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Trading Education Posted by Team Topstep September 10, 2020

What are Structured Notes? with Biju Kulathakal

Episode Summary:

Biju Kulathakal started his career in the aerospace industry before becoming the Founder of Halo Investing. As he explains, the jump from aerospace to trading was not as strange as it sounds. This week on Limit Up! Biju explains structured note trading and offers up his advice for would be traders: trading is a job, not a hobby. Listen in!

Full Show Notes:

Interested in getting involved in structured note trading? Our guest this week on Limit Up! is Biju Kulathakal, founder of Halo Investing and a huge proponent of this type of trade. He offers up a convenient guide to structured note trading and how risk is assessed.

Biju did not get into trading via the traditional route. After starting his career as an aerospace engineer, he found quantitative analysis and trading models similar to the problems he faced as an engineer. Listen to the episode for Biju’s story and his biggest advice for would-be traders: treat it like a job, not a hobby.

  • (01:24) – Market Reaction
  • (07:28) – Interview with Biju Kulathakal
  • (08:51) – Aerospace engineering
  • (12:27) – Quantitative analysis
  • (15:00) – Making models
  • (18:12) – Structured notes
  • (23:35) – Risk assessment
  • (27:10) – Direct-to-retail
  • (29:57) – Driving forces in 2020
  • (35:19) – Take it seriously

Biju Kulathakal is the Co-founder and CEO of Halo Investing where he leads the organizational strategy and team. He was one of the early co-founders of Redbox. In addition, he was a founder and the past Chairman and CEO of Trading Block Holdings, an online brokerage firm specializing in option traders. Biju received a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology.

 


What is Limit Up?

Limit Up! is a podcast for traders of all levels brought to you by Topstep. Whether you’re considering a career in trading and don’t know where to start, or you’re a seasoned veteran looking for advice from big names in the financial industry, Limit Up! is your guide. Join us weekly as we discuss the market in all of its volatile glory. Risk Disclosure: https://www.topstep.com/risk-disclosure/
Jack Pelzer is a co-host of Limit Up! He traded as part of a U.S. Treasury group for 7 years at Chopper Trading and DRW. After leaving the industry, he became a Writing Fellow and Senior Contributing Writer for The Onion. He is now the Head of Content at Topstep.

Dan Hodgman is a co-host of Limit Up! Prior to coming to Topstep Dan traded 30 Yr Treasury Options and Yield Spreads. Before that, he served in the United States Marine Corps where he simultaneously managed his own Futures Account applying the skills he grew up learning from clerking on the trading floor. Now Dan works with the Traders here at Topstep as a Performance Coach as well as being a regular on the Daily Market Recap.

Attend a free group coaching session offered every Wednesday at 1PM CT to get an idea of what Topstep Performance Coaches offer: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nZpAita9Rz-2_yMUjtkvpw

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Podcast episode production by Dante32.