This is May 2016. If you scroll down, you will see that I first started "blogging" in 2008, even though the "posts" I put up were dated 2007. I was 31 years old at that time and had just a few months before that, in December 2007, started to "trade" in the US stock markets, specifically the S&P 500 E-Mini contracts. Gosh, it was so long ago that I had even forgotten what it was that I "traded." I had to go research E-Minis to remember. I have left those posts from 2008 intact below so that they may show my journey in the markets over these years. In those posts below, you will see that I was writing about trading calls to trade the S&P E-Minis and hoping to sell my calls someday! Quite predictably, that business idea bombed like the explosive crap it was. I was losing money "trading" the E-Mini futures contracts. How did I get there?
Well, in December 2007, I had signed up with TradeStation and wired them about $40000 of borrowed money (a friend). I then downloaded their "EasyLanguage" software and after tinkering with it some, "wrote" a software that was going to make me fabulously rich (backtesting on the software told me that). I proceeded to trade, if my memory serves me right, February 2, 2008, almost exactly the date that the market started tanking. I lost $30000 inside a month or two; I don't recollect exactly how long.
Why did I put so many words in quotes? Well, over the course of this and my subsequent blogposts, I will hopefully make it clear why I consider those words in quotes a folly.
With my tail between my legs, I called for the balance remaining $10000 back and repaid that plus all of the money I had lost to my friend inside 6 months or so. I am very proud of the way I repaid that money even to this day. How I did it is another story; one I don't want to recount.
After suffering such a beating, it would have been natural for me to swear off of markets and investing. Not me. I was determined to investigate and dig up the real dirt on the markets. So began my journey into this wonderful world of investment, finance, and stock markets. Over these years, I have learned to be a hardened contrarian and it is a source of great joy to see that going against the flow, swimming upriver, is an immensely rewarding exercise. It gives me great pleasure to win all the bloody time as a contrarian.
I hope to write often and on hopefully interesting topics relating to the markets. All feedback is welcome.
Well, in December 2007, I had signed up with TradeStation and wired them about $40000 of borrowed money (a friend). I then downloaded their "EasyLanguage" software and after tinkering with it some, "wrote" a software that was going to make me fabulously rich (backtesting on the software told me that). I proceeded to trade, if my memory serves me right, February 2, 2008, almost exactly the date that the market started tanking. I lost $30000 inside a month or two; I don't recollect exactly how long.
Why did I put so many words in quotes? Well, over the course of this and my subsequent blogposts, I will hopefully make it clear why I consider those words in quotes a folly.
With my tail between my legs, I called for the balance remaining $10000 back and repaid that plus all of the money I had lost to my friend inside 6 months or so. I am very proud of the way I repaid that money even to this day. How I did it is another story; one I don't want to recount.
After suffering such a beating, it would have been natural for me to swear off of markets and investing. Not me. I was determined to investigate and dig up the real dirt on the markets. So began my journey into this wonderful world of investment, finance, and stock markets. Over these years, I have learned to be a hardened contrarian and it is a source of great joy to see that going against the flow, swimming upriver, is an immensely rewarding exercise. It gives me great pleasure to win all the bloody time as a contrarian.
I hope to write often and on hopefully interesting topics relating to the markets. All feedback is welcome.
