Don't do it. Don't trade. No matter how much money you'll make (and I doubt if you'll make any, this is a very serious business, hobbyists can only lose their shirts), it will hurt you to find out how much your broker has made in commissions. If you really wish to get into this business, with minimal formal education, and lots of interest, try to find a junior position in a hedge fund, or a brokerage. They exist. LT.

LT,But look at the positive side... He doesn't need to unlearn stuff about jumps and stochastic volatility.

You need to make an investment in books, or else have access to a good university library. If you can get the books, and you are willing to spend a lot of time, you can learn it on your own. I learned most of this stuff on my own (because I wasted my time in school doing other stuff.)Good luck.

Just to give you a 'rough' idea of the amount of work involved you might want to look at some of the FE programs from major Universities. Columbia's FE program was recently extended from 9 months to include a summer term. So considering that they can pick and chose from the top studends that is about a years worth of work full time to gain just basic level in FE (considering they will often be competing against people with Phds). I don't think that level is gained by casual bedtime reading either. So good luck with your self study but try to have a realistic idea on the task that you are undertaking. Good luck

Thanks for the advice. If you dont mind me asking, how do you get the Ebooks. I use the search function for E-book and came out empty.Thanks in advance

"I have also thought about teaching myself financial engineering from time to time. But there really hasn't been the incentive, since I'm not sure what I'd do with all those skills once I had them."MP, if you used these skills to lever up your undoubted talents, you'd be an unstoppable force. Sorry if I sound like your grandmother.

QuoteLike, suppose you wish to learn stochastic calculus, assuming that you need it. How far can you get via home education? It's a very rough subject. I'm not saying that there is a theorem that says you *cannot* learn it on your own, but the reality of things, in my experience, is that you need to talk to a professor who knows the stuff, explains things a bit, tells you what to read and what to throw away, and you need to argue back and forth with other students. You need to gain access in anyway possible to a school that has FE program. Even gaining access to an college may not even be enough. In my undergraduate experience, I was lucky enough to have a mathematics professor who was able to get me started on learning quant finance. But as I went futher along, professosr was less able to help me learn. I am probably stuck on pde for the longest time possible. I've probably spent well over a hundred dollars on books relating to pdes, and still havent understood the basics of it. I hear that PDEs are considered graduate level mathematics? Getting access to a library is the most important step in learning FE. They may even be able to get books from other library (inter-library loan program) which the library doesnt have in stock.

"Johnny, you are one silly boy. When someone says [ ... ] The correct translation is [ ... ] What kind of a sucker takes the bait like that anyway?"My comment was meant kindly.

QuoteOriginally posted by: Johnny"Johnny, you are one silly boy. When someone says [ ... ] The correct translation is [ ... ] What kind of a sucker takes the bait like that anyway?"My comment was meant kindly.His comment was meant wistfully.LT.

MP,I've a read a number of your semi-autobiographical posts so far, and I have a feeling that you want to tell us something, but you're afraid to say it. Don't be afraid. Just say it. What happened to you? And don't be afraid and start to be all macho and gong-ho. If you want to say something, just say it.LT.

sorry to get off-subject, but has modeling jumps and stoch vol gone to the wayside? I have very briefly gone over these topics, but not for a real problem. However, talk of using stoch vol model has come up? Thanks.

Dear HomelessI read your thread on Wilmott this eve. and would be interested in exchanging a few emails with you to find out more about your background, your interest in Q.F. & what things you try/how things pan out.For my part, I am 31. I've spent most of my adult years in one business or another, the most recent being a recruitment agency from '98-'01. I gave up my business primarily because my occupational interests leant towards full-time trading (not recruitment), my academic forte is most definately mathematics and my academic interests, whilst varied, include mathematics.My girlfriend bought me Wilmott's 2 Vol. set On Quant. Finance a couple of years ago; one day whilst in the bookstore I had mentioned a book on formal company valuation I was interested in at the time. Several weeks later, she bought be Wilmott for my birthday, thinking this was what I was after. It wasn't, and couldn't have been more different, but this was my first introduction into Q.F. and what it could do for a trader. Coming up to my 30th birthday, and thinking that if I wasn't doing what I wanted by that age I never would, I closed down the business (the merits of which I still have difficulty in explaining to several members of my family) to study and hopefully become a full time trader.I had a crack at the books but only got as far as Ch. 6. I quickly realised that I needed to learn Calculus. While quite bright, I left High School in Canada at my 16th b.day due to family requirements. I always excelled at mathematics, however. It came easy to me and I mostly taught myself throughout High School, usually at least 2 mos. in front of the class - by the time the subject was being taught I was explaining it to my friends. Two years later and on my own I did Gr. 11 Advanced Algebra, and then 1/2 of the Gr. 12 Trig. (got a job in Toronto and never got around to finishing it), gaining low 90's - not bad.I still never learned Calculus though. So I did a text earlier this year called An Introduction to Mathematical Methods in Economics ( J. Colin Glass) - simply because in contained Calculus - and I thought this would be a stepping stone to the Q.F. The book took me about 4 months, and kept my interest (I greatly enjoy economics anyway, and studied Politics, Economics & Philosophy at Oxford for 2 yrs. as a mature student, but had to drop out again, this time for different reasons!)At any rate, upon a return to Wilmott's books I quickly learned that while matrix algebra, equilibrium equations, calculus and integration are all very interesting, none of them are Stochastic Calculas - the foundation of Q.F. So now I'm off to do Nefti's book on stochastic calc. for beginners - recommended by Wilmott in his books - which he says assumes no knowledge of anything and takes the reader through the basics as applied to finance.I plan to do this book, when and if I make it past the rather steep curve of consistent profits through day trading (I've only just started this summer and am not full-time yet) and to then do the new Cert. in Q.F. I had planned on doing Nefti and then Wilmott by myself, then demonstrating this knowledge to blag my way onto an Msc. course teaching the subject (despite attending Oxford for 2 yrs. I'm still techically a High School drop out, which frankly suits my disposition just fine) to formalize my learning. I recently learned of the Cert. in Q.F., however, and so have adjusted my objectives acordingly - why spend 20 grand and 2 yrs. to learn more than I want, when I can learn exactly what I want and no more in only 5 & 1/2 mos. and for less than half the price? Ultimately I'm interested in learning the subject for the sake of it (I plan to study a lot more maths as I get older, particularly number theory - Ramanujan is one of my favorite subjects since I read his biography earlier this year) as well as for the advantage it (may) give me in trading, although I'm inclined to think at present that I could make a better living day trading Nasdaq stocks than appying Q.F. techniques , but no matter, I'd still do the course if I can.So, that's me. Have you done Stoch Calc or looked at Wilmott's books yet? What's your interest in the subject - financial (like most) or purely academic? What's your ultimate objective & what's your plan for geting there?Hope to hear a reply from you,Kindest RegardsRenny S. Ray-ToddDidcot, Oxfordshire, Englandrenny@ray-todd.demon.co.uk