The Trader Monthly 100
The highest earning prop and independent traders in 2004

Bob Bright - More on Bob

City: Las Vegas
Firm: Bright Trading
Age: 65

A senior statesman among prop traders, Bright still lights it up. The NYSE-listed equities market has always been his sandbox (he dislikes Nasdaq market makers), though he dabbles in futures and options, mostly equity indices. Lately, he has been employing a pairs-trading strategy. "He's thrilled over the NYSE merging with ArcaEx – it's a big win for prop trading," says his brother, Don. When he's not trading, Bright scours the Strip for a baccarat table from which he hasn't been banned. He also owns Bugsy Siegel's 1933 Packard limousine.
Estimated income: $15 - $20 million

Top 30 Under Age 30 

We polled the world's trading community to come up with the best young talent currently conquering global markets.

"If I'm having a bad day, you literally have to pull me out of my seat. I don't like to give up."

The Best Young Traders in the World - Darren Clifford

Oh, to be young and a trader.

Trader Monthly hereby introduces our inaugural "30 Under 30" ranking, profiling some of the fastest-ascending traders working today in a wide range of asset classes and arenas, all 30 years old or younger. We've put our ears to the ground to find out who the trading superstars of tomorrow are. In the process, we found many young traders already making a name for themselves today.

Some young turks, boasting Ivy League pedigrees, come from a long line of securities-market mavens, while others never even finished college. But all the traders you’re about to meet have one thing in common: tremendous upside potential.

Not surprisingly, we found candidates in the ever-expanding ranks of the hedge-fund world, but that's not the only hot zone where you'll find young trading talent. From prop desks to the pits, youth is not wasted on this crop, any of whom could be a billionaire by 40 -- or, then again, they could be belly up and bust. But we, for one, are long the prospects of the group you’re about to meet.

Darren Clifford

Age: 26
Firm: PairCo
City: Kelowna, British Columbia
Trades: Equity

When a big time job at a prestigious Wall Street bank didn’t pan out, Darren Clifford, who had just received his master’s degree from Smon Fraser University, was forced to reevaluate his options.

His timing – it was the summer of 2002 – might have been inauspicious.  Tired of waiting for financial services recruiting to pick up post 9/11, Clifford turned to Bright Trading.  Training under the Las Vegas – based prop legends Don and Bob Bright, he would eventually cofound his own pairs-trading firm, PairCo, a Bright affiliate.  Clifford, along with his partner, Rob Friesen, oversees 40-plus traders.  Not being willing to wait for Wall Street to find him has certainly paid off.  He will make an estimated $350,000 from trading this year.

He as also brought his family onboard.  His father and brother both of whom had been working in the family’s moving business, are Bright traders.  “Even my mom was trading for a while.” Clifford says, though she recently gave it up.

Ever the good son, Clifford took his parents to Cancun for vacation this year.  But his mother wouldn’t necessarily approve of everything this budding entrepreneur does.  His out-of-office activities include “scuba diving, skydiving and skiing – anything with a bit of rush to it.”