I know your city well Mojo–been there dozens of times.  Even
worked for three weeks at a branch in San Jose back in the late 1970s.



Back in the 1980s–the decade of greed and consumption–we bought a
house in a place called Sea Ranch, up on the coast about 100 miles
north of the bridge.



Speaking of the bridge, perhaps you saw my dog gazing at the bridge–great ad for the city of New York don’t you think?



Anyway, back to Sea Ranch.  We sold it after about seven
years–just too far from the east coast to make it sensible. 
Didn’t make a killing, but did OK.



We still try to get to the area to recharge our batteries–normally
spring since we spend the winter in Europe.  We missed this year
due to family concerns, but will be back in March or April.



We stay in an accomodation called Vista 3 at a wonderful place known as
Heritage House in Little River, about ten miles south of the town of
Mendocino.



Life is good when your job can be structured in such a way that you
"need" to be in California for several weeks in the spring as well as
Europe in the dead of winter.  Add a layer of disposable income, a
wife who is your best friend, and a dog who actually likes to sit in a
bag under a first-class seat on a plane and you’ve got the formula for
an enjoyable life.



Good mental health dictates that you mutter to yourself, “Damn I wish I
was him” rather than spewing some form of nonsense that is nothing more
than the green eyes of envy.

Yeah, it must be great to have a job that you can leave for weeks on end and no one notices.

Tell us more, ClerkBoy!

[quote=Starka]

Yeah, it must be great to have a job that you can leave for weeks on end and no one notices.

Tell us more, ClerkBoy!

LOL…keep dreamin’, pissant.

Put:

Have you ever considered anti-psychotics? They would be very beneficial for someone in your state of mind.

[quote=Starka]LOL…keep dreamin’, pissant.[/quote]





Oooh, pissant–what a vocabulary!

Nice to know that you know what it means.

You MUST tell us, ClerkBoy, how it feels to know that everyone you work with wishes that you were "on a business trip".

[quote=Coag]

Put:

Have you ever considered anti-psychotics? They would be very beneficial for someone in your state of mind.

Put,

How old were you when you started in the industry? 

[quote=Put Trader] [quote=Starka]

Yeah, it must be great to have a job that you can leave for weeks on end and no one notices.

Tell us more, ClerkBoy!

[/quote]

Starka, Starka, Starka--I admonished you that good mental health does not allow you do what you do.

What I said was that my job is a great job because I can make arrangements to be in great places when I want to be there.

For example, I like to be in Europe between Thanksgiving and Christmas......so, I arrange to be over there on business.  I want to be in California in March or April.....so, I arrange to be out there on business.

While I"m there I take time off--go to  Heritage House, or Salzburg, wherever.....and the firm picks up my plane ticket and some of the hotels, meals, rental cars and so forth.

If you wanted to do the same you could not do it.  Right?

Now, again, good mental health dictates that you mutter to yourself, "Damn I wish I was him!  He really is leading an interesting life."
[/quote]

"arrange to be there on business".....

::ahem::  Can anyone say "bloated wirehouse overhead"?

[quote=Put Trader]I know your city well Mojo–been there dozens of times. We still try to get to the area to recharge our batteries–normally

spring since we spend the winter in Europe. We missed this year

due to family concerns, but will be back in March or April.





Good mental health dictates that you mutter to yourself, “Damn I wish I

was him” rather than spewing some form of nonsense that is nothing more

than the green eyes of envy.



[/quote]



You’re a qu**r fellow P-eater. What makes your life the envy of others

is not where or when you vacation, or, how long the fish tales

can be, but instead, our facination is without question this: Why can’t

we all dismiss reality in exchange for the chance to live a life of

perpetual impotence (zero-worshipper’s “read” importance). A special

place, where score is kept by what others think of your life and

measuring the gravitas of “Me” along the murky shallows of cesspools of

private grottos (everyman “read” ghettos), with septic waters you’ve

confused for a Deep Sea. Perpetuating this Neptune-like

existence…sadly, most closely resembles “the tidybowl-man” in

his dingy, and your blue water adventure is a blackened swirl of

materialistic scorekeeping where your mind must say “Damn, I wish they

where me!” Ergo, the anger and lording. Good show, Commodore!



(BTW, the fairway on the 6th @ Sea Ranch Golf Links is to die for…ha, ha)



(BTW, next month the family spends a week just outside of Lenox. A bad

habit we picked up when I was a coca-cola kid in Stamford.) What do you

think of Levine? Top Drawer.)

[quote=Put Trader]If you’re not yet thirty years old do yourself a favor and ignore the
urge to get involved.  You’ll find the business to be far more
rewarding if you are old enough to have the credibility it takes to
make it.



Additionally, don’t go to work anywhere that you’ve never heard of–and
use Google to see what you can find.  Go on AOL to see what
investors are saying.  Do your homework.



Finally, don’t make a decision based on things that will soon enough go
away–like the amount of salary you’re being paid as a rookie. 
What matters is where you are–emotionally and financially, not
physically–ten and twenty years from now.

[/quote]



Put trader,



I have been reading a lot of your posts, and they all seem reasonable.
I have been offered positions with AXA Advisors and AEFA. I thanked but
rejected them.



I received a preliminary offer from  Morgan Stanley, pending 
the return of the background check (tests and interview were great).



I am late in the process with UBS and they seem interested.



In the next few days I have a face -to-face interview with AG Edwards
(their home office already reviewed my credentials and conducted a
phone interview with me).



I am in this for the long-run, and would like your opinion on which
company offers the best environment, support, and earnings potential.



Thanks in advance.



SaySo

[quote=SaySo]



Put trader,



I have been reading a lot of your posts, and they all seem reasonable.
I have been offered positions with AXA Advisors and AEFA. I thanked but
rejected them.



I received a preliminary offer from  Morgan Stanley, pending 
the return of the background check (tests and interview were great).



I am late in the process with UBS and they seem interested.



In the next few days I have a face -to-face interview with AG Edwards
(their home office already reviewed my credentials and conducted a
phone interview with me).



I am in this for the long-run, and would like your opinion on which
company offers the best environment, support, and earnings potential.



Thanks in advance.



SaySo

[/quote]



If I had to do it again I’d go to AG Edwards–even years ago when I did
have a logical reason to jump ship I would have gone there.  But I
didn’t jump ship and I didn’t go there–St. Louis is not my cup of tea
and I have always been driven by the ambition to lead rather than
follow.



Anyway, from where I sit the only disadvantage of going to Edwards is
the unknown of what is going to happen to them.  The reality is
that they will not exist as we now know them for much longer–the need
for capital drives this business and eventually everybody is going to
merge, be acquired, acquire and so forth.  So far Edwards has been
able to avoid that–but it’s just a matter of time.



When it happens there will be a lot of financial press about it and
brokers will be whining like the Legg Mason brokers are right now–but
that will pass.  What people in any industry need to remember is
that the rest of the world is not paying attention to what is going on
in your industry.



If this was an automobile manufacturing website some nimrod would be
explaining that sales in such and such a model were going to decline
because the Insurance Safety Institute said that their side air bags
did not deploy some of the time.



The reality is that the buyers of those cars didn’t hear that, nor do
they really care because they don’t intend to have a wreck.



My point is it’s shortsighted to pay attention to what you see and
hear, nobody else is and even if they are they don’t care and soon
enough forget.



As of today, assuming they did not start dancing with a bank yesterday
or last night, Edwards offers a great combination of name recognition,
lack of negative publicity and a full product line.



UBS.  If I were a broker at UBS I’d introduce myself, "Hi I’m
Putnam Trader and I’m with PaineWebber–well, I guess I’m supposed to
say UBS but I still like “Thank You PaineWebber” and stop right there
to LISTEN to what the guy or gal said.



Big firm, lots to offer.  However, with the Enron trials still to
come there is an almost 100% chance that the media will focus on the
story of the broker who was fired for putting out the unapproved sell
recommendation.  The firm should have fired him but the media will
play it up as a crooked brokerage firm, blah, blah, blah.



If you’re already there it will be a public relations storm, but it
will go away.  If you’re not already there I think it’s silly to
go there and try to start a career—it’s like a person saying, "I
think I’ll learn to sail and I hear that there’s some wind in a
hurricane."



Morgan Stanley.  Theoretically the strongest firm in Wall
Street–even stronger than Merrill.  The perfect marriage of
investment banking and institutional brokerage (Morgan Stanley) with a
huge well run retail network, the former Dean Witter.  Dean Witter
is the firm that at one time put brokerage offices in Sears
stores–leading to the gag slogan, “Buy your stocks where you buy your
socks.”  They found that brokers did not like the idea of working
in a Sears store–that self image issue that one does not experience
when they sell insurance or work in retail.



Anyway the firm is in turmoil at the highest levels–absolute
turmoil.  However, that really has nothing to do with the branches
and the brokers–other than the negative publicity such as yesterday’s
ABC News story about golden parachutes.  Again, the public listens
to that, turns to their spouse and expresses outrage then goes back to
worrying if Brad Pitt is truly happy or whether Barry Bonds is being
treated fairly.



All that said, the real reality is that there’s very little difference
in the three.  It’s not like you’re trying to decide between AXA,
AG Edwards, and SW Bach.



The other day somebody suggested that an offer be tenatively accepted,
but that the starting date be delayed to allow entertaining a possible
second offer.  Not unlike a girl accepting a date while hoping
that a better one will come along.



Depending on where you live that may or may not backfire on you. 
In a small town the manager who you jilted might decide that you’re a
flake and before you know it you’re a flake all over town.



Additionally, one never knows what might happen–who you will be working for next week.  It’s best to not piss anybody off.



A decent parent would tell his daughter–“You accepted the date with
Johnny, I don’t care if Jimmy is cuter, you’re going to go to the dance
with Johnny or you’re not going at all.”  And a decent broker will
not tell one manager he’ll accept a job and then not show up.



Go with Edwards, all things considered.  Then PaineWebber–er I
mean UBS.  Finally Morgan Stanley–simply because the Morgan side
of that organization is by far the more dominant side and what the
Morgan side does has virtually nothing to do with what you’re going to
be doing.  It is not beyond the pale to think that a year or two
from now Morgan Stanley might unload it’s retail branches and revert
back to its roots–just like Legg Mason did two or three weeks ago.



But my best advice is to go work where you feel most comfortable–it’s
where you’re going to spend the majority of your life and sometimes the
best decision you can make is to choose the office closest to your
home, or gym or mall.  Whatever rings your chime when you’re not
at work.

[quote=Put Trader] 
The other day somebody suggested that an offer be tenatively accepted,
but that the starting date be delayed to allow entertaining a possible
second offer.  Not unlike a girl accepting a date while hoping
that a better one will come along.



But my best advice is to go work where you feel most comfortable–it’s
where you’re going to spend the majority of your life and sometimes the
best decision you can make is to choose the office closest to your
home, or gym or mall.  Whatever rings your chime when you’re not
at work.

[/quote]



Putsy, at least keep the language somewhere close to accurate from the
original bracketed quote. Suggesting someone extend an expiration value
of time to accept the rights to consider an offer for two weeks should
be familiar to an options-oriented  fellow like yourself. You are
seemingly wonderful at misquoting others to fit your own complex
reality. These are clinically speaking, the first baby steps of
dementia. I may have to scrap the Zero-worship complex study if you
can’t hold it together P-body.



Putsy, why didn’t you mention Barclays in your time-warped adventure into the past?

[quote=Put Trader]
If I had to do it again I’d go to AG Edwards–even years ago when I did
have a logical reason to jump ship I would have gone there.  But I
didn’t jump ship and I didn’t go there–St. Louis is not my cup of tea
and I have always been driven by the ambition to lead rather than
follow.[/quote]



Boy, you missed the wagon on a few great picks…a lil’ mission over in
Bexar ('tain’t mine to say if  y’all is in one of those timewarp
fantasy-things, or not, is it?)…MidSouthwest Securities…and of
course, anything to do with licensing and distribution of hairspray for
the republic.

[quote=SaySo] 

 Put trader,



I have been reading a lot of your posts, and they all seem reasonable.
I have been offered positions with AXA Advisors and AEFA. I thanked but
rejected them.



I received a preliminary offer from  Morgan Stanley, pending 
the return of the background check (tests and interview were great).



I am late in the process with UBS and they seem interested.



In the next few days I have a face -to-face interview with AG Edwards
(their home office already reviewed my credentials and conducted a
phone interview with me).



I am in this for the long-run, and would like your opinion on which
company offers the best environment, support, and earnings potential.



Thanks in advance.



SaySo

[/quote]



SaySo, you seem destined to make the qualifying for the final rounds of
Cellophaned Topped Trollops in Training. Keep you chin up and don’t
sweat the under and overs… Good luck.

[quote=Mojo]

[quote=SaySo] 

 Put trader,



I have been reading a lot of your posts, and they all seem reasonable.
I have been offered positions with AXA Advisors and AEFA. I thanked but
rejected them.



I received a preliminary offer from  Morgan Stanley, pending 
the return of the background check (tests and interview were great).



I am late in the process with UBS and they seem interested.



In the next few days I have a face -to-face interview with AG Edwards
(their home office already reviewed my credentials and conducted a
phone interview with me).



I am in this for the long-run, and would like your opinion on which
company offers the best environment, support, and earnings potential.



Thanks in advance.



SaySo

[/quote]



SaySo, you seem destined to make the qualifying for the final rounds of
Cellophaned Topped Trollops in Training. Keep you chin up and don’t
sweat the under and overs… Good luck.

[/quote]



Mojo,

Thanks for the 2 cents. Could you please expalin your comments on my preliminary offer from Morgan?

You said “you seem destined to make the qualifying for the final rounds of
Cellophaned Topped Trollops in Training. Keep you chin up and don’t
sweat the under and overs.”

Can you explain the part in red?

Do you mean to say that it’s a good opportunity? Should I bank on it?

I interviewed on a Thursday, I got a phone offer the next day (friday)
pending the background check return. But it has been almost 2 weeks
now, and I’m still waiting for the offer letter.

What do you think?

Many thanks.

[quote=Put Trader]

[quote=SaySo]



Put trader,



I have been reading a lot of your posts, and they all seem reasonable.
I have been offered positions with AXA Advisors and AEFA. I thanked but
rejected them.



I received a preliminary offer from  Morgan Stanley, pending 
the return of the background check (tests and interview were great).



I am late in the process with UBS and they seem interested.



In the next few days I have a face -to-face interview with AG Edwards
(their home office already reviewed my credentials and conducted a
phone interview with me).



I am in this for the long-run, and would like your opinion on which
company offers the best environment, support, and earnings potential.



Thanks in advance.



SaySo

[/quote]



If I had to do it again I’d go to AG Edwards–even years ago when I did
have a logical reason to jump ship I would have gone there.  But I
didn’t jump ship and I didn’t go there–St. Louis is not my cup of tea
and I have always been driven by the ambition to lead rather than
follow.



But my best advice is to go work where you feel most comfortable–it’s
where you’re going to spend the majority of your life and sometimes the
best decision you can make is to choose the office closest to your
home, or gym or mall.  Whatever rings your chime when you’re not
at work.

[/quote]



Many thanks Put.

[quote=SaySo]

I interviewed on a Thursday, I got a phone offer the next day (friday)
pending the background check return. But it has been almost 2 weeks
now, and I’m still waiting for the offer letter.

[quote=Put Trader] I'd say that what has happened is one of three things.  First, and most likely, is that you misread the situation.  There is a great Seinfeld episode--as most were--involving one of George's many job hunts.  He tells the gang, "I know it's just a matter of time, they're keeping my resume in their active file."  Kiss off letters always say that, but George didn't know.[/quote]

Until puttyndacrack saw this Seinfeld episode, he was sure he was going to get an offer...any...day...now.

Until then, he remains in his adult day care center, pointing and laughing, like the wack job he is.