(Part 2) Top products from r/FinancialCareers
We found 27 product mentions on r/FinancialCareers. We ranked the 64 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
21. Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6 Inches FHD IPS Display, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U, 8GB DDR4, 256GB SSD, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 10 Home, A515-54-51DJ
Sentiment score: 2
Number of reviews: 1
8th Generation Intel Core i5-8265U Processor (Upto 3.9 gram Hz) | 8 GB DDR4 Memory | 256 GB PCIe NVMe SSD15.6 Inches Full HD (1920 x 1080) Widescreen LED-backlit IPS Display | Intel UHD Graphics 6201 - USB 3.1 Type C Gen 1 port, 2 - USB 3.1 Gen 1 Ports (one with Power-off Charging), 1 - USB 2.0 Port...
22. A Random Walk down Wall Street: The Time-tested Strategy for Successful Investing
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
W W Norton Company
23. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
HarperTorch
24. Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
McGraw-Hill
26. When Core Values Are Strategic: How the Basic Values of Procter & Gamble Transformed Leadership at Fortune 500 Companies
Sentiment score: 2
Number of reviews: 1
27. Fundamentals of Futures and Options Markets (9th Edition)
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
28. Letters from a Stoic (Penguin Classics)
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
Letters From A Stoic Epistulae Morales Ad Lucilium
29. Financial Modeling
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
The CD is included and has never been used.
30. Stochastic Calculus for Finance I: The Binomial Asset Pricing Model (Springer Finance)
Sentiment score: -1
Number of reviews: 1
33. The Supernova Advisor: Crossing the Invisible Bridge to Exceptional Client Service and Consistent Growth
Sentiment score: -1
Number of reviews: 1
34. The Practical Guide to Wall Street: Equities and Derivatives
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
35. Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, 5th Edition
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
36. The Little Book That Still Beats the Market
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
John Wiley Sons
37. Morningstar's 30-Minute Money Solutions: A Step-by-Step Guide to Managing Your Finances
Sentiment score: 0
Number of reviews: 1
38. The Warren Buffett Way: Investment Strategies of the World's Greatest Investor
Sentiment score: 1
Number of reviews: 1
The Warren Buffett WayInvestment Strategies of the World's Greatest Investor
Though it depends on the area of finance you are in, VBA is a very good place to start out. You already know Excel and I bet it would be an easier sell at work to start using some homebrew macro rather than something else.
If I where you, I would pick up Financial Modelling by Simon Benninga. It's not focused heavily on VBA but does use it where relevant - this just shows that you really don't need VBA for a lot of finance applications anyway (you can do a lot with functions only!). Pick up any Excel/VBA book for the things that Benninga does not cover. A book similar to Benninga is Advanced Modelling in Finance
using Excel and VBA, which I'm not as familiar with as Benninga but it does seem more focused on VBA, if only slightly.
You mention databases, which would be another direction you could go in. Your biggest hurdle will probably be to convince someone to give you access to a database with relevant data - at least while you are still learning. Not to mention that on top of having to learn something like VBA to access the database, you will also have to learn SQL to query the database for data. It's not out of reach but perhaps a bit of a learning curve. I would suggest you find out if your company has something like a Enterprise Data Warehouse or any other databases where you are allowed to hook up and get data from.
This is a business where you have to do things the hard way, typically. If you decide to become a retail broker, there are a few things I would do:
I would suspect that a broker, in his first five years, probably hates his life. But once you get beyond that initial phase, it can obviously become very lucrative, as lucrative as a more institutional role. Remember that brokers eventually establish relationships with investment bankers and start doing fun little private placements. Some brokers specialize in this stuff (e.g. finding capital for small tech firms). These guys get warrants, the piece of the compensation picture that the retail client often doesn't know about. Warrants are good.
Remember too that we may be entering a long-term bear market. Some good friends of mine got started at one of the world's largest brokerages back in the mid 90s. So they had timing on their side. You may not.
This book might interest you: http://www.amazon.com/Pitch-Anything-Innovative-Presenting-Persuading/dp/0071752854/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp
It's written by a guy who raises VC capital.
You'll hear this a thousand times but read A Random Walk Down Wall Street. It has a good overview of America's market history, specifically the last decade. Make sure you buy a revised version.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0393352242/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile
Some people may suggest Intelligent Investor and Securities Analysis but I found them very dated.
Also here is the r/personalfinance reading list:
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/readinglist
Cheesy but potentially useful - much has been written about P&G's culture as a model for mgt in general as well as for other consumer goods cos, so it's common to find people in the industry constantly referencing P&G methods as dogma (which is often laughable from the perspective of an analyst, but good to know.) A few reads:
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https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Win-Strategy-Really-Works/dp/142218739X/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=procter+gamble+book&qid=1559027196&s=gateway&sr=8-2
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https://www.amazon.com/When-Core-Values-Are-Strategic/dp/0132905337/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=procter+gamble+case+studies&qid=1559027619&s=gateway&sr=8-7
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http://globadvantage.ipleiria.pt/files/2009/07/working_paper-33_globadvantage.pdf
www.investopedia.com for looking up financial terms.
www.bloomberg.com for financial news.
Warren Buffet talk on youtube
Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters
Books-
The warren buffet way will help you analyse companies.
The intelligent investor the book on value investing.
Common stocks and uncommon profits the book on picking growth stocks.
The black swan useful insight into options trading.
Anything and everything by Michael Lewis, he writes so well, his books will give you insight into how the finance industry actually works and they're entertaining; Liars Poker chronicles how the Mortgage Backed Security was created and is a good start.
When you're done with all that, let me know and I'll send more your way! Studying for the CFA helps too as recommended by the other guy posting here but you by no means need a finance/business major.
First, actually find a therapist.
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Second, since you probably won't actually find a therapist (even though you should), below are a few strategies that got me through my roughest patches in investment banking and private equity:
Read this:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Practical-Guide-Wall-Street/dp/0470383720
The book covers the basics of what you would want to know going into banking and will help you learn products and jargon. A managing director at MS suggested to me a few years back and it was very helpful.
This book is good for structured credit area: click here
Sounds like this would be a good start: http://www.amazon.com/Valuation-Measuring-Managing-Companies-Edition/dp/0470424656
I would start here
Some additional books that I like are:
Financial Schnanigans
Avoiding the winner's curse
If you are interested in high-yield debt (and you should be, this is where all of the action is), then read the first four books on Amazon
Finally, learn the basics of accounting and financial accounting. Finance is just a bunch of ratios. You need to understand how the numbers are created before you can analyze them.
Thanks, I appreciate that. 1 sounds necessary and 2 good, 3 and 4 arent big for me. I also am hearing SDD is necessary! Would you mind checking these two out? This is what I'm thinking about getting, but I dont see any reason not to get the cheaper one here. https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-i5-8250U-GeForce-E5-576G-5762/dp/B075FLBJV7/ref=cm_wl_huc_item
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=psdc_13896615011_t1_B075FLBJV7#HLCXComparisonWidget_feature_div
Pretty expensive, so I'd recommend any older edition. But this is the same textbook I used in my Derivatives course, it's basically an industry standard.
https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Futures-Options-Markets-9th/dp/0134083245/ref=dp_ob_image_bk
Here is what you are looking for Christine Benz, the head of personal financial planning research for morningstar. http://www.amazon.com/Morningstars-30-Minute-Money-Solutions-Step/dp/0470918136
Second sign up for the Kitces Report. http://www.amazon.com/Morningstars-30-Minute-Money-Solutions-Step/dp/0470918136
3rd pick up a used set of CFP books at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/CFP-Live-Review-Volumes-1-7/dp/1427747563/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421789109&sr=1-1&keywords=Kaplan+cfp
https://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Still-Beats-Market/dp/0470624159
I am sure a quick google search will give you an introduction to what quant is all about. Here is some stuff you can use:
http://www.untag-smd.ac.id/files/Perpustakaan_Digital_1/FINANCE%20Paul%20Wilmott%20Introduces%20Quantitative%20Finance%200470319585.pdf (Long ass read, but Paul is all you basically need for Quant Fin stuff) -> Skim through topics to see what background you need.
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"But that is a lot, you're confusing me even more"
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https://the55thfx.com/ebooks/QA.pdf (Suitable for Sunday Afternoon Pina Colada)
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"Alright stop flexing mathematics and statistics, too hard"
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http://www.mysmu.edu/faculty/christophert/QF101/QF101_Week03_Principles%20of%20Quantitative%20Finance.pdf (Very nice comparison of Physics and Quant Finance - something I have screamed before on how they are so related)
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Other reads: (May not be free)
https://www.amazon.ca/Financial-Mathematics-Comprehensive-Giuseppe-Campolieti/dp/1439892423
https://www.amazon.ca/Stochastic-Calculus-Finance-Binomial-Pricing/dp/0387249680
https://www.amazon.com/Undergraduate-Introduction-Financial-Mathematics-Third/dp/9814407445
Work in the industry, what he said is largely true... and has been for a while. the last few hold outs on the industry just started flipping everyone to fee based inflow the DOL started putting pressure off things. You can read when this initial movement started when ML first started moving to annuitized/advisory business: The Supernova Advisor .
Primary difference is at most of these you can offer a breadth of different products to clients once you survive the first 3-5 years. At that point there will always be pressure to do things that maximize income, but you can largely ignore that which you think is improper or does not benefit clients.