I think that the key to the friendships is that you can just not divulge how well you are doing. If it gets to where it's obvious then you can offer to manage money for your friends and bring them along...
Quit your job and trade full time when you have a fully-funded trading account and two years income in the bank.
It is reckless and offensive to bring up a question like that after a few weeks of success and idiotic to assume someone can judge a trading system after a two week vacation. Would you really bring up the same question to a family member after they claimed they had a couple weeks of successful trading? Your brother, "Hey saliva I have been making some great trades the last couple weeks. The only problem is I can't focus at work. What should I do?" You say, "Why dontcha quit your job?"
Neo: If you can use a second opinion. From my interpretation, saliva only said to Smart Money: IF you think you can do well trading, why don't you quit your job. More in a sarcastic tone. As with many of you, I too think this "quit the job" may be premature.
Well Smart Money I am very glad that you seem to have come to some sense of reality. Quitting your day job to go trading is a big decision and should not be taken lightly. I have done trading "on the side" while working full time for many, many years. Only until a few years ago I decided it was time. And I turned to trading full time. No regret since. Good luck. As what you said about "shorting has unlimited loss". Let me tell you something... This is what the main street textbook would have you believe. This is the question they will ask in those series XXX exams. Yes. THEORETICALLY shorting can cause unlimited loss. But the question is who would be unwise enough to allow it to happen. Probably the same type of personality who hold on to their GM stock forever. Or FNM, FRE, or BSC stocks... you name it. I have yet seen any stock that has gone to infinity. Even GOOG couldn't break above 800. But I have seen hundreds of stocks gone to zero. How about MSFT, someone would say. But be real... who would have held a short position on MSFT for over 20 years? Anyway, I trade on short side far more than I trade on the long side. Because I like the fact that stocks fall faster than they rise. It is a true phenomenon.
I'm going to answer the question about the OP and his imagination about "friends". Rule No. 1 don't manage an account for them unless if you have something in it for you, such as being a hedge fund manager. Rule No. 2 If you do manage an account and if your friends make money off of it just for being your friend. They'll only be your friend from that point onwards because you make them money. Humans are animals, and we are all greedy. Rule No. 3 If you give someone candy they will always put their hands out in expectation of another piece of candy. Treat money the same exact way. Rule No. 4 Why, in the heck are you so concerned about what friends think of you? Ask them for support but don't give them an incentive to support you (like managing an account). That's just an open invitation to feel pressure and destroy your accounts if you have poor performance. Rule No.5 As you become richer, make richer friends. That way, the people who you ask for support when it comes to money issues are people who know what your talking about and since they have money and you have money. You don't have to worry about them digging in your pockets. That's just my advice. Take it, if you want to give friendship the right incentives. You will ruin it by giving money.
I've had quite a bit of money come and go, so Rule #5 brought a smile to my face. Generally speaking money is less of an issue in a circle with those of similar wealth, but not necessarily. For example, generally speaking I've found that those with money are more money focused, always comparing what they got with what you got. And they have developed a sense of entitlement, as though they deserve their wealth, and they can stoop as low or lower than poor people to retain or recover their wealth when it comes under threat. I know lots of 'poor' people who would empty their wallet for a friend without blinking an eye, and would never ask for a dime. I would never think to sacrifice those friends, no matter how rich I got. In truth the money issues arise not from the circle of friends, but from newly rich themselves. If someone who comes into lots of money is not fixated on it, doesn't always slip it into conversation, and doesn't show off major changes to their lifestyle, his/her friends won't give a shit about his newfound wealth. The problem doesn't originate with the friends, it's source is the individual. Best advice: Separate your degree of happiness from your level of wealth. And cease to shape your self-perception with the size of your bank account. For that matter, stop measuring others based on how much money they have. Many people have inherited wealth, or have screwed others over or made sacrifices/decisions/choices that are in my view are not honorable. Money doesn't define good or bad, desirable or undesirable. Money is just chips in a game. Think of life as a Monopoly game. Sure it is great to win, and it is fine to focus and be motivated. But the most important is to play with people you enjoy being with, and to have a good time in the process. If you do the last, you will win no matter where the chips land.
Sell 'em, This is good advice, and I thank you for it. It reinforces how I already feel. A couple other responses I read told me to find richer friends when the time comes...and my favorite...that I'm insane for thinking about how money might affect my friendship(s). To those guys, I'll say this: My greatest asset is my friendships. I live in a Podunk town, but I chose to continue living here instead of chasing a dream to work on Wallstreet or in Chicago...despite earning an MBA I can't use...think "Mayberry" and you have the picture. I haven't left because of my friends. I have friends who are interested in restoring cars. Friends who are into gaming (as I am), Friends who are grounded in reality in a fantastic way, and friends who helped me out when the rug was pulled out from under me a couple times in my young adulthood. Hell, I had a friend once tell me once when I was down on my luck that as long as he had food on his table, I'd always have something to eat. The bottom line is that these friends aren't replaceable. They are like heirlooms that I'll have until I die, and when I do, they'll be handed to my kids because the lives of our families are intertwined. I'm the Godfather of some of their kids and they are the Godfathers of mine. Again...this believing I have the holy grail is a head trip. And maybe I am insane. But if you strapped me to a lie detector, it would be obvious that I believe I've found the grail...whether it pans out or not. And being a thinker, I can't help but think about how my life will be impacted. Then...being the planner I am...I am trying to mitigate any potential damage that may arise. So perhaps the answer to my second "issue"...how to deal with the potential rift that new money could cause, is to try to minimize it as much as possible, and if I can't hide it (like I have a killer car collection, for example), I'll just try to take them along. But new friends? No way. SM