Do you tell people you're a trader?

When you explain what you do, be sure to add that you provide no benefit to anyone but yourself--that you just try to use your money to create more money.
 
Quote from dvshucks:

When you explain what you do, be sure to add that you provide no benefit to anyone but yourself...
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For a moment, I thought you were describing lawyers and politicians -- as I suspect that the majority of them really are.
 
Quote from Thunderdog:

Just curious. Why would a private trader need a business card? Wouldn't the use of a business card suggest something other than private?
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Hi Thunderdog,

Not sure what else it could suggest other than private with the words Private Trader on it.

My tax accountant got one when I first met him, my real estate agent got one when I first met her, the private ski instructor for my toddler got one when I first met her et cetera...

Just useful to hand out when people ask for your phone number and/or email address instead of carrying around a pen and paper.

Also, the other person can write on the back of my card. I tend to not misplace my cards in comparison to misplace piece of paper with something scrible on it.

NihabaAshi
 
i got tired of trying to explain, so nowadays i just say i do financial stuff. when they ask further i say: something with stocks. that's usually sufficient :D
 
Quote from vanilla2:

a lot of people i've told are sort of like "woooaahh".... i think forging out on your own at such a heavy risk garners an unusual respect. especially if the people you're talking to know you to be pretty intelligent and deliberate in your pursuits.

i have some friends who are fascinated by how abstract it is too. if you trade financial futures, you're using minimal physical capital to harvest a living from an idea. do the stock indices actually exist? they're abstractions. index futures are twice abstracted. the few i've told think it's really neat.
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And try options on index futures ... Yes the abstraction is alluring to many with an alchemical bent, making something from nothing.
 
Quote from gerry875:

i like these answers best:

dlincke
Senior Member

Registered: Oct 1999
Posts: 238

08-10-01 02:07 AM

I sometimes answer that question by telling people that I'm a "critical liquidity provider". It's always funny to see people get really confused while pretending to know what that is.

*******************************
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See my sig!
 
Quote from raszorz:

I'm just curious... what kind of reactions do you receive when you tell someone you're a trader and you do that to make a living...

It seems to me that many people mis-associate trading with the boilerroom, gambling, or just doing something illegal...
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I'd tell them I'm a money manager, as of this time I have enough under management. However if I were to take in new money at a future date, they'd be the first to know.
 
In the past, I generally did tell people I was a trader. I do not volunteer it any longer, mostly because I got tired of explaining it to people who either had no clue, or thought they did but didn't.

The most "interesting" response I ever got was from my mother-in-law the first time my wife told her I was quitting my full time job to trade full time. She responded something to the effect of, "Are you sure you want to do that? There are a LOT of suicides in that industry."

It was then that I decided I would never volunteer being a trader to those I knew had no experience with trading themselves. Instead, I went back to being a "Freelance Designer."

I took a break from trading for a while several months later. She knew I had "quit" trading, but when I started trading again, I told my wife that I didn't want her to say a word to any family members. It's just easier that way since none of our family has experience trading and they were generally very negative about it, and I decided I didn't need their negativity jacking with me psychologically. Regardless of how much I tried not to let it affect me, I know it did at times.
 
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