The Trader Meetup Dilemma (Part 1)

I spent most of the previous post talking about trading groups. I now want to go into more detail about what holds me back from starting one.

Let me first distinguish between trading groups and trading Meetups. While much of my content will also pertain to general trading groups, the idea I have been entertaining is starting a group (hereafter referred to as “Meetups”) on the Meetup.com website. This is purely for advertising/exposure reasons. I have been to trader Meetups before and I have written about them in this blog (e.g. here). I know Meetup offers the potential to connect with others of like interests. I do not know whether enough people with a serious enough trading interest exist in the Metro Detroit area but if they do then I can’t think of any better way to find them than through Meetup.com.

When trying to explain my dilemma about starting (“organizing” in Meetup jargon) a trading Meetup, one word that comes to mind is “roadblock.” I sometimes feel that everywhere I turn in the financial services industry a roadblock awaits to greet me. I blogged on this with regard to wealth management here. I also mentioned roadblocks here. I will also mention roadblocks later with regard to implementing new trading strategies.

I have a difficult time explaining why I struggle with the idea of organizing a trader Meetup. On many occasions I have written about bits and pieces of this difficulty. It might be easier to just give links to a bunch of posts, but that would probably leave you fishing for the key morsels among a huge brain dump of ideas.

Under investigation will be the possibility that at least part of my challenge surrounding the trader Meetup idea relates to ego. I firmly believe that ego and trading do not mix, and I could provide several links where I have discussed my disdain for those who boast about performance or trading expertise. I am always on the lookout for underlying motives when I see such hubris. Indeed, one ingredient I consider integral to whatever trading success I have had is avoidance of the lofty sales pitch. No matter how experienced the trader, I rarely think certainty has any legitimate place (Bill Miller, anyone?).

I will continue next time.