Difference between trading and investment banking?

mahras2
Tue, 28 Mar 2006 18:04:53 +0000

Program trading has only increased recently after several of the exchanges had enabled electronic trading.

Let me present just one statistic to show you how much it has changed since 2001:

Program Trading Averaged 26.8 Percent of NYSE Volume during Dec. 3-7, 2001
Program Trading Averaged 68.9 Percent of NYSE Volume during Mar. 13-17

Nearly a 3x rise in program trading.

The futures exchanges have increased even more than the NYSE since 2001 (view Eurex).

For example at CME (Globex):

**2001:81.9 million contracts
2005: 772 million contracts **

A 9x increase.

My friend’s dad happens to be a MD at an ibank. Although not in trading, the one thing he has said is to know programming. This idea has also been echoed by the trading firm I intern at now.

Five years is quite a bit of time. Especially in a field that is playing catch up in terms of technological innovation (particularly in the U.S.)