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Austriarian
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Joined: January 21st, 2020, 10:41 pm

Practice to theory (Students)

January 24th, 2020, 4:52 pm

Howdy there, 

I'm a mathematics student and I've decided to dive into the realm of finance. I'm looking for some guidance as to where I should place my energy over the next few months to a year if i'm to develop a skill that would make me a useful little intern. My uni has a program that allows one to work anywhere in the world as said intern for up to a year and a half, essentially an apprenticeship model.  

Programming seems to be the necessary hard-skill and right now i'm learning python. Obviously, I would appreciate some "don't do's" and "please don't step there's". Guidance from practitioners. 

On that note, after i've built a good grasp of the fundamentals what would the next step look like? Diving into algorithms of all shapes and sizes? If so what kinds? Maybe different types of data structures? Again, what's used and what isn't? 

I do understand that much of this is a function of my goals, right now I need to build a skill that could grant me access to a multitude of spaces, I.e. gives me optionality. Though the spaces that interest me now are the ones with an inherent entrepreneurial focus. 

Also, I would appreciate any other suggestions as well, such as; soft-skills, authors, essential texts, and other resources. 

Thank you very much, I look forward to some wisdom! 
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: Practice to theory (Students)

January 24th, 2020, 5:14 pm

C++ is king. 

https://quantnet.com/cpp/

BTW how do you think that mathematics is useful in finance? What's your favourite maths areas?
 
Austriarian
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Joined: January 21st, 2020, 10:41 pm

Re: Practice to theory (Students)

January 24th, 2020, 6:04 pm

Thanks for the heads up. 

Maths in its formal academic sense is probably pretty useless in finance (i've heard and i'm inclined to believe until I see it myself). 
On the other hand, the mental wiring is very useful. Not something that has to come from maths per se, any stem field can give you that, but it's the one i'm most interested in. How do you feel about it? 

I like applied maths a good deal, mainly probability and representation. That's a loaded question though. 
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: Practice to theory (Students)

January 24th, 2020, 8:33 pm

Good to know the wiring is in place, 
If maths is useless for finance then why study maths.


This thread belongs In Student forum.
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: Practice to theory (Students)

January 25th, 2020, 1:05 pm

Probability is not applied maths IMO but it can be applied of course.

You can go through life by viewing probability theory through the lenses of measure theory, Hilbert spaces and Functional Analysis.

What's 'representation'?
 
Austriarian
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Joined: January 21st, 2020, 10:41 pm

Re: Practice to theory (Students)

January 25th, 2020, 2:08 pm

Thanks for the thread switch. 

Didn't mean maths is useless in finance. Takes a lot of experience to understand its application.

I'll look into your probability recommendation, i'm very green in most maths. There's an intimidating pile of books slowly being worked through on my desk. 
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: Practice to theory (Students)

January 25th, 2020, 4:16 pm

I suppose your profs in the maths department are guiding you?(?)
BTW have you read Finnegans Wake? Now, that's intimidating ;)
 
Austriarian
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Re: Practice to theory (Students)

January 25th, 2020, 9:19 pm

More or less. There are recommended texts but I shoot to find my own, plus it helps to see a concept in different formats and structures. I look forward to collaboration when i'm up to speed though. 

Have not, but I did swallow manufacturing consent, interesting and a true slog. Like a poorly made cake, too dense and rich.   
 
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Alan
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Re: Practice to theory (Students)

January 26th, 2020, 4:20 am

Start with the classics
 
Austriarian
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Re: Practice to theory (Students)

January 26th, 2020, 2:21 pm

Thank you! 

This coupled with Munger, Buffet and Spitznagel should be a great start. 
 
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lePiddu
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Re: Practice to theory (Students)

January 27th, 2020, 10:52 am

Hi Austrarian, I just want to add my 2c!

Go for Riccardo Rebonato's books. All of them, especially the evergreen Volatility and Correlation (2nd edition) and the amazing Portfolio Management under Stress. 

I understand you are trying to build some knowledge to find your way in financial markets. Well, from my (junior practitioner) point of view, math is useful, but without some sound domain knowledge it's nothing more than a tool (unless you are going to do research in Math). Ok this is reductive because math also teaches you an amazing way to organize your thoughts, but still you want to give more substance to those thoughts, not only formal organization.

You can find that domain knowledge in those books =).

I don't know what you mean by "entrepreneurial", but consider that it's a world extremely regulated, so a good starting point is to review how financial regulations works because only those are the actual do's and don'ts.
 
Austriarian
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Re: Practice to theory (Students)

January 27th, 2020, 3:19 pm

Howdy lePIDDu, thank you for the help! 

I couldn't agree more about domain knowledge! I'll definitely give him a solid look. 

That entrepreneurial spot was poorly written. I should have said, "interested in finding spaces with experienced (old) practitioners, those taking calculated risk". If that holds water. 

Good knowledge of financial regulations is spot on. I remember reading the some of the best hedgefunds (at the time) used 3 lawyers to one quant. Certainly makes sense.