Audio Length: 01:17:44

I first interviewed Mike Agne at CWTNYC, in May 2017. The 100-listeners (give or take) who attended, will already be very familiar with Mike and there may be a few moments of déjà vu throughout this episode. But for everyone else…

Mike came into trading around 20-years ago, beginning at Chicago prop firm, TransMarket Group, where he ultimately spent 12-years of his career. Over the course of his time there, Mike became one of their largest 30-year Treasury basis traders, both in terms of volume and performance.

Now days, Mike is trading a relative value strategy through his own book, and building out a track record with the aim to launch a hedge fund in the coming years…

Topics of discussion:

• Mike’s progression from phone clerk to a proprietary trader, lessons learned from mentors and growing a capital base, and the influence of Ray Cahnman.
• What you gain from having skin in the game, how Mike increased his tolerance for greater risk and his rule of thumb for avoiding the loss of too much money.
• A primer on trading Treasury bonds; major participants, barriers to entry, economic influences, characteristics of different maturity terms and more.
• From a high level, Mike explains his relative value strategy and the various relationships he tracks. And lastly, why you must take care of the short-term!