Jack o'Clubs
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An interesting article in the jobs supplement of the Daily Telegraph today. Sorry, it's not on their web-site so I can't paste a link and you'll have to put up with my paraphrasing (as it's a one-pager in a broadsheet...)
An interview with one of the directors of Saxon Financials, talking about what makes a good trader. In his view the open-outcry system was totally skewed to extroverts: if you couldn't force your physical presence through then you would just be lost in the noise. 'It suited rugby players and boxers - a physically orientated game'. But most of those guys have been completely lost in the transition to screen trading which much better suits introverts he reckons. He has been working with an LBS professor on an academic reasearch paper on the subject.
"Introversion is not a question of being shy. It's about drawing energy from yourself rather than other people. They have narrow focus and deep levels of concentration. Extroverts on the other hand feed off other people. In electronic markets they suffer. Extroverts follow the herd and get ideas from people around you. That affects your disclipline and stops you making the right decisions."
"Gone are the flamboyant and noisy characters... now the markets are full of young men with discipline..."
I thought this an interesting perspective, particularly as an introvert it talks up my strengths! But I'm sure there must be quite a few extrovert screen traders out there who would call the article a load of bull. The article is strict about the psychological definition of introvert/extrovert, ie nothing about being a shy loner, or rowdy life and soul of the party, but whether your energy derives from self or from others.
An interview with one of the directors of Saxon Financials, talking about what makes a good trader. In his view the open-outcry system was totally skewed to extroverts: if you couldn't force your physical presence through then you would just be lost in the noise. 'It suited rugby players and boxers - a physically orientated game'. But most of those guys have been completely lost in the transition to screen trading which much better suits introverts he reckons. He has been working with an LBS professor on an academic reasearch paper on the subject.
"Introversion is not a question of being shy. It's about drawing energy from yourself rather than other people. They have narrow focus and deep levels of concentration. Extroverts on the other hand feed off other people. In electronic markets they suffer. Extroverts follow the herd and get ideas from people around you. That affects your disclipline and stops you making the right decisions."
"Gone are the flamboyant and noisy characters... now the markets are full of young men with discipline..."
I thought this an interesting perspective, particularly as an introvert it talks up my strengths! But I'm sure there must be quite a few extrovert screen traders out there who would call the article a load of bull. The article is strict about the psychological definition of introvert/extrovert, ie nothing about being a shy loner, or rowdy life and soul of the party, but whether your energy derives from self or from others.
