So I'm going to tell you all a little story that involves yours truly.
While I am a CIS major (Computer Informations Major); it is actually a business major. Couple that with almost 20 years of home study of the markets, and you get a nerd version of a stock broker.
So my ex-girlfriend was a stock broker. (Probably still is! don't know and don't care). She was actually a biology major, but switched professions. Well, when their company had a Christmas party, I went. Of course, you were in a room of 200 people, and 100+ of them were stock brokers, do you want to guess what the main topic of discussion was everywhere in the room? Yeah, it was pretty obvious.
As someone who had worked with commodities options at the math level for quite a while, I didn't feel uneasy talking to most of them. So a few of the brokers introduced themselves to me, and as soon as I said that I was a "Computer Security Consultant" (which I was at the time) they all rolled their eyes and kept on talking about the market. Well, I joined in with my "opinions". They stared at me, you know that funny stare like you have a big round green snot hanging out your nose that is so big, that people are scared to tell you. I went on and on, about how, the current market was ripe for a Pregnant Butterfly, and I wish I had the cash to execute quite a few lot-sets. They nodded, and smiled and walked away. Half an hour later, my ex comes running up to me, face red and flushed. The group she was standing with was all laughing.
"What did you say to them??" She asked, shaking me.
"Oh, we were talking about options, and stuff.. you know, the usual."
She was mad, she spoke at me through her grinding teeth, "You are SO embarrassing you know! They said you were speaking some non-sense about everything, you are the butt of all the jokes tonight, did you know that??"
Well, that was a strange surprise to me. I looked over at the group, and sure enough, the entire group was staring at me, one of them (The ring leader I guess) pointed at me, and everybody started to laugh.. "Let's get out of here.. I don't even know how I'm going to face them tomorrow morning." She said, as she started dragging me out the front door.
Then something strange happened. A fat old man, with a big hat, wow, he had to be about 200lbs and 65 years old; came charging at me like Godzilla, and stood between me and the front door. Out of breath, he panted a little, tried to speak, no sound came out, and then the tried again.
"Hey there son, what firm are you with?"
"I'm not with any firm, I'm a Computer Consultant."
"Bullshit, listen boy, I'm at least twice as old as you and I can spot bullshit a mile away. Now go ahead and tell me what firm you are with."
"I'm not with any firm!!"
He then turned to my ex, and said "Now this is serious, what firm is your boyfriend with?"
So like a school yard fight, we now had a large crowd surrounding us, I guess a 65 year old man running across the room with a Texas 10 gallon had attracts attention.
I interrupted and stuck out my hand and ask, "I'm sorry, who are you again? I didn't quite catch the name."
By this time, my ex was about to cry..
"My son tells me you were talking about inverse floaters, and pregnant butterflies and the like?"
I gave him the raised eyebrow..
http://members.iinet.net.au/%7Ekimbo..._logo_anim.gif
And replied cautiously, and said.. "Yes...?"
It turns out, he was the head broker of that branch. The asshole that was laughing at me that started it all, was his son. He wanted to know, where I learned most of it, because he just went to a conference for brokers who make over $1M a year, and in that very seminar, they talk some of this stuff. Ah..! He THOUGHT I was a broker who made over $1M and went to one of those courses!
"I'm a computer consultant, I've never had formal training about the market, 100% of everything was self-taught. I learned it by reading every investment book in Barnes and Nobels. I don't really care if you believe me, but that's the truth."
He then turned to his son, and said "This guy knows more about the market than you, and it's not even his profession! You should be ashamed of yourself, not only do you not know stuff about your industry, you make a mockery of a man who does. I want you to apologize to him right now."
You can tell, the asshole basically would have rather died than to apologize. "I'm .."
"No need to apologize, and no need to make him apologize, you know how the YOUNG ONES ARE these days.." I said. "Thanks for the party, hope to see you around sometime." I walked out.
http://www.elvis-presley-superstar.d...oldOut1976.jpg
ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!!
So this is one of my favorite stories, because I had always studied on my own, and I had always felt "slightly inferior" and often ASSUMED that they are "professionals" they MUST know more than me, it's their job!! And guess what? They DON'T.
See, 95% of the world, are mediocre at best. If you work hard at reading and learning, you will know more than the so called professionals ever will. They are cocky, and look at you like "I'm the professional, you are the serf." But the truth of the matter is:
1) They probably only know a little more than you; but it's highly doubtful they will know more than you, if you've read an hour a day for 3 months. That's 100 hours, that's 2.5 college courses.
2) Nobody cares more about your money than you do. See, they don't care enough to know more than you. They make money regardless if you make money or lose money. So the only person you should be entrusting your money to, is YOURSELF.
Never let their cheap suits and fast talking fool you. Like an eclipse of the sun, if you've read an hour a day, for 3-6 months, it is highly unlikely a so called "professional" will know more than you. The industry leaders are readers. I never buy into the the "professional" ploy.
Harsh words?
Well, let me tell you more..
I don't trust doctors for the same reason; the person that should be the most concerned about your health is YOU. That's because you are the person that is most directly effected by the qualify of your health. To ask a doctor to care about your health when you don't, is ridiculous. No doctor can care about your health more than you do; just like no broker can care more about your money than you do.
So just remember, a professional is merely someone who has a semi-glossed business card. THAT'S IT. His title in no way represents anything. Never look at yourself as the serf; and place the "professionals" on a pedastal; because you are only lying to yourself.
If you want something done right; then hire a professional. That means YOURSELF. You should care enough about your money to place it under one person's control only, YOURS. you should care enough about your money to read at least an hour everyday.
Remember, knowledge doubles now, ever year. So if you double your knowledge every year, you are only keeping up with the rest of the world. If you aren't reading at all, then you will be like the dinosaurs.
While I am a CIS major (Computer Informations Major); it is actually a business major. Couple that with almost 20 years of home study of the markets, and you get a nerd version of a stock broker.
So my ex-girlfriend was a stock broker. (Probably still is! don't know and don't care). She was actually a biology major, but switched professions. Well, when their company had a Christmas party, I went. Of course, you were in a room of 200 people, and 100+ of them were stock brokers, do you want to guess what the main topic of discussion was everywhere in the room? Yeah, it was pretty obvious.
As someone who had worked with commodities options at the math level for quite a while, I didn't feel uneasy talking to most of them. So a few of the brokers introduced themselves to me, and as soon as I said that I was a "Computer Security Consultant" (which I was at the time) they all rolled their eyes and kept on talking about the market. Well, I joined in with my "opinions". They stared at me, you know that funny stare like you have a big round green snot hanging out your nose that is so big, that people are scared to tell you. I went on and on, about how, the current market was ripe for a Pregnant Butterfly, and I wish I had the cash to execute quite a few lot-sets. They nodded, and smiled and walked away. Half an hour later, my ex comes running up to me, face red and flushed. The group she was standing with was all laughing.
"What did you say to them??" She asked, shaking me.
"Oh, we were talking about options, and stuff.. you know, the usual."
She was mad, she spoke at me through her grinding teeth, "You are SO embarrassing you know! They said you were speaking some non-sense about everything, you are the butt of all the jokes tonight, did you know that??"
Well, that was a strange surprise to me. I looked over at the group, and sure enough, the entire group was staring at me, one of them (The ring leader I guess) pointed at me, and everybody started to laugh.. "Let's get out of here.. I don't even know how I'm going to face them tomorrow morning." She said, as she started dragging me out the front door.
Then something strange happened. A fat old man, with a big hat, wow, he had to be about 200lbs and 65 years old; came charging at me like Godzilla, and stood between me and the front door. Out of breath, he panted a little, tried to speak, no sound came out, and then the tried again.
"Hey there son, what firm are you with?"
"I'm not with any firm, I'm a Computer Consultant."
"Bullshit, listen boy, I'm at least twice as old as you and I can spot bullshit a mile away. Now go ahead and tell me what firm you are with."
"I'm not with any firm!!"
He then turned to my ex, and said "Now this is serious, what firm is your boyfriend with?"
So like a school yard fight, we now had a large crowd surrounding us, I guess a 65 year old man running across the room with a Texas 10 gallon had attracts attention.
I interrupted and stuck out my hand and ask, "I'm sorry, who are you again? I didn't quite catch the name."
By this time, my ex was about to cry..
"My son tells me you were talking about inverse floaters, and pregnant butterflies and the like?"
I gave him the raised eyebrow..
http://members.iinet.net.au/%7Ekimbo..._logo_anim.gif
And replied cautiously, and said.. "Yes...?"
It turns out, he was the head broker of that branch. The asshole that was laughing at me that started it all, was his son. He wanted to know, where I learned most of it, because he just went to a conference for brokers who make over $1M a year, and in that very seminar, they talk some of this stuff. Ah..! He THOUGHT I was a broker who made over $1M and went to one of those courses!
"I'm a computer consultant, I've never had formal training about the market, 100% of everything was self-taught. I learned it by reading every investment book in Barnes and Nobels. I don't really care if you believe me, but that's the truth."
He then turned to his son, and said "This guy knows more about the market than you, and it's not even his profession! You should be ashamed of yourself, not only do you not know stuff about your industry, you make a mockery of a man who does. I want you to apologize to him right now."
You can tell, the asshole basically would have rather died than to apologize. "I'm .."
"No need to apologize, and no need to make him apologize, you know how the YOUNG ONES ARE these days.." I said. "Thanks for the party, hope to see you around sometime." I walked out.
http://www.elvis-presley-superstar.d...oldOut1976.jpg
ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!!
So this is one of my favorite stories, because I had always studied on my own, and I had always felt "slightly inferior" and often ASSUMED that they are "professionals" they MUST know more than me, it's their job!! And guess what? They DON'T.
See, 95% of the world, are mediocre at best. If you work hard at reading and learning, you will know more than the so called professionals ever will. They are cocky, and look at you like "I'm the professional, you are the serf." But the truth of the matter is:
1) They probably only know a little more than you; but it's highly doubtful they will know more than you, if you've read an hour a day for 3 months. That's 100 hours, that's 2.5 college courses.
2) Nobody cares more about your money than you do. See, they don't care enough to know more than you. They make money regardless if you make money or lose money. So the only person you should be entrusting your money to, is YOURSELF.
Never let their cheap suits and fast talking fool you. Like an eclipse of the sun, if you've read an hour a day, for 3-6 months, it is highly unlikely a so called "professional" will know more than you. The industry leaders are readers. I never buy into the the "professional" ploy.
Harsh words?
Well, let me tell you more..
I don't trust doctors for the same reason; the person that should be the most concerned about your health is YOU. That's because you are the person that is most directly effected by the qualify of your health. To ask a doctor to care about your health when you don't, is ridiculous. No doctor can care about your health more than you do; just like no broker can care more about your money than you do.
So just remember, a professional is merely someone who has a semi-glossed business card. THAT'S IT. His title in no way represents anything. Never look at yourself as the serf; and place the "professionals" on a pedastal; because you are only lying to yourself.
If you want something done right; then hire a professional. That means YOURSELF. You should care enough about your money to place it under one person's control only, YOURS. you should care enough about your money to read at least an hour everyday.
Remember, knowledge doubles now, ever year. So if you double your knowledge every year, you are only keeping up with the rest of the world. If you aren't reading at all, then you will be like the dinosaurs.
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