"There is an idiot on my macro trading floor"

2 June 2026

2 minute read

I am a member of a macro trading team at a bank in New York. I have worked at this bank for over five years and throughout my time here, a colleague has annoyed me. He is an idiot. It has got to the stage where I find it impossible to be around him.

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He seems to be trying to embody the epithet of 'fake it until you make it.' He is not all that much more senior than me and has almost no trade ideas of his own. He relies on the rest of us to do the trading.

Despite this, he consider himself a big shot. He walks around the trading floor talking in a booming voice and making himself the centre of attention. If he can put someone else down, he will.

I know that I'm not the only person annoyed by him. I also know that these kinds of people exist across the industry. I'm not sure if he understands how much he irritates everyone. I can't understand why the bank continues to tolerate his loudness and arrogance, though. He is a toxic influence and yet somehow he survives. Every day I hope he will have been fired.

Germain Ponce is a pseudonym

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AUTHORGermain Ponce

Insider Comment

N_
N_R
7 June 2026
Smells like nepotism to me -- he's the son or (more likely, because a different surname could conceal the relationship) nephew of some higher-up. That's my bet. I worked for a firm where the nephew of a board member had achieved and inexplicably sustained a high perch in the organization that seemed a mismatch for his skill level. The relationship was a closely held secret -- only a select few close insiders knew, and one of them let it slip to me after this had been going on for years. Sometimes it's surprising what bits of otherwise noteworthy info can be kept out of the office gossip bloodstream.
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Sk
Skeptical FR
3 June 2026
As long as his management doesn't see it or doesn't think it's an issue, they won't do anything. Frequently, that behaviour is even supported by management if they want to get rid of someone but still get their ideas. Heck, the majority of the people you work for probably did that to get there, playing more politics, backstabbing, taking credit for others' work than doing any work. Personally, at some point I worked in a French bank on a team where one person's full time job was only to steal other teams' work, he was extremely appreciated by our management and good at pushing the blame when he didn't deliver. He only got let go once every person he worked with did their absolute best to avoid him and tried to get shielded by their own managers to not get their ideas and projects stolen. Our manager at the time then hired someone else to do exactly that again. So I guess that sometimes, it's a deliberate choice.
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Ma
Martines88
3 June 2026
I would just say... this behavior get noticed and sooner or later he will pay for it! Even if it sometimes takes longer than needed!
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An
Anon123654
2 June 2026
Diddums, you poor little thing. In case you hadn't noticed, investment banks are full of difficult people who will happily knife you in the back if they think it will help them and generally play difficult and take the credit for your efforts. Either get used to it, and learn to play the political game in return.... or find another industry to work in. If you don't know how to handle this, log into ChatGPT, explain the history and ask if for ideas - it often comes up with surprisingly good tactics.
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