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Hello from The TRADE ' s new reporter
It’ s an exciting feeling to put pen to paper for my first contribution to The TRADE’ s magazine. Although I only started at the beginning of April, I already feel I have delved into multiple different aspects of the trading industry, and I am keen to keep exploring these topics. Hence, it seems timely to offer a brief introduction to myself and reflect on my first few months in the job.
I left university in July 2024 with a desire to explore the world of journalism, which led me to taking a journalism qualification, the NCTJ, for five months beginning September last year. Since then, I have undertaken multiple industry placements across local and B2B journalism, before landing the role at The TRADE, marking my first professional job in the industry.
It been an action-packed start to my time at The TRADE, and although I hadn’ t before dabbled in financial journalism, I can now safely say I am fully invested in the world of trading. In the two months I have been here, I have covered a wide range of stories and topics, extending across asset classes, people moves, technology, data and buy- and sell-side driven articles. A particular favourite of mine has been delving into reports, especially in light of recent market volatility driven by Trump’ s‘ Liberation Day’ tariffs,
Having joined The TRADE in April, NATASHA COCKSEDGE reflects on her first few months in the industry, and what’ s to come.
the impact of which I explored in a piece looking at how the global derivatives market is thriving amid this uncertainty, using research from a Coalition Greenwich report. Excitingly, I also landed my first scoop in April and was incredibly proud to cover Stifel’ s cash equities job cuts as the firm looks to shift towards becoming an advisory-led business in Europe – hopefully more exclusives to come in the future!
Joining The TRADE also lined up with TradeTech Europe, which was in Paris this year, and for those that have been, they’ ll know how much of an informative and whirlwind experience this is. I really enjoyed my time at the conference, and it was great to meet so many people and put names to faces. Over the two days I was there, I published write ups of several panels, with a particular highlight being the session on how to drive European liquidity amid US political uncertainty, coupled with discussions around the possible extension of market hours, which is of course a hot topic in the industry at the moment. I am excited to see how these topics take shape over the next few months and years and look forward to hopefully working on many articles covering these important themes.
I would like to extend a massive thank you to everyone in the industry who has made me feel so welcome over my first few months, from industry experts to various PR and communications teams. And of course, it would be amiss to not highlight the fantastic support I have received from team TRADE – without the guidance from Annabel and Claudia, and everyone at Tungsten I’ m not sure how I would have settled in so smoothly. Onwards and upwards from here!
Natasha Cocksedge Reporter,
THE TRADE
82 // TheTRADE // Q2 2025