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SE #3: Getting the hang of Stocky, Kiwi, Cable and …

23-08-2021 09:00

As their internship is coming to an end, Sara, Mikaela, Sharzad and Midia give a full update of the past weeks at the Markets trading floor in Stockholm; digging into the FX world, being quizzed by top traders, getting the hang of the lingo and going bowling with the team. They've got their hands and heads full!

Mikaela Jansson and Sara L. Persson.

By Sara & Mikaela

We’re now going towards the end of our internship at Markets. Since our last blog, we’ve had one week vacation. Even though it was nice with one week off, we were both quite excited to come back to the Markets trading floor in Stockholm, and looked forward to meeting new people at new desks.

So, back at Markets, we kicked off at the FX desk. We began the week with FX basics such as currency pairs and what factors affect the FX market. We quickly realised that the FX team uses a certain lingo which, for an outsider, made it a bit tricky to follow the day-to-day conversations. For example different currencies and currency pairs have their own nicknames; e.g. SEK is called Stocky, NZD is called Kiwi, GBP/USD is called Cable.

As ‘usual’, we got a new business case, and this week our task was to identify a potential client’s FX risk and present a hedging proposal. We think (hope) we did well!

Hanging out with the FX team

During the week, we also went for an ‘after work’ with the FX team, and enjoyed drinks and bowling. It was really fun to hang out with the team and get to know them outside the office.

Having fun bowling with the FX team.

Now, this week is a bit different from previous weeks, as we only spend one day or half a day at each desk. In other words, it is an up-speeded version of the entire internship but only for one week. This means, we have not received the usual business case, but we had the opportunity to sit next to different desks and experience their work in practice more in-depth. The desks we have rotate between this week are Credit Sales & Trading, Rates Sales & Trading and Securities Finance.

Having the opportunity to visit the different desks at Markets is what (also) makes our internship so incredible rewarding. Not only do we see and learn how the different desks work, but we also get to meet many of the knowledgeable professionals in Markets. As our internship is coming to an end, we’ll spend the last week on the equity side of markets – and that will for sure be exciting too.

By Sharzad

It’s been a lot of learning and different input these last few weeks! From day one, just keeping up with the lingo was my primary focus. And now this past week has been geared towards discussing different trade ideas and the rationale behind them. The many informal trainings and explanations at the desk help tremendously, and I’ve got the opportunity to ask and listen about certain factors, I did not know about before (which is a lot, I realise!).

For instance, I did not know much about the complexities of trading prior to being at Nordea Markets. Sitting right next to the traders has been so great, as they sometimes approach me with specific situations and trades to hear what I think of it and how I’d illustrate the strategy or case. Being so fortunate to sit so close to the traders, has made me absorb information and lingo by osmosis, and given me valuable insight to why they make the decisions they do.

Another surprise!

Last week, we visited the FX desk, and I was in for another surprise! There are a lot of internal rules on how FX as a market setup is to begin with. One important aspect is to follow the monetary policy, and how inflation direct expectations. We also learned which industries are more likely to be exposed to FX risks, and how they relate to those risks – and much more.

In addition to the different learning sessions, I’ve also been working on a trading case that’s been assigned to us interns.

From left: Mikaela Jansson, Midia Keshto and Sharzad Modeli cracking a trading case.

The assignment brings together everything we’ve learned and continue to learn about e.g. different financial instruments, putting together a portfolio with certain risk factors and liquidity requirements, to be aware of interest risks, overall risk management, leveraging and tracking my daily profit and loss – to mention a few!!

As you probably can see, there’s a lot to digest – it’s a lot of learning but equally, and surely a lot of fun too.

Midia Keshto

By Midia

The past couple of weeks have been packed with new impressions and different learning opportunities. I’ll try to summarize some of the highlights:

Last week, we got the opportunity to have a one-on-one talk for a couple of hours with an employee who’s been in the industry for over 30 years. Apart from learning about his area of expertise, certificates, which was of course interesting on by itself. I felt that the cumulative knowledge he has gathered through the years was priceless, and it was super interesting to hear about the many ups and downs during the past three decades.

Each Monday, I rotate to different desks with the other interns, so I have had a quick introduction to FX, and got to tag along to a learning session with a member of the credit sales team. At the credit sales desk, we went through everything from terminology to how the sales team and trade team work together. We also discussed the current market trends and how the industry has changed over time.

At the trading desk, where I spend most of my time, we have been assigned a trading case that we will work on individually the coming weeks (as Sharzad mentions).

Alongside all of this, I’m working on a project I have been working on since the beginning of my internship, and after weeks of preparations, we can finally start constructing and training our model.

We look forward to telling you all about it – stay tuned!

There’s a lot of work and learning during the internship at Markets, but surely also time for some cosy time with fellow interns and colleagues both after hours and at work, like here where we’re enjoying a nice lunch at the terrasse in the sun -> Sara, M

Don’t miss out on the final blog from our interns in Stockholm, tag along!

Meanwhile, perhaps explore the Meet our Talents blog for other blog featuring interns in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Enjoy ;-).

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