Why are you proud to be a trader?

Quote from fad2171:

Are part of the public. Please do you really think Grandma buying IBM is getting the best price available these days . Any trader will tell you she is not ,and it is mot an even playing field. Politicians know this and do nothing about it because the are being backed by groups that want to keep the playing field uneven
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Is Casino a fair playing ground ? As far as I know, it is legal to visit them in Las Vegas (provided casino continue to pay tax to our gov)
 
Quote from fad2171:

Are part of the public. Please do you really think Grandma buying IBM is getting the best price available these days . Any trader will tell you she is not ,and it is mot an even playing field. Politicians know this and do nothing about it because the are being backed by groups that want to keep the playing field uneven
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Another specious argument passed around like a drunk teen at a pool party.

How can grandma be ripped off on the buy and the sell at the same time?

I'm surrounded by anii
 
Quote from TSXtrad3r:

I've never had a JOB that I actually woke up in the morning and looked forward to going. Since I became a trader, I can't wait to get up in the morning, I love the excitement of every new day, I love the competition, I love solving the puzzle. It can be very rewarding personally and there is no better job in the world for me, trading is my life.
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That's totally true for the internet bubble circa 2000 and the GFC ('08-'09). Most other years it's work.
 
Quote from icetrader:

I'm interested to know what your reasons are for being a trader. What do you love about it? Is it the money, the risk-taking, the self-cultivation? What images or analogies does trading conjure up? Why are you proud to be a trader?
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I wouldn't use the word proud. Practical would be a better word for me.

Though I owned my own practice, trading from home is a lot easier in most respects. Both paid/pay the bills but now,

easier commute

no rent

no employees

can work in my underwear (yeh, I know, bad visual :) )

can take a day (or more) off anytime I want w/o guilt

can replace my entire work wardrobe (gym shorts) in one annual trip to K Mart

the challenge

the reward

and even the exhilaration of beating the system


While at times there's stress in trading, you're in control of it. Had enough? Go for a swim, whatever. Not so easy to do that when you're booked 9-5 with app'ts x 6 days.
 
Thanks for the good replied everyone. Keep them coming. And thanks ogarbitrage for that great Ayn Rand quote.

I'm not really comprehending how some of you guys don't feel that trading benefits society. No traders = no liquidity = no publicly traded companies = no economic expansion. We are the oil that greases the wheel of the economy and keeps it going. We are the guys that no one acknowledges and who they call gamblers, and yet we provide value beyond measure.
 
Quote from icetrader:

T
I'm not really comprehending how some of you guys don't feel that trading benefits society. No traders = no liquidity = no publicly traded companies = no economic expansion. We are the oil that greases the wheel of the economy and keeps it going. We are the guys that no one acknowledges and who they call gamblers, and yet we provide value beyond measure.
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You sound clueless and delusional. Profit has nothing to do with meaningfulness and value to society, often quite the opposite.

Read up on why stockmarkets were created.
Hint: It was not to provide short-term gains to speculators.
 
You are missing something:

Jobs today are quite often just a way to, "spread it around" as Obama says.

The middle class jobs are increasingly an artificially creation by the state, and this includes the upper end like "healthcare", lawyers, etc.

Our job it to provide for ourselves and families, end of story. The notion the average person must "provide value to society" is a socialist hoax and in fact was technically impossible for most of history.
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I think you are the one missing something.

Ultimately economics is about people making and doing things for others. It isn't a platitude- if we as a nation don't produce something of value to others then we will collapse. Traders produce nothing of economic value.

On a personal level I understand. For some reason I must be different because although I like the idea of making money (or shall I say taking money?) for myself, sometimes I miss the feeling of accomplishment I had in my previous career. There simpy is no external meaning beyond your family for the activity of taking money from other traders.
 
http://www.tradingpitblog.com/2010/11/conversation-with-local.html


Quote from Crispy:

What isnt there to be proud of?

I eat what I kill.

I expect no mercy for my mistakes.

I ask for no handouts.

We are the modern day hunter gatherers who starve if we dont produce.

I take nothing out of society.

My bid/offer eases the pain on the other side.

My income tax payments cover over multiple times the public services I utilize.

And my expendable income helps to keep many people employed.

keep going?
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that was funny

But the guy you quoted has serious delusions:

I take nothing out of society.

My bid/offer eases the pain on the other side.

My income tax payments cover over multiple times the public services I utilize.

And my expendable income helps to keep many people employed.
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It is as if the 90% of traders you take money from and cause hardship to don't exist...

ask yourself this: If you made 100K for clicking a mouse, and then you bought a house, didn't someone have to pay with their hard work?
 
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