[Soultrader]

Ive been spending the past 2 months going to various trading firms for interviews on a prop trading position. What I have learned is that pure discretionary traders are a rare breed. Most institutional trading is automated using statistical strategies, arbitrage, hedging, etc... (im still unfamiliar with all the different styles they have)

It seems as if technical trading frightens management because they have no clue what traders are actually doing. Hence, they prefer to train traders who come from a more mathematical background.

My question is this. Should discretionary traders be worried about the future of trading? Can discretionary retail traders compete with insitutions that pump millions designing automated systems, high tech platforms, top notch data feeds, etc... ?

It seems like traders can now profit through advanced systems without actually knowing how to trade. (without knowing technicals, trader psychology, etc..) Do we even need traders? In the near future, are we likely to see more systems and less traders?