Most of us believe that highly successful stock brokers like JP Morgan’s Michael Briese are living high-flying lifestyles akin to rock stars, that they have hundred dollar bills falling out of their pocket and that they make multi million dollar trades on a daily basis. This Gordon Gecko lifestyle which is painted may be true for a small exception of stock brokers but for the majority of them, the lifestyle is indeed, very different.
If you have ever wondered what a career in the stock broker trade looks like then here is what a day in the life looks like for the average broker.
Research
Before the market even opens, most stock brokers will have been up since the crack of dawn analyzing huge amounts of financial data and researching how the market may move today. They will have been crunching numbers for hours and getting up to speed on the latest financial news.
Trading Day
Once the markets open, stock brokers will be calling up existing and newly found clients in an effort to get them to buy or sell the latest hot stock, they will be peddling their research to them in the hope to catch a bite. After lunch there will be much of the same activities and perhaps a meeting or two with prospective clients where the broker will need to sell themselves and their trading ability.
Markets Close
After the markets close, the day’s rush is over, assuming they have had a good day, the broker may call it quits for the evening and head home for an early night ahead of more research the following morning. Many stock brokers however will use the time after the markets have closed to cold call prospective clients in the hope of adding to their client list. This can be a thankless and miserable task which will see many people hang up on them. Hustling for business and marketing yourself is not easy but it has to be done in order to find further success.
Pressure
There is constant pressure on the shoulders of stock brokers, with all the research in the World the reality is that nobody can tell which way the markets will move and the word of the broker is on what basis people have invested their money. There is pressure to not only make their clients money but also to attract new clients each day. The mind of a broker never stops working they are either busy on the trading floor, reading through data for research or sitting on the phone trying to make themselves look great.
Whilst being a stock broker can be incredibly rewarding financially, it is also a tough and hard working position which will see you working long hours each and every day. In order to be a stock broker you require absolute dedication to the financial sector and a willingness to chase down ever client and every trade.