I just left an institutional trading desk. AMA

Hey there, as the title says, I just left an institutional trading firm back in November 2024. The primary motivation was the deep compliance requirements around what we are allowed to talk to the public about - fear it is construed as advice.

My background is in quantitative modeling and low latency systematic trading. I have run smart order routers, managed matching engines, and optimized decision engine algo wheels throughout the industry.

Spent most of my career sell side, except a 4 year consulting stint where I pretty much implemented low latency telemetry and FPGAs for buy side shops getting familiar with their tick to order.

How can I help retail? What questions can I answer/misconceptions can I clear? AMA
Not selling anything. I only trade low touch, using a RNN model to predict price movements.

EDIT: Thanks so much for the Award. I am super grateful to be able to provide some value. Please continue to ask away and I will do my best to answer. EDITED 08:27 PM Eastern Time

EDIT 2: Per the request of the mods and my own intention with this post, I am going to be curating all of my answers and removing anything around my personal PnL, etc. this was meant to be around institutional trading mindset and education for those that have never stepped foot on a trading floor at a bank, fund, or exchange. EDITED on Jan 24 at 10:51 AM

EDIT 3: The harsh reality is I did not understand what I was signing up for when I posted this.

I never believe people actually cared what a professional like myself had to say because I don't own a Lamborghini and I'm not flashing wealth or using a hook to sell you something.

Training is a career and a profession just like anything else. Most want fast money. When I made this post, I was expecting maybe 10 or 50 questions but we're at over 500 and still going. As long as people are seriously asking questions and getting benefit, I will do my best to keep answering. EDITED ON JAN 24 @ 7:39 PM NY time.

EDIT 4: I have done my best to go through the questions, but will ask folks to stop asking new questions, no guarentee of answer after now. EDITED ON JAN 25 @ 10:10 PM NY time.

EDIT 5: I had made a temporary post to try to understand why people pay gurus. Everyone thought my inquisition was to try and sell you something. I’m sorry that people have scammed you all so much that even when someone is asking a genuine question, you all are so rude. To explain myself, for the life of me I can’t understand why people would pay a guru and I definitely am interested to know why anyone would pay someone else for coaching in a field that person is not a professional in, if someone could help me with understanding this, please let me know! EDITED ON JAN 26 @ 8:54 AM NY time.