Well today I got a call that most of us employed dread. Yup after 7 years I was getting layed off 
In retrospect it was a good 7 years that fulfilled all my dreams and reasons of coming to US, studying in college & finally culminating moving to a place I knew nothing about (Chicago).
I came here without nothing, knowing nobody & having no connections in the industry to make something out of myself and for that I am happy & fulfilled!
I knew this was coming for some years now as my profession (of Floor Trader at the derivatives exchange) is sort of a dying dinosaur that has been faced extinction since the introduction of the electronic trading. Needless to say I have been trying for the past 3 years to branch out to other correlated positions but alias nothing was found that would even marginally replace that drive & satisfaction I have experienced at the pits.
The days of the independent trader ("local" as they are called) are long gone overrun by the large corporations with unlimited pocket books and a strategy of driving you out of business with maximizing the profits through enormous volume (volatility as well) for minimal margins.
So yet another young dinosaur keels over replaced by a fucking computer program ... funny how they forgot that people made them big in the first place. :angry:
No worries no bitterness here just venting after all this is just a beginning of another exciting chapter in the journey that is my life.
Ahh but I do lament the good times and the camaraderie I had with those guys that we shared daily through good/bad times for that I do feel a certain sadness.
Now I am toasting a drink and having a Habano in celebration of good times I/we had & the unknown yet exciting times ahead. :thumbs:
Thanks for allowing me to express myself.
In retrospect it was a good 7 years that fulfilled all my dreams and reasons of coming to US, studying in college & finally culminating moving to a place I knew nothing about (Chicago).
I came here without nothing, knowing nobody & having no connections in the industry to make something out of myself and for that I am happy & fulfilled!
I knew this was coming for some years now as my profession (of Floor Trader at the derivatives exchange) is sort of a dying dinosaur that has been faced extinction since the introduction of the electronic trading. Needless to say I have been trying for the past 3 years to branch out to other correlated positions but alias nothing was found that would even marginally replace that drive & satisfaction I have experienced at the pits.
The days of the independent trader ("local" as they are called) are long gone overrun by the large corporations with unlimited pocket books and a strategy of driving you out of business with maximizing the profits through enormous volume (volatility as well) for minimal margins.
So yet another young dinosaur keels over replaced by a fucking computer program ... funny how they forgot that people made them big in the first place. :angry:
No worries no bitterness here just venting after all this is just a beginning of another exciting chapter in the journey that is my life.
Ahh but I do lament the good times and the camaraderie I had with those guys that we shared daily through good/bad times for that I do feel a certain sadness.
Now I am toasting a drink and having a Habano in celebration of good times I/we had & the unknown yet exciting times ahead. :thumbs:
Thanks for allowing me to express myself.
