Currency Analyst Chris Vecchio ’11 Keeps Watchful Eye on International Markets

By Kate Helm

Chris Vecchio ’11

Rising well before the sun, Chris Vecchio ’11 starts his workday at 3 a.m.

A currency analyst for DailyFX in New York City, the research arm of Forex Capital Markets LLC, the world’s largest foreign exchange broker, he monitors the European markets from the first bell. Adjusting to this unusual schedule is a challenge that he relishes.

He credits his Lafayette professors with helping him understand “what’s what.” His class with Rose Marie Bukics, Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Professor of Economics, taught him difficulty sometimes is the best teacher.

“Professor Bukics was one of the hardest professors I had,” he says. “Her attitude that the only laurel you can rest on is hard work has stuck with me. The class I took with her wasn’t one of my stronger performances but, through the struggles, I learned how to handle myself in tough situations and how to overcome.”

After an internship with DailyFX segued into a part-time position as a junior currency analyst, Vecchio spent his final semester at Lafayette commuting to New York City to work. He made an easy transition, thanks to the mentorship of Joseph Blake, adjunct professor of economics.

“It’s important to step away from the textbook and apply those theories and see how they actually transpire outside the classroom,” says Vecchio. “Professor Blake helped me understand the practical application of the equations and financial theories.”

Vecchio, a government & law and economics & business graduate, believes currency is the most “internationalized” asset class in global financial markets. Understanding the interrelationship between economics and politics, especially when many of the world’s problems are rooted in the political issues of Europe and the United States, has been a huge advantage.

As a research analyst, Vecchio writes reports that analyze data and recommend trades and authors a daily blog on market trends for DailyFX website. Lafayette’s writing intensive curriculum was crucial in his development as a writer who can communicate in a timely, succinct manner to keep pace with the ever-changing global markets.

Vecchio says his experience as a member and vice president of his fraternity, Kappa Delta Rho, taught him how to work with other people and find compromises to unique problems.

“Without my fraternity, I would not have matured and grown into the person I am today,” he says.