Option Trading Meetup (Part 3)

As I was writing the last post I got the sense I was being too hard on this group. Today I will reality check myself.

I criticized DY for claiming to have been trading for 30 years and over seven figures per week. This is not verifiable and therefore not something I believe should be brought into the discussion. All it can do is serve as a faulty basis for trust. For this reason, I don’t share such information with others and this is probably why the organizer treated me as a newbie when answering my question.

But experience is often stated in other fields. Pharmacists will say they’ve been practicing for X number of years. Surgeons will say they have done Y number of surgeries. Lawyers will say they have litigated Z related cases [and won, which is also not verifiable]. As a society we accept these claims. Why should one not accept a similar claim from a trader?

I feel like fraud and deceit are more prevalent in Finance because it is all about the money. Pharmacy, medicine, and law may indirectly come down to money but there can also be other things involved (e.g. medical treatment, legal rights, and wanting to help others). Finance is the direct conduit to money and is therefore at risk for stronger exposure to greed: one of the seven deadly sins. While this sounds good, I have no data to support it. I should therefore recognize it as a personal bias but not act on it.

I sometimes disagree with other traders because I focus on data science while they employ “conventional wisdom.” I can continue to follow the data. If disagreement leads someone to say “I have been trading for 30 years and I trade seven figures per week” then I can respond “I have extensive live trading experience too” and move on. I don’t need to disqualify them just because they stated unverifiable experience. I also don’t need to accuse them of fraud.

Hopefully my second visit to this Meetup will be more fulfilling.