People imagine that trading is like gambling, but the job mostly is about executing a client's orders - buying what they want at the best price. In any project, you might be able to take a few small risks, but they're usually minimal. Unfortunately, that doesn't make for an exciting night at the theatre. So Roaring Trade is trying to live up to the stereotypical image of traders, rather than changing it by being objective. But maybe I'm being too defensive. I enjoyed the play a lot as entertainment, but not as a documentary.
The profession and the people in it have changed. Twenty years ago, you didn't need a degree. Now we see more and more young people with higher education qualifications, performing more mathematical and analytical jobs. In the play, a young Cambridge graduate comes to work on the trading floor, and the senior traders force him to do all the menial jobs, such as cleaning the floor and buying the coffee. I came from Cambridge and that wasn't my experience at all. Everybody was eager to help and teach me new things.
The sort of dirty tricks and backstabbing that take place in the play feel quite old-fashioned. I can't imagine that in a modern bank, a male job candidate would be asked to strip, act as a dog and then have sex with the female interviewer. Traders are more civilised.
There are no spectacular mistakes in Roaring Trade; it's just the tone that feels out of date. Things have changed since the credit crunch: the management puts harsher limits on the risks we can take, because the market is much more volatile. The play is very funny, though. I did recognise a few of the character types from my trading floor - especially the younger, noisier ones. I might recommend it to them.