I didn't mean to be misdirecting your relatives so you could trade. Get a trade, a skill and use whatever cash and free time that business can generate for your baby - trading.
To rcanfiel.........I remember the guy in the cowboy hat!!! Yes!! What was his name....I started trading futures in 1995 @ Opportunities in Options in CA. I loved his newsletters on charting! I had never even heard of trading before. My first trade was an overnight in silver futures, I made about $1500. Got so excited........and scared at the same time...thought I would end up being a multi-millionaire!! The sky was the limit!! Turned a $3000 account into $12,000 in 3 months. Talked to some crappy broker trying to get me to switch accounts, told him what I had accomplished. He said to me:"Great, you're just lucky, they're going to eat you up!" Meaning the MM and other traders....what a BH! I should have told him i WOULD CHEW THEM UP AND SPIT THEM OUT!, But instead I guess he burst my balloon, not everyone in this business is nice or cares about your best interests or will be encouraging. Just find out what works for you, you will lose, sometimes BIG TIME, you might feel as though your guts are spilling out all over the floor. But if you stick with it, and learn, and "get it",you might just do all right and become successful in all areas of your life.
fwiw, my solution to the constant questions is a one word answer. Good. "how's the trading going?"...good. "why do you want to trade?" it's good, I like it. "aren't you afraid you'll lose all your money?" no, it's good, I like it... and so on. Pretty soon they all get the idea and stop asking. Just don't give 'em anything to continue the questions with. Any response that includes a detail just leads to more questions. Even if you have just had the single worst trading day of your life and the question comes..." how'd it go today?" the answer is....good.
I cant agree more. Whenever i hear shit, it just makes me want success as a trader more and more. unfortunately most traders will lose and those same assholes are still going to be there to rub it in your face.
your friends and family won't be give you shit when you have are driving a brand new porsche and brand new 10 milion dollar house..they are giving you shit cause you ain't making 7 figures per year or more or worse losing money.,
I solve this problem by not telling my family that i am a fulltime trader (or even that im into trading). As far as my family is concerned i am an IT guy who works from home. Actually i never lied to anyone, i always say im working from home now, which is true. I just never mention i changed career. And i aint telling anyone until i make enough to not worry about working ever again. I think i would be under more psychological pressure if people knew. Pressure you dont need as a trader. If you cant get away with working from home then rent an office and carry on as if your career has not changed. It really is no one elses business what you do for a living.
This reminds me of the average discussion I have with my relatives. Example: Dad: " In my (... Bank ), they are really, really good. With my ( ... Investment product), I'm hedged with futures and options( Wow )... they 're so good. I gained almost 10 % this year. And you, you've lost this year, isn't it?" Me: "No, I've made my best year so far, I'm up 60% for the year" Dad: " Mmm... What are you doing exactly?" ( Quite useless attempt to explain to my dad what I do, Dad not listening) Dad: "OK, I think you have to contact the guys at my bank, they will teach you everything in trading( portfolio managing... )" Example 2: My GirlFriend's Dad : " Is trading good lately?" Me : "Yes. I almost make no losing week lately" My Girlfriend's dad: " What? You have losing weeks???!!!" ( End of the conversation, the guy thinking I'm the worst trader on earth ) Sometimes it's boring, but not a reason to hate on them... Trade 'cause you love it and you are profitable, not for revenge or desire to show the world how good you are.
Businessman we are in exactly the same boat.... I'm an IT guy who just switched careers and now I tell family I work from home remotely for the same company. How is your trading going?
My father in law died recently... Believe me, if somebody just wants you to fail, just wants you to give up your freedom and go into slavery working for some bully in some job, they will be like that until they die. That old guy was in his last two weeks of his life, in a hospital bed, expressing concern about my ability to take care of his daughter, which is his way of saying he thinks I am a piece of work. I told him I'm not worried about it at all, [I had to be really nice to him, wifey was inheriting big time, I didn't know I had it in me] I'm trading [I didn't dare say daytrading, have to edit the speech, too controversial] the index futures and it should be no worries at all and he says "yeah, until it all crashes" and acts disgusted. He was all loaded up with a huge gun collection, coins, gold, and a very defensive stock portfolio. People like that have no idea what trading is about and they don't like it, they see traders as some kind of cheaters and worse yet, beyond their control. They see stocks as a way to invest in a company and believe that it all should be left like that. How a stock value would rise without a market is beyond them I suppose. I watched a movie with Pierce Brosnan and Penelope Cruz yesterday called After the Sunset. Brosnan is a retired jewel thief on extended vacation in the Caribbean with Cruz. She keeps introducing him to these boring people that ask him what he does for a living and he has a different answer for each one, like "pest control"... I think people are generally conflicted about trading, they see it as non productive and risky and they are going to be jealous if you hit the big time and gloating if you fail. Besides, where is the workplace drama and where is the job gossip, you work as an individual.