As a trader, we create nothing, produce nothing, help no one. Does this bother you?. Do you think about it often?. The reason I bring this up, is because my little cousin is having a talent show soon, and it led me to think about what are my talents. I guess learning how to take money from people is a talent, but this is probably a reason why traders are not respected very much by people with "real jobs".
"As a trader, we create nothing, produce nothing, help no one" well, in a sense i guess that's true. otoh, i take my trading PROFITS and put them into good stocks, thus INVESTING in the american economy and the companies that make this country great. also, the losing traders provide lots of liquidity and in the case of futures, they help provide $$$ to be market to market into my futures trading account. thanks guys! traders help fuel the engine of price discovery. i'm stretchin' here
If you care about what people with "real jobs" think of you, you're setting yourself up for a lifetime of mediocrity and misery
any sales job creates nothing and produces nothing as most people in the US by your standards most people in the US are not respected
we provide liquidity to the financial markets. many people invest the majority of their life savings in the 401ks, IRAs, & mutual funds that buy & sell stocks everyday in these financial markets. large corporations that provide jobs to many people and provide nice products & services protect their profits & hedge their prices using the futures & options markets that we provide liquidity to. we provide an indirect product or service to the world. but as far as a direct product or service that helps the world, we don't really provide much. you could give a % of your profits to charity or a non-profit organization to help you feel better about trading.
That is exactly right. The liquidity provided by traders is often forgotten, and it contributes in a very big way to the stability of financial markets, which are responsible for everything. Without traders, the world would collapse!
Exactly, as someone else on this board already quoted " We are intraday liquidity providers". I have joked with my trading buddy that we really trade nothing, since we trade index futures which are nothing more than derivatives which aren't more than crap. Could I actually call my broker and request delivery on my 2 lot ER2? No I know it's cash settled, but that's my point. It's really nothing at all. Heck when you get good enough to extract a good amount of money a day, that' a real talent many others will be jealous of you for. For me that will be atleast $500 to 2k per day. Right now I am at $200. It's sad, but most people have such an incorrect impression of traders. First most people view you as a degenerate gambler. Then when you make it they are jealous and think you are a slacker that just rolls out of bed and punch you keyboard for cash all day. They don't see the sweat equity and 14 + hours day we put in. That's ok though, as "their" opinion of me and my trading means very little. I really enjoy trading and look forward to everyday. Ok almost every day. Sorry I know I got a little off topic, but I felt it was related. Dan
as futures traders, we are trading agreements. unlike stocks, they aren't THINGS (stocks are an actual piece of a company). many people taking the other sides of our trades are not price speculators (we are looking to profit from changes in the price of the futures contract), but are hedgers, or offsetting other positions, etc. this is especially true in the case of grains futures.
When it first became evident that I was going to be able to trade full-time, I did have some anxiety about whether I was being a productive member of society. To reslove the concern that a trader is not a productive member of society, you can, if profitable, donate a percentage of your profits. Another option is to donate your time. Living in California means my work day ends at 1:15 at the latest, often it is much earlier (often most of my profits are booked by 10 or 11 am) . I like to do some volunteer work with kids in the afternoons. Sometimes I just volunteer at my daughter's school. I've also been a volunteer asst. soccer coach, arriving at the field before everyone else in order to set everything up.