Am I Worthy of Self-Promotion? (Part 2)

I have traditionally avoided self-promotion or any activity attracting attention to my successes. In the last post I began to develop a case for why I do have a story worth telling about my trading business.

The oft-quoted statistic suggests 80-90% of all traders lose money. I have talked with a lot of traders over the years and only a couple have claimed to be trading for a living and making enough money to fully support themselves. Other industries have similar stories. The “mom-and-pop pharmacy” is an endangered species these days with the success of big chain pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS Health. How many lawyers advance to partner status? How many physicians have their own practices? The rest work for someone else and this includes the vast majority of engineers, teachers, and professors.

If survival as a tradepreneur puts me in the 80th-90th percentile then I am one who should be traveling to different investment clubs and groups across the country sharing my story about successful trading as a business. Starting with the advantages of options over stock and the necessity to understand discretionary versus systematic trading, my approach is somewhat unique.

One essential component that I believe has contributed to my success was the ability to save up start-up capital. This was provided by my job working pharmacy while I continued to pay student loans and a home mortgage. I negotiated a solid wage for myself and worked many overtime hours.

Stock investing also contributed start-up capital for my trading business. I have traditionally said that I was one of many to get lucky with my stock investments thanks to the bull market of 2004-2007. I did have that understanding of investing, though. Dad gets lots of credit for this because he initially spurred my interest in elementary school. I later went on to learn about stock screening. My statistical coursework taught me about models and curve-fitting, which probably put me in a better position to pick stocks that would later become big winners.

I believe having ample start-up capital to survive the lean, early years is the best way to start a business. Every business has a learning curve and very few entrepreneurs can expect to generate consistent, plentiful income right away. Without start-up capital, the added pressure to profit in order to afford basic needs is probably enough to crush most dreams of escaping Corporate America.

I will finish with the next post.