Floor Broker

If you’ve seen television shows or movies involving the stock market, and the images of the exchange floor—with it’s flurry of activity above and beyond the hubbub in any mall on Christmas eve—seems exciting to you, you might consider a career as a Floor Broker. As a Floor Broker, you trade securities, such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, on a securities trading floor. In the financial market, “trade” means “to buy and sell.” Trading floors are located in exchange buildings, such as the New York Stock Exchange.

Floor Brokers are employed by brokerage firms to execute trades on behalf of the firms’ clients, using market conditions and trends to determine the best time to buy or sell, thus ensuring that the clients receive the most favorable rate available.

A typical day of trading begins with an electronically delivered order from your firm. You take the order to the appropriate securities trading post on the exchange floor, and negotiate prices with other Brokers and the Securities Specialist, attempting to receive the best possible price. Upon completion of the trade, your firm and the client are notified electronically, and the trade is reported by computer. It is processed electronically and, within seconds, appears on the consolidated tape display around the country.

Millions of trades are executed each day on the trading floor, and though it may seem chaotic, it’s actually well organized and closely monitored. If you have a strong interest in economics and finance, and a basic understanding of the stock market and the technical details of securities trading, this may be the job for you.