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Well I am glad I wasn't the only one who was experiencing negative reactions towards trading.
Basically when someone asks what I do for a living, I tell them "I ride bulls for a living".
In my opinion the people who think trading is gambling, not a real job, risky, pipe's dream, etc, etc are usually people who either tried trading and failed miserably or people who lost a good chunk of their retirement from the stock crash.
So think about it this way. Suppose you tried trading once in your life because you wanted to "get rich quick", but you failed miserably and lost your entire childrens college fund and your wife left you. What would be your first reaction if you met someone who actually succeeded in this field; you'd be pissed off and jealous.
Pretty much all the negative reactions that I got in the past was from people who fell into those 2 categories. You might think that meeting someone who actually trades/traded is rare but with the technology era and all those ads by brokers and media, chances are you will meet many people who trades/traded. Even many housewives got into the trading business because they got hooked on shows like "Mad Money" by Jim Cramer.
What you got to understand is that, people who know you or who are close to you, even though it seems like they really care about you, they would much rather see you fail that succeed. Besides your spouse or parents, everybody else in your life would much rather see you fail at trading then succeed because they don't want you to have more money than them.
Most people don't really care how much money you make, as long as its less than what they make.
Those are the facts of life.
If the above makes no sense what so ever is probably because I should of been sleeping instead of trading.
from what i have observed over the years, the general attitude towards this business is not as bad in Europe as it is in the us (personal view of course).
since i am not profitable yet, i just tell them i am educating myself via self study. if they ask further what exactly i am studying, i just tell them the truth. if somebody does respond negatively, well its their loss anyway. i don't have to be friends with everyone.
but i rarely get this kind of response, most are very supportive and think i am a great guy for pursuing something so "unconventional".
I think I might go with "Private Hedge Fund Manager" when I get to where I want to be. If someone continues to ask what fund I manage, I'll either go with the NDA as mentioned above and say I can't go into it any further.....
Or, if asked, what fund I manage, I might just say, "My own."
Late 2009 I started my hedge fund. After that the answer to the profession question, turned from "trader" to "I own and manage a hedge fund..." That answer (for some reason) gets a more positive response.
Good news is you can start your own hedge fund too, bad news is it costs (relatively) huge sums to setup and maintain.
For a taste;
15 to 20k for startup costs (you refund this from the fund later if you can raise capital for it)
2-3 k/mo admin fees
5-15 k/yr audit costs
apx 5 k/yr license fees
(all USD)
Just say you're a chart analyst for the brokerage you use. In essence you are working for your broker because you pay them commissions, and in order to continue to work for them you can't blow your account. You find probable times to provide liquidity to other investors and remain profitable yourself. You help stabilize over bought and over sold areas so other investors have the ability to choose a more stable price. The word 'daytrader' is a bit too ambiguous and doesn't really get to the point of what we do. Financial technical analyst or something like that is more respectable and avoids the whole uncertainty aspect. You don't even have to say you use your own money because you probably trade Eminis which use leverage on behalf of the brokerage. It's all about perspective.
This doesn't bother me one little bit but it makes me understand the near universal disapproval of day trading from those who don't do it. What does a day trader produce or contribute to the world? A guy giving a day trading course I was doing explained to some Greenie who'd wandered in by accident that we keep the S&P e-mini going as an insurance vehicle for big companies. Absolutely we do. We all rubbed our chins and nodded and thought that what we really do is more like mosquitoes trying to draw a little blood from the elephant. Now, I'm deeply proud of being a mosquito particularly when I think I've made the elephant stagger a little but I can't pretend that I'm teaching the children or writing a novel. I asked my wife who is always much smarter than me and she said, without blinking, make lots of money and you can help the people who deserve it. So smart and so right.
Individuals in history that made a huge positive difference
are just a tiny percentage of a given population.
Just about anyone taken from a random sample
contributes virtually nothing to a given country's economy. One more or one less: electrician, restaurant worker,
cashier, plumber, pediatrician etc. etc. doesn't really matter from that standpoint.
Also, you can give money to others, which is fine. I wouldn't feel guilty about having it however.
It would be great if
everyone would be thankful to God for the money and stuff they have. (I understand, of course, that not everyone
knows God, so if they don't, it's impossible to appreciate the good things He gives.)
Excerpt from I'd Love to Change the World:
Tax the rich, feed the poor
Till there are no rich no more
I'd love to change the world
But I don't know what to do
So I'll leave it up to you