A few months ago, a youngster (in mid-twenties) working in a tech role asked me how to get a job in a PE fund. When I asked him why he wanted to do that, he said, “To make a lot of money.”
Fair point — these firms can pay quite well.
Then I asked him if he had tried learning finance. He said that he was into options trading.
I don’t know how options are traded and what skills it requires but whatever little I learned about options in my MBA did not give me the confidence that it was easy.
The surest way to LOSE money in financial markets is to do things you don’t understand from first principles. And the more complicated something is, the harder it is to truly understand what’s going on.
If you are going to operate in financial markets, do it the right way — understand the fundamentals, and if you take my word, avoid day trading, technical trading, options trading, etc. You will even see influencers ‘teaching’ technical trading — don’t fall for that.
There are very few shortcuts in life. And in financial markets, there are none.
Remember, quick money flows only in one direction — away from you towards the person promising you that quick money.
– Rajan