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Platform: NinjaTrader (It's a love/hate relationship)
Trading: CL, TF, 6E
Posts: 169 since May 2010
Thanks Given: 60
Thanks Received: 314
... but the sad thing is, it's funny because there's a grain of truth in it. Maybe I should just tell people I'm a male prostitute so they stop judging me.
Great and some funny responses so far. Thks.
I say I do probability studies, and if there's a further question re in what... insurance? medical? etc. I say it's for a small private fund. I want to leave the door open for the remote possibility the other person has a genuine interest, and I first need to get a sense of where they're coming from. Otherwise, I only talk with close friends or other traders. Learned long ago not to use the word 'futures' or 'trading'. Too often brought an emotional fear or greed response.
Since my full-time job is writing software for businesses/enterprises I just say I'm a software engineer, and on the side I write programs that trade for me. Most people think that's pretty cool, especially other programmer friends. If they ask for more details and I explain more about how I trade, half of them want to write me a check to trade for them, especially if I show them cherry-picked backtested equity curve
If I wanted to be snooty I could say I'm a "statistical arbitrageur" and then if they want more details I can quote something from Taleb to impress them. That goes over well down at the country club.
ive been lucky so far, i own my own company so i just tell people that,and i add that i trade on the side but it seems like most of them think oh he's rich and has a hobby trading,but thats fine with me i never tell them i make as much if not more trading then my small company make's but this year i will sell my company and just trade so i need some new excuses to explain to people what i do,maybe ill just say im retiered, i dont know yet lol, great thread...sharky
On a side note, I recently had a prospect call me to help them convert an Excel-based process to an app that they use with their clients to properly price and hedge mortgage loans. They've had a hard time trying to find a programmer that can understand what they want. They started talking about hedging and I said, "Yeah, so if you're a lender you would hedge your loan by shorting an MBS (mortgage backed security), or some other fixed income asset, right?" and they were blown away that I even understood what shorting was, let alone hedging MBSs.
Knowledge of trading enhances other parts of my life
When people ask me what I do, I just tell them "as little as possible". That shuts up most of them...the ones that really care will probe more and then I tell them I trade oil for a small hedge fund. (that would be me). They dont need to know there is no real fund nor that I am the only client, investor, trader. If they probe even more, then I tell them the fund has a non disclosure policy. That's usually the end of it. Some get real curious after that and if I know them well, I might tell them more but I really try to keep it as quiet as possible to avoid the odd looks and negative comments.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris