget midget darts.

kthejoker2 9y ago

Things I've seen on the trading floor: * Impromptu breath holding contests complete with prop bets and name chanting * Chairs shoved, phones slammed, mice thrown, (full) drinks thrown, (Other people's) paper piles toppled, soooo much profanity. * One time a trader yelled FKING FK very loudly as our EVP of Trading was giving a tour of the office to a business journalist. To which the EVP turned to the journalist and very calmly said, "With us, you always know where you stand."

trhway 9y ago

Frat environment in its core is among the most conservative ones.

anigbrowl 9y ago

Frat-like behavior on trading floors is for members of the rich kids club or those willing to go through the initiation rituals. The lower-level staffers who support the traders are not invited to participate in such japes and are expected to look and act professional, not to be goofy individualists who have just as much fun at work as the traders.

danso 9y ago

I couldn't think of the right word, but whatever word is used to describe an environment in which suits are mandatory -- regardless of the frat like behavior :) http://www.businessinsider.com/dress-code-london-city-banks-2017-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/dress-code-london-city-banks-... I have a VR system and I wear it knowing that it makes me look like a total doofus. You also have zero ability to discern what's going on around you, e.g. to easily socialize with someone walking by. The productivity advantage a VR application would have to be huge for it to be worth doing things by VR, and the fact is that the fidelity just isn't there yet. I would also argue that even with fidelity, the usecases seem specious. But I also thought that the "Minority Report" scenes (which didn't involve a siloed-VR-helmet experience), while cool-looking, seemed like an extremely inefficient way to solve crimes.

Sukotto 9y ago

Wow, maybe I was just lucky? I worked on two different (energy) trading floors. One was a fairly large venture (30 or so trading desks + mid/back office + dev/ops/DC teams + management). The other was one of the huge banks. Both were in Stamford CT. I spent well over 5 years there and never once did I see those sorts of shenanigans. There was some stuff: the guy that liked to throw a football across the floor, occasionally smashing a monitor; the guys that bet $1000+ each over who could lose the highest % of body weight in 2 months (or was it one month?); and the occasional swearing, but nothing near the "like a sailor" level I hear about. Pretty much everyone I worked with was highly professional. They were profit motivated (for sure), but even there I personally witnessed people making fair deals where they could have squeezed someone dry and unwinding deals at a loss to keep a good counterparty relationship. I'm so glad I never worked with the handset smashing, drug abusing, loudly swearing, king of the world, type-A assholes that I hear about.

Jaruzel 9y ago
> Both were in Stamford CT. Been there done that. Was the big bank one, the one with the keys in it's logo ? If so, you were using the Desktop OS build I designed :) > I'm so glad I never worked with the handset smashing, drug abusing, loudly swearing, king of the world, type-A assholes that I hear about. I think these days, thats largely confined to the Hedge-Fund traders. And those guys are EXACTLY the sort of people would love AR/VR based trading UIs - anything to make more money is always welcome in their world.
- rch 9y ago
  They would also enjoy the opportunity to simply walk around a bit, or maybe grab a coffee.
- Sukotto 9y ago
  > as the big bank one, the one with the keys in it's logo No. We were the other BS across the street.