Better to Keep Quiet

Quote from JMowery1987:

Try being 19... and all your friends saying "James.... you still don't have a job yet... what is wrong with you????" & "You need to go get a job, when i was 16, I had a job, what makes you so special?"

I don't like discussing what I do. My parents don't even know what I do.

My sister and her husband know, but everyone else doesn't have a clue. I only told them because my sister's husband owns a business of his own and figured he would understand.

I tried explaining it to a friend, back when I was in school. He seemed pissed because he acted like I was making money easily, and he had to go to college and work hard to make a living.

A lot of people around here don't believe in owning a business, and all that, I guess that is common in a lot of places. Some people just dispise trading, and don't have a slight idea of what it is.

I'd lose my mind if I could yap on ET all day long, because there certainly isn't anyone around here I can discuss trading. I also fear if I tell everyone around here that I am a trader, I'll have random people starting to ask me to teach them how to do it. I am not a good teacher, I don't claim to be.

It's just completely confusing, especially when it comes to friends and family.

It's tough.
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if i had people hassling me like that, to "get a job", i'd say i have a job. then when they say what, i'd say i have an e-business. if they pressed it, i guess i'd have to say selling stuff on ebay, or something like that. that's if i were you, your age and situation.

but in my situation, i would simply say stock trader and let that be the end of it. i'm sure people would think then that i was a broker. most people are very ignorant of the market and how to make money short term in it.


i also like the ideas others have said of saying "futures trader" or "finance", etc.
 
Quote from Kastro_316:

It's quite simple really. All you have to do when people ask what you do is come up with a complex explanation of what you do.

CEO of my own trading account.

I create complex models for markets.

Market analyst

quantitative/statistical market specialist

Or you can tell them you are a trader only when you are both driving in your 100k car :)

I think when you get defensive, it is a sign you are not confident in your career. Just say "I am a trader" and keep a sly smile on your face, never lose your cool.

-Kastro
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bravo! i totally agree. all of the above are good ideas, and the last paragraph is simply brilliant.
 
Quote from MrsSavant:

Kastro,

Electric is like an old cathedral.

He has his first computer he ever had and he keeps fixing his old car.

How else can I explain him....

I am working my scalping shift with him and will get my Hummer myself!

If you come here 10 years from now, he will still be posting here in ET, as if he knows nothing. In the hopes he can gather yet, some more information to get lost in.

Wifey

P.S. Last week a guy pulled his Mercedes Benz..up in front of the Gym and everybody was crowded around it...it was one of those special models...so what does Electric do? the next day he made a satire out of it and he pulled his wood grain up and opened all the doors including the hatch, and told the gym owner to come out and he proceeded to explain all the features of the van. It was so embarrassing he had the headlights on and everything in the middle of the day...Only I knew what the idiot was doing and I do not think he should make light of people that way, but I still love him.
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Hahahahha, that made me laugh! That's great, sounds like a fun guy to be around!

That made my day :)
-Kastro
 
Quote from Algorithm:



The fact is that in my experience, most people that ask this question in social situations are doing so in order not to "make conversation", but to better judge and pigeon hole you.
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agreed, but (and this is not aimed at you in particular, so please don't get mad:) ) in general, i find it's better to find a way of coping well with frustrating things as opposed to "raging against the machine". you know, like if sexism exists ( which it does), you could become a raging witch about it, or you could find a way of getting around it that leaves you better off.

on the last note, i have a real-life example. there's a woman, let's say she's a lawyer (she's not, but is a similar professional). she needs to get capital backing for a project she's working on. so she has this big meeting set up and the guys she's meeting with are known to be sexist and discriminatory in their lending/granting privileges. well, she could piss and moan and whine about how unfair it is. does she do this? no. instead, she dresses up in her most striking outfit, projects an image of confidence and power, and gets all she wants and then some. coincidence? i think not. granted, this doesn't work every time or for every person, but it's an example of a creative way of solving the problem as opposed to getting angry about the problem existing. the latter usually doesn't help.
 
Quote from FaderTrader:

So, when hanging out with some aquaintences this evening, the convo inevitably turns to what everyone does for a living.

I told them that I trade and then it began. Everyone who is not a participant in the markets not only seems to have a strong opinion about things (based on no information), but also no clue about the structure and movement of the market.

It always ends badly because it's hard to explain how stocks move in the short term and how leverage works in daytrading, etc.

From now on, I'm just going to respond with, "I work in finance." They'll likely assume I'm toady in a cubicle and I'll be off the hook at that point.

Anyone have similar experiences?
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Yeah I know what you mean.

On Easter Sunday my Uncle who is an Engineer as well as some other family members were really trying to hammer it to me.

"You don't create anything", " all you do is push money around"
" no offence but how does that benifit society". Yada yada yada.

I told them all they can F---off. A year ago after I graduated college no wanted to hire me. I couldn't even get a job flipping burgers because I was over qualified.

Now I am banging 1K a day trading futures all from the confines off my home.

Corporate America can kiss my Ass. " Create" , why, so that I can get laid off at age 50, or get my job outsoursed to India. For what 50 freaken K a year. Maybee 75 or 80k if I get a masters.

I was making 100k a year as a freaking bartender, meeting women and indulging in lifes other pleasures.

Not too long back I even burned my colledge diploma. Yes the original. Now that is what I think of todays job market.
 
Quote from ElectricSavant:

I have no faith in mankind.


no offence but how does that benifit society". Yada yada yada
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Me neither, we will all destroy ourselfes eventually. I just hope I am short the market and livining in some small tropical country with a stable government that no one is going to bother Nuking.

Costa Rica is still 1st on my list
 
:)


Quote from millydog:

Me neither, we will all destroy ourselfes eventually. I just hope I am short the market and livining in some small tropical country with a stable government that no one is going to bother Nuking.

Costa Rica is still 1st on my list
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