At this point, I refer you to who makes real money in the stock market here, unless you happen to be renting some space here.
Monkeys think everything should be free, and when it comes to instruction on how to be a better trader, you generally don't get what you pay for. Although, I guess if you can learn to be a better gambler, you can learn to be a better trader.
If I did want some honest instruction on how to become a better trader, I'm sure I would ask for assistance from Charles at The Kirk Report. He's one of the few who wouldn't deceive a monkey; credit where credit is due. This is not a paid endorsement but since I am posting one of my favorite posts from The Kirk Report without permission it's the least I can do. Charles did refer me to the link to the "So, What Do You Do For a Living" post a few years back but that was before everything got re-directed to his new site.
Since a lot of informative posts from Charles have been swallowed up by the black hole of the internet, and anything Kirk-generated is re-directed to the new, subscription-based Kirk Report as I just mentioned, I'll post this classic below. I don't think he'll mind. (I think five hyper-links to The Kirk Report , and a few free licks of a willing dart frog is fair payment.)
So, What Do You Do For a Living?
Earlier this week a member asked me the following question:
"I have recently begun trading full time. On a recent stint in a part-time, temporary job I was asked who I was currently working for. This question came up very frequently both in the social world and the professional world. Although being a trader is a fantastic way to make a living, it does not translate so well into terms that most people would understand. I loathe to label myself “a day trader,” and yet that is the closest description of what I do that most people understand. I have also tried “self-employed” but that seems too close to “unemployed” for comfort. How do you describe what you do in a simple sentence?"
So, after sharing how I typically respond to this question, I then asked readers to submit their own suggestions. Over 500 were received (many of them both helpful and humorous).
Those of us who trade for a living often struggle with answering this question either because people assume you are just a day trading gambler and/or you don't want to be in the position of providing hot stock tips or talk about the market during your off hours. In fact, many of the suggestions I received had nothing to do with the market (i.e. tell them you are a garbage collector, plumber, house husband, drug dealer, you work for the IRS, life insurance salesman, etc.) But, the best responses I received were both truthful and interesting enough that you could avoid the inevitable "so you're a daytrader, right?" response after telling people you trade and invest in the market for your profession.
Here are quite a few of my personal favorites:
• "I buy things, and then I sell them."
• "I manage investments for a private organization."
• "I am self-employed in the field of risk management."
• "I am a silent partner in different publicly traded companies."
• "We have a family business that I'm involved with."
• "I am a market economist."
• "I am in investment manager."
• "I do market research."
• "I'm a supply/demand engineer."
• "I work for my own consulting company."
• "I am a money manager."
• "I am a portfolio manger for private investors."
• "I'm in the finance business - you know, stocks and bonds and things like that."
• "I am in investment business."
• "I buy and sell companies that are undervalued."
• "I am a probabilities analyst."
• "I work in independent capital management."
• "I manage private capital."
• "I am an independent investment analyst."
• "I am an investment manager for a private fund."
• "I work in the investment business."
• "I own my own business."
• "I'm an inventory manager."
• "I do stock market research."
• "I'm a self-employed economic analyst."
• "I run a small private financial company."
• "I manage capital."
• "I study the stock market."
• "I do computer work."
• "I own my own risk management business."
• "I am presently between careers."
• "I run a private hedge fund that is closed to individual investors."
• "I manage my real estate and brokerage accounts."
• "I am a professional investor."
• "I am an independent asset manager."
• "I work in asset management."
• "I buy and sell companies."
• "I'm a capital markets actuary."
• "I'm an equities manager."
• "I'm a retired investor living on a pension."
• "I'm a freelance investor."
• "I develop stock market trading systems."
• "I am an investor."
• "I'm a personal portfolio manager."
• "I am a personal financial specialist."
• "I surf the waves of hope and denial."
• "I'm a retirement enhancement engineer."
• "I collect money for a living."
• "I run my own investment company."
• "I'm a money making machine."
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Did I mention The Kirk Report?
