does anyone know what a derivative analyst's work day is like?

Answer 1

It is about like catching flies in a hot room. You only want the black ones, not the green ones, and you want it alive, not dead. That was the example given me by an economics professor several years ago. He worked on an exchange options trade desk for several years before deciding to take it easy and be a college professor. Another told me he compared it to juggling sharp and unsheathed swords all day. Derivatives are weird, wild, and wickedly dangerous. The venerable Barings Bank had to go bankrupt when one single trader kept trying to leverage his way out of a losing position.