Do I need to follow markets for investment banking interviews?

Less than for S&T, but yes. IB interviewers ask about a recent deal or what is happening in the market often enough that you should be able to give a short, specific answer.

Which sources should I read?

One financial newspaper and one daily market wrap are enough. Pick sources you can get through in a few minutes, and stick with them so you notice what changed.

Should I memorize exact numbers?

Know the rough levels: where the S&P is, where the 10-year yield is, where the Fed has its rate. Exact decimals do not matter. Getting the direction and the reason right does.

How long before an interview should I start?

At least a month, ideally two. You want weeks of notes behind you so your view has a history, not just a headline from that morning.

Is a paper trading account worth it?

It can help if you write down why you took each trade and what would make you exit. Without that, it is a game, not practice.

How to follow markets for finance interviews: a 20-minute routine

Spend 20 minutes a day on a fixed routine: check the same handful of numbers (stocks, Treasury yields, the dollar, oil, volatility), read the two or three stories that moved them, and write one sentence on why. After a month you can answer what is going on in the markets in your own words, which is what sales and trading and hedge fund interviews test.

Updated November 6, 2026. Live data checked against each firm's own careers site 1m ago.

What do interviewers mean by following the markets?

They want to know that you have a view, that it is based on what actually happened, and that you can connect one market to another. A good answer to what is going on in the markets names a move, gives the cause, and links it to something else: yields rose after a strong jobs report, which pushed up the dollar and weighed on growth stocks.

They do not want a recited headline. Reading the news is not the skill. Explaining why a price moved, in a sentence or two, is.

What is the 20-minute routine?

Do it at the same time every day, ideally in the morning before class. Consistency beats depth: twenty minutes daily for two months teaches you far more than a cram the night before a superday.

Minutes 0 to 5, the numbers: write down the level and daily change of the S&P 500, the 10-year Treasury yield, the 2-year Treasury yield, the dollar index, oil, gold, and the VIX.
Minutes 5 to 12, the why: find the two or three stories behind the biggest moves in a financial newspaper or a market wrap. Look for data releases, central bank comments, and earnings.
Minutes 12 to 17, the link: write one sentence connecting two of the moves, such as why yields and the dollar moved together today.
Minutes 17 to 20, the calendar: note what is coming this week, such as an inflation report, a Fed meeting, or a big earnings release, so tomorrow's move makes sense.

What does a good market answer sound like?

Use one shape every time: the move, the cause, the link, your view. Here is an example of the shape with no real numbers in it. Two-year yields rose sharply this week after inflation came in above expectations, because traders now expect the Fed to cut later than they thought. The dollar strengthened with them. I think the market is overreacting to one month of data, so if I had to trade it, I would look at receiving two-year rates with a tight stop.

That answer takes about thirty seconds. It shows that you know what moved, why, how it connects, and what you would do. Practicing that shape every day is what the routine is for.

The move: what changed and roughly by how much.
The cause: the data, the speech, or the earnings that drove it.
The link: what else moved because of it.
Your view: what you think happens next, and what would prove you wrong.

What should you do once a week?

On the weekend, write a one-page note on the week. What moved most, why, and what you are watching next week. Keep the notes in one document. Before an interview, read the last month of them, and you will have a ready answer for what has been happening, plus a trade idea you have been thinking about for weeks rather than minutes.

Once a month, pick one market and go deeper: how bond prices and yields relate, what drives a currency, or how oil supply decisions work. Interviewers often follow a good answer with a harder why, and these deeper dives are where that answer comes from.

Which market questions should you be able to answer?

The questions below are drawn from the S&T bank and tagged to markets. Try them out loud after two weeks of the routine. If one stumps you, add that market to your next monthly deep dive.

1.What moved markets this morning?
2.Pitch me a volatility trade.
3.What happens on a typical risk off day, and which assets tend to go up?
4.Pitch me an options trade that costs nothing upfront, and say what you give up.
5.How do higher oil prices affect an oil importer's currency and an exporter's currency?
6.What is your view of the markets right now?

Drill these with answers

Questions students ask

Do I need to follow markets for investment banking interviews?: Less than for S&T, but yes. IB interviewers ask about a recent deal or what is happening in the market often enough that you should be able to give a short, specific answer.
Which sources should I read?: One financial newspaper and one daily market wrap are enough. Pick sources you can get through in a few minutes, and stick with them so you notice what changed.
Should I memorize exact numbers?: Know the rough levels: where the S&P is, where the 10-year yield is, where the Fed has its rate. Exact decimals do not matter. Getting the direction and the reason right does.
How long before an interview should I start?: At least a month, ideally two. You want weeks of notes behind you so your view has a history, not just a headline from that morning.
Is a paper trading account worth it?: It can help if you write down why you took each trade and what would make you exit. Without that, it is a game, not practice.