I've got an offer for a Trading assistant position (out of undergrad) at Banc of America Securitie, NY. I could either get into Interest Rate Trading or then into FX Short Term Interest Rate Trading. Could someone please throw light on these 2 trading desks -- what's more promising? more profitable? less commotized? provides a better chance for a guy like myself to move up faster? Please note: I'm an finance undergrad; my math skills are so-so -- infact, I've only taken a single math course in college.Any advice would be deeply and thoroughly appreciated. Thanks!

Quants would usually claim that Interest Rates are more interesting than "cow boy" style FX but if as you say your math is so-so then it may be more difficult to shine... One sometimes needs to be pragmatic.More importantly, congratulations on your offer! This is a refreshing change from a number of wannabe or full of hatred postings.

Thanks for the response. Why do Interest Rate traders have to be gurus in Math? Isn't that a quant's job? If I have model, as long as I'm proficient in using it, why must I care about the know-how that goes into building it? It should be obvious by now that I'm only but an amateur; but if you could provide me with some information (your perspective, advice, anything!), I would be deeply greateful.

Interest Rate traders don't have to be Maths gurus, but seeing the technical papers on the exotic desk I can only guess it helps... Now if you are considering getting into UST's, Bunds or JGB's then it is a different story!

Sorry for my apparent lack of knowledge, but what exactly are USTs, Bunds or JGBs? Thanks again!

You gotta love that attitude - "Why do Interest Rate traders have to be gurus in Math? Isn't that a quant's job? If I have model, as long as I'm proficient in using it, why must I care about the know-how that goes into building it? "whc03 - you need to decide if you are going to stick with that way of thinking - if so, I hope you are a gun trader. That attitude will certainly take you far within BoA, but you may struggle when you try and move to a different shop. There is nothing less impressive than a trader in an interview who talks the lingo but can't explain WHY a strategy made money. How are you going to deal with a losing streak, if you don't understand the system? How will you improve the models if you can't tell the quants which one of the relationships is not correctly defined?Reminds me of that quote from point break - "young, dumb and full of cum"

Thanks for the feedback Energy Quant. I think you're right about the attitude -- I may need to change it. If I decide to sit on the IR Trading desk, I can assure you that I'll be well prepared. Obviously, as a Finance major I'm not expected to take math courses, but that won't prevent me from picking up a handful of books on Interest Rate Trading from amazon.com The question I meant to ask is this: how far do I need to dig into the math stuff when I'm teaching myself IR Trading models? Also, what's FX Short Term Interest Rate Trading? Is that prop trading?PS -- I'm just a 21 year old kid with good grades from a good school. I don't pretend to know that much; I just keep my mouth shut, listen, and learn. Thanks again for the help.

QuoteOriginally posted by: whc03what exactly are USTs, Bunds or JGBs?US Treasury Bonds, Government Bonds issued by Germany (reference for EUR interest rates), Japanese Government BondsBonus: Gilts are issued by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland...

That was easy enough. Thanks!

Dont think BoA has much interest rate trading out of NY..