Old traders V young traders

Does age relate to trading in any way ?

I think it might. Those that have experienced the ups and downs of life are probably in my opinion better suited to the rigours of trading.

The young have all their biological and entirely natural urges to contend with. Impatience must rank high on that list. Rushing into trades without due consideration. Blowing up in a rage if it doesn't go right.
Not so old that good sense has passed the oldies by but peaking at about 50 to 75 years old.Less likely to have binged 5 nights a week and trying to make do on 5 hours a night.

If I was a hedge fund manager I would ignore the fancy claims of youth and employ golden oldies of proven worth.

As PJ O'Rourke said: age and guile beats youth, innocence and a bad haircut every time.

30-year-old with 5 years of experience will do better than 50 year old with 5 years experience

I think that older people are learning slower than young and in trading you have to learn all the time

time of reaction is slower and brain of a man reaches its peak 'performance' when a man is 28 year old

but in some hedge funds as you said there are PhDs who are 50 or 60 years old with huge experience, achievements in mathematics and research , so age when is going with experience may be huge advantage...
but in environment like trading arcade young will better handle noise, rush atmospeher - which is never needed IMO and its disturbing but most people , especially young just can't do their work with calm

mmm, depends what sort of trading. As a generality I'd suggest that caution increases with age.

Caution, however, is a hindrance to some types of trading which require quick-fire, instantaneous response. For that, give me the arrogant, black and white and fearless certainty of youth

tuscan said:

30-year-old with 5 years of experience will do better than 50 year old with 5 years experience

Click to expand...

Agreed, but if the 50 year old has 25 years of experience?

Not sure so much about trading where reaction times count for something, but no coincidence that legendary investors tend to be older (if not outright old! Buffet, Bolton, etc).

Also interesting cultural differences, eg in Asia where age is seen as conferring wisdom and to be respected, there are no shortage of business leaders well into their 80s with no suggestion they should step down as they are past it.

Vanity vanity

Ok - so there's an old trader and a young trader on the top of a hill....

I think trading itself gets old after a while. Just like anything you do for a career, it gets a bit dull & repetitive after a while.

You can have 25 years experience -or- 1 years experience 25 times over - there is a difference !

I am inclined to agree that lets say 'more mature' traders - whether that be in age or attitude or both have the best chance of longevity and success.

G/L

tuscan said:

30-year-old with 5 years of experience will do better than 50 year old with 5 years experience

Click to expand...

Define better. In terms of performance within a corporate entity if by better you mean:

a) Cheaper to employ
b) Easier to manipulate
c) Less time to condition into a 'mindset'
d) Unlikely to challenge the status quo
e) Generates returns commensurate to peers within the controlled corporate environment

then I have to agree with you wholeheartedly.

You have to ask why businesses prefers younger people. Do you really think it because of intellectual prowess?

As for pure trading ability, I'd probably go for age over youth. It's a long game, not a sprint.

Today's youth are arguably superior.

We grew up on a diet of Internet, instant access to 10000 years of human knowledge, history, and wisdom. Our robust social networks have allowed us to upend the old order and we now dominate culture, news, innovation, and hacktivist movements.

It should come as no surprise that the new models are the better ones. We condensed in one-third the time thrice the knowledge as old generations managed. Sometimes exponentially more.

Bow to your youthful overlords! We are here to stay.

tuscan said:

30-year-old with 5 years of experience will do better than 50 year old with 5 years experience

I think that older people are learning slower than young and in trading you have to learn all the time

time of reaction is slower and brain of a man reaches its peak 'performance' when a man is 28 year old

but in some hedge funds as you said there are PhDs who are 50 or 60 years old with huge experience, achievements in mathematics and research , so age when is going with experience may be huge advantage...
but in environment like trading arcade young will better handle noise, rush atmospeher - which is never needed IMO and its disturbing but most people , especially young just can't do their work with calm

Click to expand...

It's very complicated, age is not necessarily an indication of in-depth experience and deep judgmental thinking, by analogy to trading, an airline pilot may have had 30,000 flying hours flying military jets, but now flying a passenger jet, and in the case where he has to make emergency landing / ditch in the water (where he now doesn't have the option to eject out) he 's as capable as a young, equally educated pilot with much less hours, in other emergencies though the old pilot is far better.

But in other cases, both in flying and trading, the old man will out-think
his young counterpart because he has seen so much more, can think clearly under pressure.

I agree that peak age may be 28, but learning never really stops, the older you get, the wiser you can get (if you handle things properly and not lay back and relax), well educated and open-minded people get more and more clever as they grow older, a younger man may beat them on a single subject, but overall the older are more clever.


Well educated, old and wise traders are impossible to beat, if the young trader can find one trade in the markets, these old can find an equal or better trade, or more trades, and they tend to trade more selectively and foresee events and risks that the young trader cannot see

vergis92 said:

It's very complicated, age is not necessarily an indication of in-depth experience and deep judgmental thinking, by analogy to trading, an airline pilot may have had 30,000 flying hours flying military jets, but now flying a passenger jet, and in the case where he has to make emergency landing / ditch in the water (where he now doesn't have the option to eject out) he 's as capable as a young, equally educated pilot with much less hours, in other emergencies though the old pilot is far better.

But in other cases, both in flying and trading, the old man will out-think
his young counterpart because he has seen so much more, can think clearly under pressure.

I agree that peak age may be 28, but learning never really stops, the older you get, the wiser you can get (if you handle things properly and not lay back and relax), well educated and open-minded people get more and more clever as they grow older, a younger man may beat them on a single subject, but overall the older are more clever.


Well educated, old and wise traders are impossible to beat, if the young trader can find one trade in the markets, these old can find an equal or better trade, or more trades, and they tend to trade more selectively and foresee events and risks that the young trader cannot see

Click to expand...

I cannot agree enough with this...

What do learn from in the markets...history!

What have older traders that have survived through it all and prospered at the other side seen and experienced....all that history in live real time!!

Hands down...older people with the knowledge

Just because we as the younger generation have access to an abundance of information...doesnt make us superior...it just means we have info overload to make us complacent with thinking we know everything about the markets

If this is the case, then ask yourself: how profitable have you been over the last year or 2 with all these extra resources!?

tuscan said:

30-year-old with 5 years of experience will do better than 50 year old with 5 years experience

I think that older people are learning slower than young and in trading you have to learn all the time

time of reaction is slower and brain of a man reaches its peak 'performance' when a man is 28 year old

but in some hedge funds as you said there are PhDs who are 50 or 60 years old with huge experience, achievements in mathematics and research , so age when is going with experience may be huge advantage...
but in environment like trading arcade young will better handle noise, rush atmospeher - which is never needed IMO and its disturbing but most people , especially young just can't do their work with calm

Click to expand...

It's very complicated, age is not necessarily an indication of in-depth experience and deep judgmental thinking, by analogy to trading, an airline pilot may have had 30,000 flying hours flying military jets, but now flying a passenger jet, and in the case where he has to make emergency landing / ditch in the water (where he now doesn't have the option to eject out) he 's as capable as a young, equally educated pilot with much less hours, in other emergencies though the old pilot is far better.

But in other cases, both in flying and trading, the old man will out-think
his young counterpart because he has seen so much more, can think clearly under pressure.

I agree that peak age may be 28, but learning never really stops, the older you get, the wiser you can get (if you handle things properly and not lay back and relax), well educated and open-minded people get more and more clever as they grow older, a younger man may beat them on a single subject, but overall they are more clever.


Well educated, old and wise traders are impossible to beat, if the young trader can find one trade in the markets, these old can find an equal or better trade, or more trades, and they tend to trade more selectively and foresee events and risks that the young trader cannot see

Vergis you old fart - take your Alzheimers meds - you posted that twice...

Hm what was I going to post? ARGH! GIRAFFE IN MY FRIDGE!

tonster01 said:

Just because we as the younger generation have access to an abundance of information...doesnt make us superior...it just means we have info overload to make us complacent with thinking we know everything about the markets

Click to expand...

When we will have overturned the senile proletariat of the old generation, traitors to their age bracket will be the first to go.

All Glory to Golden Youth!

If this is the case, then ask yourself: how profitable have you been over the last year or 2 with all these extra resources!?

Click to expand...

Intellectually? I am incomparably richer.

As for the bank account... Hey! It grows with time! And that's more a factor of the market having access to the same resources! No free lunch you know!

VielGeld said:

When we will have overturned the senile proletariat of the old generation, traitors to their age bracket will be the first to go.

All Glory to Golden Youth!



Intellectually? I am incomparably richer.

As for the bank account... Hey! It grows with time! And that's more a factor of the market having access to the same resources! No free lunch you know!

Click to expand...

I like this guy...

...reminds me of myself when I was young...

VielGeld said:

When we will have overturned the senile proletariat of the old generation, traitors to their age bracket will be the first to go.

All Glory to Golden Youth!



Intellectually? I am incomparably richer.

As for the bank account... Hey! It grows with time! And that's more a factor of the market having access to the same resources! No free lunch you know!

Click to expand...

Oi, intern! Get your head out of Facebook and go and get the lunch order for the desk. Here's a fifty, keep the change.

DionysusToast said:

I like this guy...

...reminds me of myself when I was young...

Click to expand...

He's not a bad old stick. I quite like him too but I'd never say that to his face.

I agree that this is complicated and this can be good subject for a dissertation or something. :smart: and depends on the style of trading and many other things. I was thinking about day trader observing the market for 10hrs a day who makes decisions on a constant basis. Independent day trader, not someone who is a millionaire with 15 yrs experience for whom one trade a week with 500 lots is what he does or who have his own team of analysts

It is a small factor in the whole game
1. knowledge + experience
2. psychology
...
...
x. age
...

robster970 said:

Define better. In terms of performance within a corporate entity if by better you mean:

Click to expand...

Of course by better I mean more profitable in the same environment, the same experience, the same capital, and OTHER FACTORS the same
Better = more efficiency in doing what day trader do
And this is a lot of informations going through his brain , so much that he have to not only use full of his intellectual abilities, but manage it perfectly , plan to absorb the information into the future (like to read a book, other approach etc) the more information you absorb, the better you manage it , your result is better (lets assume)

I'm under 30 and I'm only wondering how the trading world/ industry will look like 20 years from now not how fast I will think when I will be 50 because this is very small factor or it may be no difference at all...
Despite my age, from what I have seen , if I had a fund I wouldn't employ people under 30 to manage or handle my money