yeah - obviously sticking fingers in butts has OF COURSE more prestige that being a participant in international financial markets.
You can say you work in the "securities industry" or manage money(your own). The problem (especially with chicks) is then they think you are loaded when you could be pennyless as in my case.
I tell them that I am a daytrader. F them if they want to judge. I make a good living and I worked really hard to learn how to daytrade. Just because investors lost money in the market doesn't mean that experienced daytraders are to blame. Anyone that comes into this business with no knowledge or education, or doesn't take the time to educate themselves, regarding this business, is begging to lose money. Like any other job, I doubt that one would dive head first into a business without learning the rules. Which reminds me, the only real valuable piece of information that I picked up at the Bright seminar: "You have to know all the rules of the game before you play it" -Bob Bright -Pound
Nearly every time I tell someone I'm a daytrader, it's after we've had a down period. They always say that I must be losing money in a market is like this. I try to tell them that as a daytrader, it doesn't matter which direction the market moves as long as it moves. Unfortunately, getting people to understand the idea of "shorting" can be an arduos process.
Tell them what I tell them when they ask: "I'm a Day Trader.....No Im not losing money in this market....No its suckers like you who listen to analysts and brokers that lose money in markets like this "How?" They ask...find out why my nickname is what it is......now Get the fuck away from my Porsche."
When I was a MM, I used to tell people that I was a shoe salesman. When I couldn't go any further without cracking up, I would tell them my actual job. They were clueless even after an explanation. Fed up, I would say ,"Have tou ever scene Trading Places? That's what I do." It was much easier telling people I was a shoe salesman.
But can someone please explain to me exactly WHY day trading has such poor connotations among many of the public? Is it because fundamentals are no longer important (although they are the underlying part of stock prices) or is it because we can make money when they lose it....essentially a zero sum game.
Day trading has a bad rep because of all the scams that people lost money on that had to do with day trading. (Stuff like wizetrade) The public has no clue what day trading really is. The last time I told someone I was a day trader his response was "ya I like to gamble too, but I don't consider it my job. Ha, Ha, Ha." People like this have no clue what day trading is. They think it is stupid because they don't understand it. It's that simple.
Heheh... or tell him you're the guy that throws birds into jet engines to make sure they hold together when they're in the air. (An actual job I heard on one of those talk radio episodes.)