Derivatives Foundation interview preparation

The full derivatives syllabus from no-arbitrage pricing through the Greeks, the volatility surface, swaps, CDS and clearing, plus the Indian index-options market. Every question is either traced to a named firm from a public candidate report, or tagged at desk level when we could not trace it - we do not invent attributions.

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Question bank

100 questions, mapped to the firms that asked them

Questions
100
Traced to a firm
29
Firms
19
Updated
September 2026
Asked at
All firmsMorgan Stanley4Nomura4Akuna Capital2Amundi2HSBC2PIMCO2Bank of America1Barclays1Citadel1DRW1Goldman Sachs1Jane Street1Millennium Management1Mizuho1Old Mission Capital1RBC Capital Markets1Scotiabank1UBS1Wells Fargo Securities1
Topic
All topicsForwards and futures10Options basics8Option pricing7The Greeks10Volatility7Option strategies9Swaps and rates7Credit derivatives4Market structure and clearing6Indian derivatives8Trading and markets9Brainteasers6Fit9
Level
AnyCoreIntermediateHard
Type
AnyTechnicalCaseMarket viewBrainteaserFit
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  1. 077How do you view the market today?Trading and marketsIntermediatetechnicalMizuhoSales and Trading · New York · 2026

    Say this

    Give a structure, not a survey. I would frame it as: here is what the market is currently pricing, here is where I think that pricing is wrong, and here is the trade. Three levels quoted from memory, one view, one thing that would change my mind.

    Then walk it

    1. Open with the pricing, because that is how a trader talks. Where the policy rate is and how many cuts or hikes the curve has in it over the next year. Where ten-year yields are. Where index implied volatility is against realised. Those three numbers tell the interviewer you look at screens.
    2. Then the regime read in one sentence. Something like: the market is pricing a soft landing with the equity risk premium near its lows and volatility subdued, which means the price of being wrong on growth is unusually high.
    3. Then your actual view, stated as a disagreement. Not 'I am cautious' — rather, 'I think the curve has too many cuts priced for the inflation prints we are getting, so I would be paid at the front end.'
    4. Then the derivatives expression, because this is a derivatives seat. If the view is that realised volatility will exceed the low implied, own gamma. If the view is directional with a date attached, use a spread rather than an outright.
    5. Then the falsifier. One data point or level that would make you abandon the view. This is the part that makes you sound like someone who has run risk rather than read commentary.
    6. And know your own numbers. If you quote a level you must be able to say where it was three months ago and what moved it. A wrong number said confidently is worse than saying 'roughly 4 and a quarter, I have not checked this morning'.

    Where candidates lose it

    Summarising the news. Everyone can say inflation is coming down and the Fed is data-dependent. The answer that gets a callback quotes three levels, names one disagreement with the market's pricing, expresses it as a trade, and says what would falsify it. And never invent a number you cannot defend.

    Expect next

    • So what trade would you put on?
    • Where were those levels three months ago?
    • What would make you change your mind?

    Reported by candidates at Mizuho (Sales and Trading, New York, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

Firm tags come from public, anonymous candidate reports on Wall Street Oasis: strong signal, not sworn testimony. Firms are named as the places a question was reported, not as partners of Fin Maverick. Answers are written for this page to show how to think out loud; they are not scripts to recite.