Jay and Julie Hawk, Author at Benzinga

Jay and Julie Hawk are a husband and wife financial writing and authorship team who co-founded TheFXperts. They each worked professionally in the financial markets and have more than 40 years of trading experience among them. Together, they write books, trade forex online for their own account and others, mentor traders, and have worked actively as professional freelance writers specializing in financial topics for over a decade. About Julie: Julie is a former vice president of major international banks who worked as a professional Interbank forex trader, currency derivative risk manager and technical analyst for 12 years followed by another 14 years spent as an online forex trader, trading mentor and freelance writer for TheFXperts, which she and her husband Jay co-founded. She is also the co-author with Jay of Forex Trading: A Beginner's Guide and Technical Analysis for Financial Markets Traders, as well as 4 other books on financial markets trading and personal finance. About Jay: Jay grew up in Chicago and Mexico City. He developed his extensive professional financial markets trading experience by working in the Chicago futures and options pits, eventually holding a seat and operating as a market maker on several options exchanges in Chicago and San Francisco. Jay now trades forex for his own account, mentors other traders and writes about financial markets as part of TheFXperts’ team of financial experts. Jay is also the co-author with Julie of Forex Trading: A Beginner's Guide and Fundamental Analysis for Financial Markets Traders, as well as 4 other books on financial markets trading, market analysis and personal finance.

Expertise

About Julie:

Julie Hawk earned her honors undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan before pursuing post-graduate scientific research at Cambridge University. She then started work in the private sector as a business systems analyst for a major investment bank, where she qualified as a Series 7 Registered Representative and received comprehensive training in various financial products. Further honing her skills, she attended the prestigious O’Connell and Piper options training course in Chicago, mastering professional option risk management techniques.

Julie then transitioned into the role of a professional Interbank forex trader, currency derivative risk manager and technical analyst, ascending to the position of vice president over a 12-year career in the financial markets. Julie’s illustrious banking career spanned working for major international banks in New York City, London, and San Francisco, where she served as an Interbank dealer, technical analyst, derivative specialist and risk manager. Her responsibilities included educating, devising customized foreign exchange hedging and risk-taking strategies, and overseeing large-scale transactions for esteemed banking clients, including corporations, fund managers and high-net-worth individuals. As part of her responsibilities, Julie managed substantial portfolios of forex options, spot, and futures positions as a currency options risk manager, earning recognition for executing innovative and highly profitable forex derivative transactions. Julie also spearheaded educational conferences on currency derivatives.

During her banking career, Julie attained world-class expertise in technical analysis, including Elliott Wave Theory, and pioneered research into automated trading and trading signal systems. An active member of the San Francisco Writers’ Guild, Julie also authored trade strategies, educational material, market commentary, newsletters, reports, articles, and press releases. She became a sought-after market expert who was frequently interviewed by financial magazines and news wires such as REUTERS.

Following her retirement from the banking sector, she dedicated 15 years to online forex trading, mentoring and freelance writing for TheFXperts, which she co-founded with her husband Jay. Julie is the co-author of “Forex Trading: A Beginner’s Guide” and “Technical Analysis for Financial Markets Traders,” in addition to five other books on financial markets trading and personal finance. She now focuses on writing articles on financial markets for platforms like Benzinga, although she continues to trade forex online and mentor fellow traders as part of TheFXperts’ financial team.

About Jay:

Jay Hawk grew up in Chicago and Mexico City where he became bilingual in English and Spanish. After taking formal training as a classical guitarist at prestigious music conservatories in Europe, Jay then embarked on a remarkable journey into the financial markets, cultivating his notable expertise through hands-on experience that began on the Midwest Stock Exchange.

His financial career progressed as he started actively participating in various exchange floor trading activities in the Chicago futures and options pits, where he worked his way up the ladder, serving as a clerk, trader, broker, investor and fund manager. Jay then ran a retail stock brokerage desk and managed funds for large institutional investors, leveraging his discretionary trading skills to yield profitable results for clients.

This ultimately led to Jay holding exchange seats and operating as a market maker on options exchanges in Chicago and San Francisco, initially on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Jay also played a significant role in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s evolution, where he contributed to launching and actively trading the first listed currency futures options. After transitioning to the West Coast, Jay then held a seat and ventured into trading stock options and their underlying stocks on the Pacific Options Exchange.

Jay’s comprehensive understanding of fundamental economic and corporate analysis continues to inform his trading and investment activities and has led to his subsequent success as an expert financial writer. Together with his wife Julie, he co-authored “Stock Trading: A Beginner’s Guide”, “Commodity Trading: A Beginner’s Guide” and “Fundamental Analysis for Financial Markets Traders,” among their published books focusing on financial markets trading, market analysis, and personal finance.

As an integral member of TheFXperts’ team, Jay now excels in trading forex online for his personal account, mentoring aspiring traders and writing for financial platforms like Benzinga where he specializes in covering topics related to the stock and commodity markets, as well as investing, trading and reviewing online brokers.

Experience

Julie’s professional financial background includes working for twelve years as an Interbank dealer, technical analyst, derivative specialist and risk manager in the trading rooms of major international banks in New York City, London and San Francisco, eventually working her way up to the vice president level. In her capacity as a banking executive, Julie was personally involved in educating, providing customized foreign exchange hedging and risk-taking strategies, meeting with other corporate executives, and handling large-scale foreign exchange transactions for high-profile banking clients including large corporations, fund managers and high net worth individuals. She also traded substantial portfolios of forex options, spot and futures positions for her bank employers as a currency options risk manager, including exotic options like binary, barrier, average rate and basket options. She even received a notable award for her creativity, teamwork and profitability in executing unusual and highly profitable forex derivative transactions. Julie also organized and presented at educational conferences on currency derivatives.

Jay began his financial career on the Midwest Stock Exchange and continued on the Chicago Board Options Exchange just a few years after the exchange was founded, eventually working his way up to holding a seat and operating as a market maker on several options exchanges in Chicago and San Francisco. Jay also ran a retail stock brokerage desk and managed funds for a number of large institutional investors that he traded profitably on a discretionary basis. Jay later took a position on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange where he helped start up and actively traded in the first listed currency futures options. He eventually moved to the West Coast to start trading on the Pacific Options Exchange, where he focused on trading stock options and their underlying stocks. As part of TheFXperts’ team of financial experts, Jay now trades forex for his own account, mentors traders and works as a freelance writer for companies like Benzinga where he specializes in covering the forex and other financial markets.

Education

Julie obtained her honors undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan and did post-graduate research at Cambridge University. After completing her scientific research degrees, Julie worked as a business systems analyst for a major investment bank where she became qualified as a Series 7 Registered Representative and was thoroughly trained in all major financial products. She also attended the well-known O’Connell and Piper options training course in Chicago where she learned professional option risk management techniques.

Jay is bilingual in Spanish and English and was formally educated as a classical guitarist at music conservatories in Europe. He later developed his extensive professional financial markets trading experience largely on-the-job by directly participating in various exchange floor trading activities in the Chicago futures and options pits as a clerk, trader, broker, investor and fund manager.

Jay and Julie Hawk

Expertise

Experience

Education

Best Oil Tanker Stocks

Best Palladium Stocks

Best Copper Stocks

Forex Analysis: What it is & Best Analysis for Trading

Top Performing Platinum Stocks

Forex vs. Futures

Best CFD Platforms for Trading

Understanding Forex Scalping

How to Start Shorting Currency

How to Buy Foxconn Stock in the U.S.