Do's and Don’ts of Forex Trading - FX & VIX Traders Blog

Fellow idiots,
I posted this comment which seems to have angered the highly sophisticated /investing community. I don't mind being downvoted but at least provide some counter arguments if you're going to be a dick. So in the pursuit of truth and tendies for all, I have prepared some juicy due diligence (DD) for WSB Capital on why China is on the verge of collapse.
TL;DR at the bottom.
Point 1: Defaults in China have been accelerating aggressively, and through July 2019, 274 real estate developers filed for bankruptcy, up 50% over last year. A bonus? Many Chinese state controlled banks have been filing for bankruptcy as well. Just google "china bank defaults" or something similar. Notice how many articles there are from 2019? When the banking system fails, everything else usually fails too.
Point 2: The RMB has depreciated significantly. Last time this happened, in 2015-2016, there was a significant outflow of foreign invested capital. According to the IIF, outflows reached $725bn due to the currency depreciation.. This time is different why again? I have heard some arguments why there will be less outflow this time, but I struggle to buy them.
Point 3: Despite wanting to operate like a developed economy, China still has not been able to shrug off the middle income trap. Their GDP per capita is comparable to countries we normally associated with being developing/emerging markets. Tangentially related to point 10.
Point 4: China is an export-dependent economy, with about 20% of their exports contributing towards their GDP. Less exporting means less GDP, less consumption (because businesses make less money, they pay people less, who in turn spend less), which has a greater effect on GDP than any declines in exports would have at face value. Guess what? Chinese exports dropped 1% in August, and August imports dropped -1%, marking the 5th month this year of negative m/m export growth..
Point 5: Business confidence has been weak in China - declining at a sustained pace worse than in 2015. When businesses feel worse, they spend less, invest less in fixed assets, hire less until they feel better about the future. Which takes me to my next point.
Point 6: Fixed asset investment in China has declined 30 percentage points since 2010. While rates are low, confidence is also low, and they are sitting on a record amount of leverage, which means they simply will not be able to afford additional investment.
Point 7: They are an extremely levered economy with a total debt to GDP ratio of over 300%, per the IIF, which also accounts for roughly 15% of global total fucking debt. Here's an interview with someone else talking about it too.
Point 8: Their central bank recently introduced a metric fuckton of stimulus into their economy. This will encourage more borrowing....add fuel to the fire. Moreover, the stimulus will mechanically likely weaken the RMB even more, which could lead to even more foreign outflows, which are already happening, see next point.
Point 9: Fucking LOTS of outflows this year. As of MAY, according to this joint statement, around 40% of US companies are relocating some portion of their supply chains away from mainland. This was in May. Since May, we have seen even more tariffs imposed, why WOULD companies want to stay when exporting to the US is a lot more expensive now?
Point 10: Ignoring ALL of the points above, we are in a global synchronized slowdown, with many emerging market central banks cutting rates - by the most in a decade. Investors want safety, and safe-haven denominated assets are where we have seen a lot of flocking into recently. Things that can be considered safe-havens have good liquidity, a relatively stable economy, and a predictable political environment.
Would love to hear opposing thoughts if you think China is a good buy. I am not against China, nor any other country for that matter, but I am against losing money (yes, wrong sub etc.), and I can not rationalize why anyone would be putting in a bid.
TL;DR: the bubble is right in front of your face, impending doom ahead, short everything, fuck /investing.
Edit, since you 'tards keep asking me how to trade this, there are a few trades that come to mind:

• US treasuries still have room to run (before the autists say that's not yolo enough you could trade OTM calls on UST-linked ETFs, US govvie futures for gainz)
  
• Japanese yen
  
• Sell SPX companies with big supply chain exposure and heavy cost of capital, buy their competitors without these features.
  
• Open up apparel factories in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and sell to the US.
  
• Buy soybeans assuming farmers get a bailout from US
  
• I am sure there are plenty of China based ETFs which could be played, DYOR.
  
• Short any US listed company with mainland China domicile. If shit REALLY hits the fan between US/China, there are levers that US Govt. can pull to fuck them.
  

^{*not investment advice*}

I'd love some perspective on a recent story that's bothering me. Any and all perspectives welcomed.
In August last year an old friend (we're 38 now and 16 when we met) had been doing a guidance ritual with his mum who is trained to be a shaman… she gave him LSD as part of the ritual- and I haven't tried it so I don't know what it's like.
Anyway, for some reason I contacted him out of the blue the next day when he was still feeling some of the effects. He told me that he loved me, probably always had and it had been a long time coming. I was really surprised, but it was lovely. On some level I'd always felt like that about him (I denied it a lot over the years) but really didn't think that he would ever say or feel something like that.
In that convo he said I'd make a great girlfriend and he'd be lucky to have me, I was really smart and lovely but intense and opinionated. Also, that ironically he thought he'd missed his one chance at happiness with me (you can understand the ironically part when you know the backstory). He said I was beautiful and he was stupid for not being completely in love with me. He said he was sure we'd known each other in past lives. I was very touched by all of this because I adore him but I took it with a pinch of salt, and tried to find out if it was just a fleeting feeling.
But he also said that his life is on a dark path, and that in this lifetime he is only meant to suffer, maybe he'll be dead by 50 and we should see each other in the next life. He said he has huge issues (lots of drink and drugs of many types), is also very intense, and I'd never be able to handle the up and down of his lifestyle.
I got the feeling that he was having those thoughts about loving me for the first time right then, so I asked him if he’d felt like that before, or just that night. And he said he’d thought it the last time we spoke when I’d interviewed him for a book a couple of years previously. But I didn’t get the impression he’d really felt like that when we were younger.
I checked a month or 2 later if he remembered what he said because I thought maybe he had just been high. He said he thought he remembered everything he had said, and said I wasn't very nice for not believing him, so I was really happy and decided to go and see him.
Fast forward a couple months to after Christmas - I hadn't been to see him yet- but we’d been messaging and sending photos. For Christmas, his mum had bought him a tarot card reading with a chocolate ritual with a shaman or a psychic lady, and he was sharing with me that he'd done it and that it said his head was really messed up. He seemed quite upset.
So me being 5% moron, my nervousness and excitedness had returned (I was always very, very nervous around him when we were young) and I made a joke he really didn't appreciate, offering to shoot him in the head if he wanted (I was trying to lighten the mood, and also we seemed to be getting a bit more gentle, intimate and less jokey in the way that we were talking to each other, which freaks me out. He's much sweeter than he used to be, and it kind of makes me freeze up a bit).
Well! Bang. It was like I stabbed him in the chest or something. It seemed to instantly remind him of all the things that annoy him about me, and after 5 months being really sweet he went cold on me. Really, really cold. From there I got very confused and kept making worse mistakes because I got nervous, and kept trying to fix it. I sent him some long, weird email which I’m sure made things worse. I also posted something on Facebook which made it look like I was chatting to other guys. All very silly. It's ridiculous. I'm an adult and am pretty confident these days. But suddenly I was really nervous again feeling like a kid and like there’s something terribly wrong with me.
I arranged to go and see him for a few days in Tenerife, and before I went it was pretty tense between us and I couldn't tell if he wanted me to go or not- I did everything I could to try and find out if he actually wanted me to go or not- but he was his usual tight-lipped self. When I got there, he was very hospitable, apologized for being off-radar and showed me round, we went out to bars and the beach...
We spent four days (before he had to go home to England) as a quasi-couple, and it was a very surreal experience. It was bizarrely intimate, sweet but tense, with someone I know very well... naked. For the first time I realised how peace-loving and gentle he is- which I never saw before. He can't stand a lot of the more boisterous things I do, which is fair, but ironically they're things I tended to do from nerves and trying to get his attention. I kind of got it after that- why he finds me so aversive sometimes, it's like we're stuck in a negative feedback loop, and he thinks I’m too harsh for his delicate constitution. Which, he might just be right about.
In between the fun, laughing, joking, drinking, sex and bonding- of which there was lots and it was really nice - he was filled with sadness and depression, grumpiness, and a funny attitude from him that seemed to shout: "yuck, it's you, you're more like a sisteannoying irritation than a woman to me." He said that it was because his life was falling apart- and he was obviously very very depressed but trying to show me a good time and doing a good job of it too, I might add. But so many things pointed to the fact that he mainly just felt annoyed by me, found me totally unsuitable, and kind of pitied me, rather than feeling any love for me, and that he finds me generally very annoying. Wall up, blinds closed, aint comin' in.
He also kept telling me about his lifestyle of drink and drugs and how everyone he knows is a junky or a crazy person. It felt like he was trying very hard to make me see reality and put me off him, or save me from him, or warn me, or see how I would react and if I would run. Or save himself from what he sees as inevitable hostility and rejection (as well as from me and how annoying I am). "Be careful what you wish for" and "curiosity killed the cat" seemed to be his repetitive catchphrases when I showed an interest in him. Apparently, his ex thinks he's a bastard, he would tell me.
I think, ideally, if he could change me (he used to talk a lot about me doing DHT to rebalance myself) he would want to be in a relationship, because we enjoy each other’s company. But it could only work if he was tougher and I was less harsh. I think he sees these things quite clearly as they are – that he’s got a delicate constitution, and I’m far too frustrated by him to be delicate enough for things to work out. I’d soon get pissed off and ditch the situation, rather than sweep things under the rug and carry on from day to day in a carefree world of consumption- I just couldn’t do that. I’m a strategic future-planner.
At one point we played some intimacy/trust game with lots of questions, and he loosened up a little... but the way he would answer questions like "Name 3 things you like about your partner" was like "well you ARE very caring" in the same way that someone might say "Well, Hitler WAS very spiritual." It's funny because in relationships I'm very soft in general, in recent years, but I do still get very harsh and frustrated when problems don’t seem solvable. But with him I just can't seem to relax and trust him enough to be soft with him at all, and he didn't give me a chance anyway. We just don’t trust each other- we’re not safe for each other.
After I went home he checked in with me a couple times, which I liked. He tried to share some things with me that interest him, about quite spiritual or unusual subjects (trees being interconnected, aliens having been involved in human development, DHT, the memory of water… stuff that as someone who studied physics I don’t normally hear about, but I’m pretty open to hearing about them)- he's very soft and very chilled- doesn’t like stress at all. But every time I tried to dig a bit deeper and engage with him to see what it was about them that interested him - he completely ignored me. Didn’t try, nothing. Me trying to talk with him about the things he shared seemed to send the walls up and just bug him. Really really frustrating. It's like I couldn't do anything right. Particularly frustrating when he said he was trying to open up my mind- but then wouldn't connect or follow through.
So, for a couple months, for the first time in 20 years I seemed to be chasing him. It's like he promised me something, judged me for being nervous and "annoying" and not perfect, and then instead of being understanding, he ran. Yikes.
Eventually I got so confused I sent him screenshots of the conversation where he'd said he loved me and he didn't even remember it! He was shocked, blamed it on the drugs and mental illness saying that he was "not a well person." He said he was beginning to get the feeling that he'd "annoyed me" now, and that he sees me as a friend, and he didn't mean to piss me off. Then he changed the subject. He finished up that conversation by saying "we're on different paths and in different places", and he needs to sort himself out and that's that.
The backstory goes like this… The first year we knew eachother he nicknamed me “TT” which meant “no tits and no teeth” (I had big gaps before I had braces). He used to do things like hit me on the butt with a stick and then I’d punch him and go nuts. He really took the piss out of me with his friends and girlfriends because I had a huge crush on him (he thought it was hilarious that I felt like I’d been struck by lightning when I first saw him). They used to put me on speakerphone and laugh. He was the only guy I ever asked out – which I did on his answer machine!! Ugh. So, yeah, really humiliated me actually and I’ve never asked anyone out since (thank goodness I’m a woman, haha).
After that I had braces and turned into a social person who had lots of parties and friends. He started being really nice to me. But I didn’t forgive him very easily, and we had a big bust up and weren't friends for a year or so. I did a pizza leaflet with his phone number on it. And I banned him from my 18th birthday party to which all our friends were going, and he was pretty upset. I felt bad once when I saw him outside one of my parties on the curb holding his head in his hands saying “why does she hate me so much?” Well, deep down I loved the guy, but he’d humiliated me, so I guess there was a thin line between love and hate. I don’t know if that would have made him feel any better, but hopefully.
From some point on, we made up and we always had great chemistry after that... we did things like hanging out and smoking some weed in his car together with other people, going out in London with our mutual friends, him giving me lots of lifts home from pubs and friends houses, me driving his car drunk and pretending I was going to crash it to wind him up (that was stupid and irresponsible).
Looking back I think he kind of liked me at that point but was scared of me, didn’t know how to make a move as I had moved on and had given him such a hard time, but at the time I really didn't have a clue whether he liked me or not, I was always just very, very feisty and energetic around him (after all the humiliation I guess) so I could never be calm.
Then we went to the same uni town, texted constantly for a year, and even then he said he thought we’d known each other in past lives. To my friends I gave him the nickname "my future husband", he asked me out in the cutest way by saying that if I had the guts and the inclination to go out with him, then we should go for a drink. I was soooo excited..
Well, we almost went out and then he dropped out of uni because of an argument with a lecturer or something. I honestly believe everyone has to follow their own path, so for me it was just sad for him that he had so much stress, and it was disappointing about the date. Our first kiss was when he came up to the uni town again and we did a pub crawl, and he seemed to want to go and sit somewhere and be sweet but I was too nervous so we just kept doing the pubcrawl and ended up spooning on a friend’s floor (just hugging and kissing).
We almost went on a date in our home area but he cancelled without suggesting an alternative, and I got annoyed so he stopped talking to me- surprisingly easily- it’s like he has a very low threshold for any kind of angst, and isn’t able to soothe himself or the other person, so just bails. Which, considering the fact that he creates a lot of angst-provoking situations means that he kind of expects to go through life without facing any consequences for his actions. Pretty frustrating for someone like me, who expects quite a lot of openness and honesty.
We eventually hooked up once and he never called me after so after waiting for a while, I reluctantly moved on and ended up with someone else for 4 years. I have no idea how he felt about this, but a couple of small things surprised me and I wondered if he had actually felt more than I gave him credit for. I mean, that love confession blew me away, I wouldn't have thought for a moment that he had been harbouring any thoughts like that about me, I thought for him it was all a big joke and meant nothing, so maybe he did feel something other than annoyance for me when we were younger.
It's hard to tell as he's been with a lot of women, is very tight-lipped and doesn’t put himself on the line, or take any risks at all. But in those days I was always so nervous around him that any signs would have just gone completely under the radar anyway.
A few years later, after lots of traveling, he popped up working in the office down the hall from me at this random summer job I took and we started emailing lots. He seemed disappointed with how life was not as exciting as he'd expected. Then he disappeared one day- he was living with his ex at the time (very lovely girl) and I was with the same guy (the 4 year one).
A few years after that we were back hanging around in the same social circle until everyone, including him, moved abroad, and eventually, so did i. It was funny, I would always be able to talk to him if I was upset about, say, moving to uni or something. It didn't happen often but a couple of times.
Most of this he probably wouldn't even remember because I think he's been with a lot a lot of girls.
He has low self-esteem, apparently. He thinks he has bad luck with women even though women adore him (he's exceptionally easy on the eyes. He’s beautiful actually)- and according to a mutual friend of ours, when he was a teenager he always worried that no decent women would want someone like him.
Recently (in the past 15 years, which isn’t so recent, lol) we didn't really hang out much but we became more normal adults. I went down quite a dry academic path and got a BSc in physics with astrophysics and an MSc in clinical research, and ended up stuck in a corporate job I hated until I quit to become a writer, whereas he had more balls than me and did what he wanted much earlier- becoming an entrepreneur trading stock, gold, Forex, imports and exports... at times making a fortune and at other times going bust and beating himself up for it, but always finding something new to try, which I think's pretty damn cool (but try convincing him of that).
It's pretty normal for entrepreneurial people to have ups and downs in their success-levels I think, but he seems to judge himself very harshly. The last couple of years he’s been making more money than I’ve ever been able to shake a stick at! I really don’t think he should feel ashamed at all (which he seems to), I think he should feel proud that he’s so dynamic. Good for him. He’s awesome. The only thing I wish is that he had heavy enough emotional armor that he could deal with more difficult situations without bailing.
Anyway. Over the years I stopped being super into him and we had a nice, pretty normal friendship -we chatted sometimes on messenger and would always have nice chemistry when we saw each other. He's been trying to arrange a visit for about 10 years or so between the various countries we've been living in (we're both expat people and he wanted to come see me in Madrid and Amsterdam when I lived there, then he wanted me to go seem him in Tenerife for a few years) and I've avoided it, as although I wanted to see him I was scared of a casual fling with him as it’s not what I wanted, and I really don’t like that kind of thing anyway (tried it once or twice thinking I could handle it and I was being all “modern” and cool and everything – because I think I’m a bit old fashioned deep down - but I got emotionally attached and then end up hurt. So now I accept myself for who I am- someone who doesn’t really like flings or casual stuff, but someone who is into monogamy. Whoops! How very boring and unfashionable, and I don’t give a shit. Rayyyy for the love. Whoop whoop.).
A couple years ago I interviewed him for a book I wrote about ADHD entrepreneurs. His lifestyle was pretty cool making a lot of money through affiliate marketing and living near the beach in hot sunny Tenerife in an apartment with a pool. But he seemed to think that he sucked for some reason (everyone else seems to think it's pretty darn cool). He said that when he grew up he was under a lot of pressure and that it seemed to have messed up his head. He said that to do well in life you need to do what you want to do, because if you listen to other people you are only going to be messed up. When he was on LSD he said that he had thought he loved me during that interview.
This year, his life as an expat abroad basically fell apart as the affiliate marketing scheme crashed and he had to move home to live with his parents, which has brought him really, really down into depression. He said he keeps being told he is going to end up working in McDonalds, and being reminded of the fact that he’s almost 40, and this seemed to be weighing on his mind. It sounds like a lot of pressure.
But anyway, for about 5 months after the conversation when he was on LSD he opened up to me, and he was really lovely to me. It was so nice. I guess it was because I was more relaxed and the main thing I wanted was to check up on him and see that he was ok. I didn’t have an agenda to see if he would be a match for me or anything like that- I was just really worried about him. So maybe he felt safe enough to relax.
I said that I always imagined that we would end up as platonic roommates when we were 50 and I would make him sandwiches and listen to all his funny antics – which he thought was cute. Actually, I really did like that idea- because it would take away the underlying obligations that a relationship brings that we couldn’t deliver for each other. And friendship is what relationships turn into anyway.
For my part, it's really disturbed my sleep for months since I came back from visiting him.
Now after trying to message in a friendly way during the coronavirus quarantine (er, I am very very bored) and being annoyed by his total lack of supportiveness, I've recently just told him that I don't want to be friends any more. Too painful. He says I have anger issues and I think he sees himself as an innocent victim.
Actually, if I'm honest, I've been pretty angry at a lot of people for a few years, so, maybe he has a point.
I guess I'm being a bit selfish. It's not really fair expecting anything from a self-confessed depressed, unwell person. He's "in his pit of despair" as he calls it for 6 months and he has zero interest in me. I'm utterly irrelevant to him. He's snippy, rude, ignores me, and then seems to offer a little bit of an olive branch in the smallest of ways.
Excuse the really long story, would be interested in any insight people have on this situation, particularly with respect to how you think he feels and why he acts the way he does. If I feel like I understand this situation then hopefully I can stop thinking about it, because for the past 10 years I've just had the odd nice thought every now and then about him- and would like that to become the status quo again.

I've been noticing my friends back in my hometown are getting into financial based MLMs. One of them have gotten way too into it that she moved to a different state with her new boyfriend who's involved in imarketslive for 5-6 years.
A little bit of back story, when we were in elementary to middle school, our families were involved in a ponzi scheme. It was later resolved and sent the three head honchos to jail for 20 years each. While that was happening, her mom was involved in an MLM.
Before this new bf (let's call him Fred) showed up in her (Chelsea) life, she was in a 4 year relationship with Justin. I hung out with them quite frequently when I had vacation from university. Both were also students though different schools. They did not have the best relationship. They constantly argued especially since Justin has some anger management issues and Chelsea claims to have OCD (I think she has high anxiety at least). They would hit each other and Justin would emotionally abuse Chelsea. For example, he would go on the side of the read to threaten his own life by running into the freeway. Chelsea would feel trapped and couldn't fully express herself without Justin getting angry.
Despite this abusive relationship, they made great sacrifices to be together like commuting 1-2hrs to school to live together. They were not financially stable. Justin would spend a lot on anime stuff and Chelsea would go out a lot. Eventually, they decided to join AMWAY which we all know is not a good idea. Anyway, Chelsea always wanted to have her own business so she dropped out of uni to dedicate her time in being a waitress and a "business owner".
Finally after 4 years, she broke up with him and Amway. I thought things were going well for her and she even said she wanted to go back to school. Until... she met this new piece of shit. When I first met Fred (they only dated for a week at this point), I thought he was just a chill dude who had positive energy. Just like a good friend does, after I hung out with Chelsea and Fred I snooped into his Facebook and saw he was part of a financial MLM called imarketslive (IML). The worst part was that I saw he tagged Chelsea in a IML convention in Las Vegas. So I thought, "oh shit, she's part of ANOTHER MLM". And likewise, I told her in person the next day that she's part of a pyramid scheme. Then her response truly disturbed me.
Chelsea responded, "everything is a pyramid scheme. This what makes me happy".
🤢🤢🤢
You know I was so shocked. I just responded.. "okay, as long as you're happy. I just wanted to watch out for you".
The conversation about IML ended there. My other friends and my parents told me not to convince her that it's a bad idea because she's attached to this new guy.
This is what I observed about Fred based on his social media accounts. He is painfully positive. Like he gets preachy about positivity. He does facebook lives to tell people to achieve their dreams by getting wealthy. Because apparently, everyone's dream is just to get a lot of money. Not saying that's wrong at all (hell, I want to be rich too). He also is into those motivational speakers especially if they are involved with IML like Les Brown. He believes that forex trading/crypto exchange can help change people's lives. He tries to sell IML's overpriced apps ($200+ a month). And of course with everything fucking MLM, he uses these emojis 😜💥🤔👌🔥💯 and takes them seriously.
So why is my friend dating him? Well, she thinks that Fred is a hard working person with a stupid smile. He also recruited her and now she is an "entrepreneur" #BOSSBABE. After dating for like 4 months, they moved to Arizona to spread the fucking "message" about IML.
Now they have a large group of people they work with. They always host talks about how IML is a "family" but weirdly never about Forex trading or crypto exchange. They workout and go to church together. They do everything together which is weird. Chelsea claims she's finding herself but really she's in this cult and behaves like everyone else.
I think one of the grossest aspects about IML is how they exploit minorities and encourage them to "flex" or have a luxurious lifestyle. I saw on her snapchat about a recent convention in Dallas and most people were Hispanic, African-Americans or Southeast Asian (like her and I). Most of the higher-ups that were speaking were either those races and had some wort of branded luxury accessory like a Gucci belt. Fred has these Gucci slip-on sneakers and that's about it. It also seems like the group of people Fred and Chelsea are always with try to humble brag about how they used to be poor and now they claim to make 6 figures.
Now, Fred and Chelsea constantly post about positive quotes and financial stability advice (lmao). I don't reach out to Chelsea anymore because I do not agree with her lifestyle and I am a non-believer in IML and God. So apparently, I am a negative force. I've known her for 14 years and she became a completely different person because of this stupid cult-like MLM. She used to think things through properly, but I think after her abusive ex she thinks Fred is her light and soul.
​
TLDR; My friend was involved with Amway with and abusive ex and dropped out of school. Broke up and started to live her life again. Met a douche-bag 6 months later who recruited her to imarketslive which caused them to move to Arizona to recruit more people and be more into the cult-like MLM. She doesn't want to talk to me anymore because I do not agree with IML.

So, a few months back I saved some money and decided that I would be able to make a living out of forex making 12.5% per week, that was 2.5% per day from monday to friday.
I had been in the Forex for six month in that time, with only $100 dollars account, and I had broke my account twice (One for not putting Stop-Loss and the other for not controlling my loss in revenge anger) But in the end I managed to make three months in a row making about 40-50% per month, and that was to me the sign that I had figured Forex.
I used a combination of MACD, RSI, ADX. And always kept the lookout for the candlestick patterns, I also used Bollinger bands, but I never really checked them. My main Indicator though was the MACD, the rest was the confirmation I required. I negotiated only EURUSD and I worked with a 1:100 margin using a policy to hold 2,5% SL if I wasn't cofindent in the play but the indicators were saying I should go, and 5% if I was confident and the Indicators confirmed. I've made arrangements in my job and I saved enough money to live the way I am for one year and to put $2.000 in my Forex Account. My plan was to only start taking money out of the account after six months of gains.
I quit my job in June, and 4th of July I started trading. First month I did well and got 50% even before the second week of the month, in the end of July I had $3.475,68 in my account. My confidence was high as was my spirit, everybody I talked too I would say how I found way to do something I loved and if I could keep my goals I would be a millionaire in less than five years; To everyone saying It was very risky I showed my gains from the first month and said I knew what I was doing.
And then August came. First week of August I had three losses in a row, amounting to $400, and so I decided to take a quick break. One week reading and searching for what was wrong. When I cameback I had in me belief that I was going to make a good position on EURUSD. I don't know what I was thinking but I opened a position and I spike on the otherway around made me shiver so I moved the SL, believing it would eventually go the way I was planning; That day I went to bed and woke up with $1.000 less in my account, I was back to my starting $2.000 pretty much.
What followed this week was the worst series of trade I ever did, each one pushing to lose even more. First I did a series of trades that downed me to $1.500, than I did a big trade that put me at $800, I managed to land a very good trade that took me all the way back to $1.400 and trying to duplicate the miracle I lost $800 in one single trade. Yesterday I lost $500 and right now I have $72 in my account.
I don't know what I was thinking, I completely lost any of the things that made my set-up work, and now I've lost any chance to go back to where I started. I was overconfident and angry, and I know I have only myself to blame. I just needed to vent it to someone, and the worst part is that I'm ashamed to tell the people I've been bragging about the past month, to admit that I was not only wrong, but I lost everything on it as well. Guess I'l have to go back looking for a job and just suck it up.
Thank you for reading all this way, and sorry for any grammar mistakes, I'm actually from Brazil and my english is not that good.

TL;DR 100k$ secret debt from day trading over past 5 years, want to confess to my wife. Need tips on how to survive the talk.
In the last 5 years I have accumulated 100.000$ of debt (spread over 3 loans and 3 credit cards) through day trading (FOREX and CFD). The way I got to this point is the usual, lost some money and took out loans to win it all back, lost again, repeat until the bank didn’t give me any more money. Through the power of suppression I only realized the deep shit I was in until I was fully immersed. I have been married for 6 years with 2 daughters (5 and 3). Over the last 5 years I have been the only source of income for our household, but my wife has recently started to work again part time. I really love my wife and apart from my huge financial betrayal we have a healthy relationship. The burden of this secret is now getting unbearable for me (had one panic attack a few weeks ago) so that I want to open up to her. I have come to the point where I accept that the money is lost and there will be no easy way to win it back through more trading. I have closed my 2 trading accounts and made a plan how to pay back my loans and credit card debt. I have a secure and well-paying job and it would (optimistically) take at 3-4 years to arrive at zero. So while I have of course financially ruined my family, at least we are not on the brink of homelessness and starvation. My greatest fear is that I will lose my wife and kids. If it was a few thousands I would not worry so much, but this is now a sum that could have paid for a good part of a home (we are renting and now will be for the foreseeable future). Whatever her reaction, there is obviously no alternative to coming completely clean about everything to save my family. I really don’t know how I should start this conversation and how to handle my wife’s (more than justified) expected angry reaction. I can already picture me and my wife sitting on our sofa after my confession, she being completely speechless at first, than comes the anger and yelling and that I have destroyed the trust in out relationship (which I undoubtedly have). She is a very kind and gentle person, but can be also very emotional, which are all traits I love her for. To further complicate matters her mother is seriously ill and it’s her and my daughter’s birthday in a week. So not a good time for bad news, but I guess better now than in a week. I appreciate any advice on how to diffuse the dreaded conversation.
[remorse]

I have a bit of a cringeworthy story about my first 2 months in the stock market. I asked one of the mods if it would be ok to post here and they thought it would be good for this sub. A little entertainment for the weekend. Keep in mind I am a college student, that saved about $7k over the summer. Ok, here we go:
I made a very dumb choice. One of the worst any new investor could make. I decided to start my investing experience in penny stocks.
It all started back in Aug. after the "crash". It seemed like a great time to get in. I checked a few subreddits and came across NETE (I'm still not sure exactly what they even do. Something about mobile payments.) It was all good for the first few weeks and I learned the basics to the stock market. However, I was down by about 5% but only had $200 in so no big sweat, right? Well I thought I was ready for real money (Biggest mistake of my life), so I invested $1300 more in it to cover my losses. This was money I already planned on investing.
Later that week I lost another 10%, price just dropped out of no where. Strange, but I wasn't too worried. The pumpers set my mind at ease and told me it would recover soon, so average down. After a few days there was no news looming, except a some insider investing and a pending SEC filing. So I thought, what the hell. Cant hurt to throw another $1000 at it. 10% up and I'll cover my losses and then some. The next day, it was announced that they were filling for reverse split and wanted to vote in a few months on it. Literally drove my portfolio down another about 10% in a day. I died a little inside but I accepted defeat.
While all this is going on I did happen to make a little money on the side with GBSN. $20 here, $40 there. So I decided to move my money there so I could make $200 here, $400 there. I was even more confident since, they just released some news that customer acquisition was up and the only thing against them were some outstanding warrants. But it seemed as though the warrants already drove the price down as much as it could go, so I was in a good place.
I got in with about $800 at 0.08 and watched it go to 0.10, cool beans right? Wrong again. I was invest investing in GBSN in increments to get the best average price possible. And had about $500 left so I got the bright idea out of thin air to YOLO my money in RXII because it was up about 0.10 that day and reached about 0.60 (mind you I had only over this stock on my Robinhood watch list a couple times). I thought I was catching it on a swing down since it dropped down to 0.55. I was going to ride it back up to 0.60 and get out. Well it went up to about 0.56 and just went down after that. For the rest of the day it lingered around 0.53-0.54 and then dropped down to 0.48 the next day. It was like the universe decided to hit me over the head with a sludge hammer and flip me off. I came to find out the price fell all because some penny stock alert told a bunch of people to pull out.
So at this point I'm in dumbfounded in complete awe. I didn't even make much money on GBSN because it was countered by RXII. Angered, I decided to stick with my original plan and pull out of GBSN (@ 0.09) and RXII (@ 0.48) and buy back in on the next swing down to .08. It usually made it back up to 0.09 some time in the week so it seemed like a quick trade. I put another $1000 and bought back in @ .083. Well the SAME DAY., Nasdaq issued a delisting warning for GBSN and the price dropped lower than my IQ. Over the next couple of days it went all the way down to 0.06 and I decided I had enough. I finally got out at .059. After a few days of thinking I had it all settled, I decided I would get back in GBSN at .045 and ride the wave back up to at least .07. So I sold on Monday and waited for all of my money to clear, on Thursday so I could get back in and the price should be 0.05 or lower. Well just to my luck, Wednesday it went down to like .051 and shot up over 30% to like .07. I died a little more inside. I had to sit there and watch my brilliant plan go to shit while I'm sitting in class taking a test (teacher was sleep).
I woke up thursday morning and saw it was down for a bit but then jumped back up to like 0.075 so I got back in on a swing down to 0.072. It went back up to 0.075 but I just knew it was gonna go higher. Well it didnt. I literally went down to 0.07-0.0718 and stayed in that range for about 2hrs. I set my stop loss @ 0.0675 when I saw it drop break below 0.07 for the first time. It bounced between 0.068-0.071 but about an hour later it sold my position and GBSN was dropping ever since. At that moment I told myself I was done gambling like a bafoon and deleted all the penny stocks in my watchlist. I added Bank of America, Apple, Nokia, Netflix, and Ford to take their places. I had been watching these on and off for a while and doing a little dd on them.
Tl;Dr: Wanted a check, got REKT.
A message to new investors. Stay out of penny stocks! For now at least. It can be a great way to make a lot of money, when you know what you're doing. And you are probably smarter than me, but its a whole different beast than your standard day trading. They need CONSTANT attention. I spent most of my class periods and work hours glued to my phone, trying to make sure I didn't lose too much at once. Still got destroyed anyway.
Right now I have about $3100. I will not be adding any more in the see able future. I am tired of making idiotic decisions and want to turn my portfolio around. Please help me:

• How do you properly do DD? (List the things I should know before making any type of investment)
  
• How long should I watch a stock before getting in?
  
• What catalyst are most influential in affecting a stock's price?
  
• Are there any other suggestions on how to properly invest?
  

EDIT: Ok so a lot of people are stating "Hey, you were just gambling. You need to change you're mindset if you want to ever make any money. Stop investing in penny stocks" Thank you. I get it. I knew I was really just gambling instead of investing and wanted to change that. 1) The point of this is to warn others not to follow my mistakes, 2) Get some advice on how to change, 3) Give you guys a good story to laugh at.
Edit 2: I forgot to mention this, STAY THE HELL AWAY FORM STOCKTWITS. Especially if you do decide to get into penny stocks. It is literally ALL pumpers. No one listens to the bears and calls them crazy. You won't have a clear understanding of a company if all you listen to is the good?
Edit 3: Now I keep hearing people say I lost half my money and would have to double my current position to get it back in 6 months. 1) I didn't lose half of my money $1500+$3100=$4600. I don't have to double my money I to get it back. What I lost is about half of what I have seculeded right now for future investments. But honestly Im only focusing on a $1000 since I set that as my goal. 2) Im not expecting to make it back in exactly 6 months from today. I said 6 months to a year but I'm leaning closer to a year. And this is only after I believe I'm ready to get back in. Which may be awhile from now. Sorry about the miscommunication there
Just remembered something funny. My cousin was trying to me into the forex market and I thought I was going to take the easy way out with the stock market. One one hand the stock market is still not child's play and I underestimated it. On the other hand forex trading would have bankrupted me in days.

I was banned from /worldnews/. Here's what I would have said in response to this post:
When I first saw this article from reuters.com, its title was:

Turkey's lira weakens 4 percent, Trump says won't take pastor's detention 'sitting down'

Here are some other articles about this story:

• money.cnn.com: How the lira crisis could threaten the rest of the world
• wsj.com: US Takes Trade Fight to Smaller Nations
• forbes.com: Trump Tops Up Tariffs With Tweet As Turkey Teeters
• omaha.com: Turkish lira resumes fall after Trump sanctions threat | World
• uk.reuters.com: Erdogan, Macron vow to boost economic ties: Turkish presidential source
• marketwatch.com: Another first for Trump: Using tariffs as diplomatic weapon
• foreignpolicy.com: You Live in Robert Lighthizer’s World Now – Foreign Policy
• theguardian.com: Berat Albayrak: the Jared Kushner of Turkey tackles its crisis | World news
• abc.net.au: Turkish court rejects appeal to release American Pastor from house arrest
• bloomberg.com: Terms of Service Violation
• washingtontimes.com: U.S. threatens more sanctions, keeping alive Turkish crisis
• nationalreview.com: Markets: Stronger Than Dictators | National Review
• in.reuters.com: Turkey's lira weakens four percent, Trump says won't take pastor's detention 'sitting down'
• project-syndicate.org: The West Must Face Reality in Turkey by Richard N. Haass
• marketplace.org: Turkey shaken by financial fears, Trump rattles it further
• reuters.com: Trump says Turkey has acted badly in Brunson case
• usatoday.com: Juul Labs e-cigarette sales growth vexes teachers
• aljazeera.com: Turkey 'ready to talk about everything' with US to solve disputes | News
• cbsnews.com: Turkish anger at Donald Trump and US tariffs sees Turks smash iPhones, burn fake dollars
• nytimes.com: Trump’s National Security Claim for Tariffs Sets Off Crisis at W.T.O.
• hurriyetdailynews.com: An important detail in the Turkish currency crisis
• abc.net.au: Australia could be collateral damage in Trump's economic 'war' with Turkey
• marketwatch.com: The U.S. dollar will keep surging if Turkey thinks divine intervention is on the way
• in.reuters.com: U.S. says more sanctions await if Turkey does not free pastor
• in.reuters.com: White House condemns Turkey's tariffs on U.S. imports
• abcnews.go.com: Getting personal: US, Turkish leaders feud over arrest
• bloomberg.com: Terms of Service Violation
• cnn.com: US prepared to add sanctions on Turkey if pastor not released
• reuters.com: Turkey's lira weakens 4 percent, Trump says won't take pastor's detention 'sitting down'
• washingtonpost.com: Getting personal: US, Turkish leaders feud over arrest
• yahoo.com: Getting personal: US, Turkish leaders feud over arrest
• reuters.com: Turkey's lira weakens 4 percent, Trump says won't take pastor's detention 'sitting down'
• aljazeera.com: Is Turkey really looking for alternatives to the West? | Russia
• thestate.com: The Latest: Trump warns Turkey over detained pastor
• usnews.com: The Latest: Turkey Court Rejects Release of US Pastor
• yahoo.com: Turkey's lira weakens 4 percent, Trump says won't take pastor's detention 'sitting down'
• usnews.com: Getting Personal: US, Turkish Leaders Feud Over Arrest
• reuters.com: Turkey's lira weakens 4 percent, Trump says won't take pastor's detention 'sitting down'
• businessinsider.in: Turkey is reportedly prepared to release the imprisoned US pastor at the center of their economic crisis
• washingtonpost.com: We wanted Turkey to be a partner. It was never going to work.
• therepublic.com: The Latest: Moody’s cuts Turkey’s credit rating further
• reuters.com: Turkey's lira weakens 4 percent, Trump says won't take pastor's detention 'sitting down'
• bloomberg.com: This $16 Billion Turkish Wall of Debt Is at Risk From Lira Crash
• reuters.com: Turkey's lira falls 3 percent, Trump won't take pastor's detention 'sitting down'
• usatoday.com: Trump warns Turkey after court nixes release of pastor
• yahoo.com: Turkey ready to respond if US imposes more sanctions
• usatoday.com: Taco Bell puts some bite into new Rattlesnake Fries
• nytimes.com: In Turkey Economic Crisis, Erdogan Is His Own Megaphone, Blaming the West
• cnn.com: Turkish high court rejects appeal for US pastor Brunson's release
• aljazeera.com: Turkey court rejects US pastor Andrew Brunson release appeal | Turkey News
• scroll.in: Turkey’s lira crisis could see Erdogan could move away from the West and turn to Russia, China
• newsweek.com: Turkey Currency Crisis 2018: How Long Can Erdogan Maintain Grip on Power Amid Economic Meltdown?
• npr.org: U.S. Threatens Further Sanctions Against Turkey Over Detained Pastor : NPR
• finance.yahoo.com: Trump is now using tariffs to settle personal scores [Video]
• aei.org: It's time for Turkey and NATO to go their separate ways
• nasdaq.com: FOREX-Dollar slips as China-US trade worries ebb
• uk.reuters.com: Turkey will emerge stronger from lira crisis despite row with US - minister
• ca.reuters.com: Turkey's lira weakens more than 6 percent on threat of more U.S. sanctions
• uk.reuters.com: Turkey's lira falls 3 percent, Trump won't take pastor's detention 'sitting down'
• brisbanetimes.com.au: How Turkey and Trump shot down the Australian dollar
• bloomberg.com: Argentina Boosts World's Highest Rates Amid Turkey Contagion
• reuters.com: Trump says Turkey has acted badly in Brunson case
• bloomberg.com: Terms of Service Violation
• sunherald.com: Turkish lira resumes fall after Trump sanctions threat
• edisoninvestmentresearch.com: Independent Research | Investment Analysis | Commercial Due Diligence | Equity Research | Investment Research ...
• cnbc.com: Indian rupee hits record low, RBI seen to have intervened
• voanews.com: South Africa's Rand Falls to 2-Year Low As Turkey Rout Spreads
• dailysabah.com: Trump's desperate need to get Brunson back could cost him dearly - Merve Şebnem Oruç
• foxbaltimore.com: Turkey court denies release of US pastor
• newsobserver.com: The Latest: Moody’s cuts Turkey’s credit rating further
• thepeninsulaqatar.com: Qatar will always support Turkey
• businesstimes.com.sg: Why Turkey's financial crisis can hurt the world, Executive Money
• newsweek.com: Donald Trump Urges American Pastor to Be 'Great Patriot Hostage' as Diplomatic Fight With Turkey Worsens
• nasdaq.com: US yields slip on Turkey, but US China-trade talks spur optimism
• bbc.co.uk: Turkey and US trade new threats in detained pastor row
• yahoo.com: Trump says Turkey has acted badly in Brunson case
• theglobeandmail.com: The close: Stocks rise on trade hopes, but traders still cautious amid turmoil in Turkey
• clickondetroit.com: Turkish high court rejects appeal for US pastor Brunson's release
• barrons.com: Worried About Turkey Contagion? These 3 Fund Managers Aren’t (Yet)
• in.reuters.com: Turkey's lira weakens 4 percent, Trump says won't take pastor's detention 'sitting down'
• washingtonpost.com: Could Turkey's financial crisis have a snowball effect on world markets?
• northernpublicradio.org: U.S. Threatens Further Sanctions Against Turkey Over Detained Pastor
• ft.com: Subscribe to read | Financial Times
• dailysabah.com: Turkey's resistance and the dissolution of the global liberal order - Sadık Ünay
• dailysabah.com: Turkey to continue diversifying partnerships with Europe, China, Middle East and Russia
• marketplace.org: Why the Turkish lira’s downfall scares investors
• kansascity.com: The Latest: Moody's cuts Turkey's credit rating further
• thetimes.co.uk: Turkish tremors will cause shocks in Britain | Comment
• finance.yahoo.com: Turkish Court Rejects Pastor's Appeal as More Sanctions Loom
• egypttoday.com: Turkey ready to respond if US imposes more sanctions
• reuters.tv: Trump escalates spat with Turkey over U.S. pastor
• sfgate.com: The Latest: Turkey court rejects release of US pastor
• reuters.com: Turkey's lira weakens more than 6 percent on threat of more US sanctions
• wsj.com: On Turkey, Trump Turns Trade War to Financial War
• nordic.businessinsider.com: Turkey's president threatened a major blow to the US — but Trump looks to have called his bluff
• breitbart.com: Donald Trump Challenges Turkey: ‘We Are Not Going to Take It’
• reuters.com: Commentary: Trump’s botched Turkey policy
• newscentermaine.com: Trump warns Turkey after court rejects freedom for US pastor
• trtworld.com: Turkey, France agree to take action against US sanctions on Turkey
• gulf-times.com: Turkish court refuses to release US pastor
• seattletimes.com: Getting personal: US, Turkish leaders feud over arrest
• fresnobee.com: The Latest: Turkey court rejects release of US pastor
• knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu: How Can Turkey Overcome Its Economic Troubles?
• theguardian.com: Erdoğan says Turkey will boycott US electronic products | World news
• xinhuanet.com: Problems with US can be solved easily without current mindset: Turkish FM
• arabnews.com: Turkey’s lira weakens 5 percent, court rejects US pastor’s appeal
• newsok.com: The Latest: Trump warns Turkey over detained pastor
• yahoo.com: Turkish lira resumes fall after Trump sanctions threat
• forbes.com: Why The Popping Of Turkey's Credit Bubble Is Still Ahead
• courant.com: Getting personal: US, Turkish leaders feud over arrest of American pastor
• news.cgtn.com: Turkish court rejects US pastor Brunson's appeal for release
• mainichi.jp: Moody's cuts Turkey's credit rating further
• money.usnews.com: Turkey's Lira Falls 3 Percent, Trump Won't Take Pastor's Detention 'Sitting Down'
• thenewstribune.com: The Latest: Trump warns Turkey over detained pastor
• dawn.com: A US trade war with Turkey over a little known pastor? Don't believe a word of it
• m.sfgate.com: Could Turkey's financial crisis have a snowball effect on world markets?
• nwaonline.com: Turkey 'not a friend,' president says
• ktbs.com: The Latest: Trump warns Turkey over detained pastor
• columbiamissourian.com: Turkish lira resumes fall after Trump sanctions threat
• independent.ie: Robert Fisk: The real reason for US tariffs on Turkey is Erdogan cuddling up to Putin and Iran
• theguardian.com: Emerging markets: who's taking the biggest hits and why?

I am a bot trying to encourage a balanced news diet.
These are all of the articles I think are about this story. I do not select or sort articles based on any opinions or perceived biases, and neither I nor my creator advocate for or against any of these sources or articles. It is your responsibility to determine what is factually correct.

Ha! Strikethrough doesn't work on titles. So noted.
Well, it's here: One of the worst elections in US history, two despicable candidates, outraged anger amongst the populous, and economic turmoil, all right around the corner, just for you, this Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday! Will the market go up? Down? Right? Left??!! Who the hell knows, and that is why we are putting this thread up.
So, listen, there have already been a plethora of threads asking for advice on par with Brexit: "Which way will it go if XXXXXXXX wins?" "What about EUR?" "What about MXN?" "What about KPW?" "How do I get rich off of this??!" The answer: you don't. Unless you have stops set, have a plan, or have secret Illuminati knowledge of which candidate is supposed to win, we recommend that you don't "play" the elections. Wait until Wednesday morning and see which way the market is going. Get ready for some chop.
New traders especially: This is a rare event that has the capability to move the market in exponential directions, also has the potential for whipsawing markets radically. If you are new, do not gamble. This is not a game: you can lose a significant portion of your account including being stopped out, margin called, or potentially being negative balanced.
All traders - Within this thread post what you think the market is going to do, what your plans are, how you plan to trade.
The usual criterion: I do my best to delete empty posts. I want to see charts, SL, TP, entry (if any), and reason for the trade.
Remember that there are additional margin requirements across most brokers; take this into consideration when doing your maths. Also, watch those spreads! It's probably going to be ridiculous on Tuesday.
What is an /Forex denizen to do?

I was banned from /TheNewsFeed/. Here's what I would have said in response to this post:
When I first saw this article from cbsnews.com, its title was:

iPhones bear the brunt of Turkish anger at Trump

Here are some other articles about this story:

• washingtonpost.com: Turkey retaliates against Trump tariffs, hiking fees on U.S. imports in spiraling dispute
• livemint.com: US says Turkey tariffs to stay; Erdogan gets $15 billion Qatar lifeline
• nasdaq.com: FOREX-Dollar off 13-mth peak, emerging currencies up on Sino-US trade talk news
• ibtimes.com: US Tariffs To Stay On Turkey, Qatar Offers Ankara Aid
• asianage.com: US tariffs to stay on Turkey, Qatar offers Ankara aid
• hurriyetdailynews.com: US tariffs to remain even if pastor freed: White House
• bloomberg.com: Terms of Service Violation
• businessinsider.sg: Turkey's lira is rallying after a $15 billion loan from Qatar
• hurriyetdailynews.com: US Vice President Pence once again demands pastor Brunson's release
• uk.reuters.com: Turkish lira firms before finance minister's presentation
• hurriyetdailynews.com: Turkey invites US to panel in WTO over doubling of tariffs
• usnews.com: Turkish Lira Firms Against Dollar Ahead of Albayrak Presentation
• uk.reuters.com: In eye of the storm, Turkey's new finance chief faces credibility test
• aljazeera.com: Who is Berat Albayrak, Turkey's finance minister? | Recep Tayyip Erdogan
• nwaonline.com: Hitting back, Turkey raises tariffs
• charlotteobserver.com: Turkish lira rebounds after Qatar pledges $15 billion
• chron.com: Turkish lira rebounds after Qatar pledges $15 billion
• reuters.com: Euro rebounds from 13-1/2 month lows, dollar eases on U.S.-China trade talks
• independent.co.uk: A US trade war with Turkey over a little known pastor? Don't believe a word of it
• thehill.com: Five ways Turkey's financial crisis could roil the US
• in.reuters.com: Turkish lira firms before finance minister's presentation
• bloomberg.com: Terms of Service Violation
• finance.yahoo.com: Turkey's lira is rallying after a $15 billion loan from Qatar
• post-gazette.com: Turkey increases tariffs on some U.S. goods, escalating a feud that’s sent the lira to record lows
• in.reuters.com: Trump's latest boost to the dollar: U.S.-Turkey spat

I am a bot trying to encourage a balanced news diet.
These are all of the articles I think are about this story. I do not select or sort articles based on any opinions or perceived biases, and neither I nor my creator advocate for or against any of these sources or articles. It is your responsibility to determine what is factually correct.

Verified? (This bot cannot verify AMAs just yet)
Date: 2013-01-12
Link to submission (Has self-text)
Link to my post

Questions	Answers
I have a good friend who is a VP at your firm . They blamed the entire Financial crisis on ' poor people who could not afford their mortgages ' they said this was pretty much he opinion among the investment banks . How do you feel about what happened to Greece and Goldmans hand in it ?	That is not true. Opinion is very much split within the investment banks and there is no right or wrong answer. I personally don't believe at all that the crisis was caused by 'poor people' - and I don't like that sort of categorization of people in the first place. There are perhaps 15/20 different institutions you could blame for the crisis, there's no way of isolating individuals. I'm not sure what exactly you think GS's hand in the Greece affair was. Of course it's a sad story and I feel remorseful - I recently donated £50,000 at a charity ball to help rebuild one of the islands which has almost been burned to the ground. But ultimately Greece employed GS at the time because they wanted to fudge their finances so as to meet entry requirements for the Euro i.e. the greek government was knowingly employing GS to help perform an extremely risky task - GS didn't force anything upon them. If the experiment explodes 10 years later (as it did), should GS really be the party to blame?
The next day, you are flipping through television channels and randomly come across a pre-season CFL game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Knowing your inevitable future, do you now watch it?	Yes of course i fucking do. The future is inevitable. Chuck Klosterman i like your name.
I love seeing the ignorance that emerges in these AMA's relating to investment bankers. I am really interested in a career in either IB or Consulting, have a few questions for you.	Thank you to fletch below for answering this question.
1) How did you cope with the hours? I like working hard, I like working for my money but I also like enjoying free time and having a social life. When working a 100 hours as an analyst that would certainly have to suffer 2)What were you academic results like through your degree? I'm currently in my second year and will be realistically looking at 2.2, 2.2, 2.1 and 2.1 (years 1-4). This summer I'd hope to get an accountancy internship in one of the big 4 followed by an internship next year in one of the large IBs. I know there's more to a candidate than solely their academic credentials + internship but would this stand me well for a BB in London? (Top Irish university, undergrad will be in Business and French) 3) What is it that makes you enjoy this job? I know the paycheck is certainly a bonus but you've said there's more to it than that?	Whatever your breakdown between modules is, you need a 2.1 overall. Even if your average is 60% or 61%, that's enough to get you past the minimum requirements and through to interviews. After that it's up to you - they'll take someone with a good business mind and strong communications skills irrespective of whether they average 60 or 78 or 92. I disagree with him. My job is extremely rewarding and i wouldn't swap it for any other industry at the moment. If you want evidence of people enjoying their jobs look at the number of years they spend at their respective firms. Most of the partners at GS are 'home-grown' and have spent 20/30 years sweating away but don't regret it for a second.
Do you realize that in countries like Spain you're seen as an evil person that only wants to get profit and don't have any soul or feelings and probably kicks puppies for fun? If so, how do you feel about it?	Yes and understand their anger but it should be re-directed to politicians!
Proof? and of course... how much did you make in 2012 approximately?	Approx 600k. How do upload proof e.g. photo evidence?
	Sorry, new to reddit!
Do you have free ticket for me? Always looking for handouts.	What is it young people say, lolz??
I'm very curious of your opinion of Secretary Geithner's role in LIBOR. Do you think he was guilty? innocent? Thanks!	LIBOR scandal is way too complicated to explain at 2.30 am after a few beers. Many active players are implicated and i think he will be seen in the wrong eventually like many others.
What hours do you work?	Approx 80 hours a week not incl. flight time I go to festivals in Europe but would love to go it. Do you have free ticket for me?
If the concept and idea of a monetary system was replaced with something better (hypothetically) what would you do? As in for a career or what not since now you are jobless.	Resources will always be scarce so someone will have to ensure an optimal allocation. There will always be a market of some kind whether it be a public market or an internal government one.
Hypothetically we could have unlimited power, molecular production, and master matteenergy conversion. Would that change your answer?	Good interview question. I'll keep it in mind.
In your view, are there any regulations that could meaningfully alter the moral hazard typified by the 2008-2009 bailout of the financial sector? If so, what might they be? And if not, to what extent does regulatory capture play a role?	Regulatory capture is a seriously problem not just in banking e.g. also in the energy business. How do you reduce it? It won't happen unless the public demand it, as everyone with power tends to benefit from it and so they won't make meaningful steps to change anything, i.e. its a win win situation for government and business. However it needs more than just 'occupy movements' but rather i am talking the mass voter population.
Have you seen @gselevator on twitter? if so have you ever contributed/is it legit?	Haha yes i have seen it and no its not legit, well at least i think its not. Seriously though the elevator chats can be quite entertaining and revealing.
Do you use a mouse when you work on excel?	Are you joking?
	No.
In your opinion, do you think the money you make is worth the hell that you go through to make it?	I love my job and so i am lucky that the money is not the only motivator.
	But yes i love checking my bank balance at an atm.
How can i break into finance with a sub-par gpa?	Network and try non BB firms.
A company founded by 100 duck sized horses. or A company founded by 1 horse sized duck?	100 duck sized horses every time. Basic risk management theory - don't put all your eggs in one basket. If that 1 horse sized duck isn't exceptional, your business is going down the tubes.
Prior to the collapse, did you have any idea what was about to happen?	It was getting obvious that there was a bubble, but never predicted how great the fallout would be and that in 2013 we would still be suffering
What do you do day to day?	I work in the energy field in Europe but don't want to get too specific. Day to day we advise natural resource companies on all things financial such as m&a and financing strategy and then execute on their behalf. So I am on the corporate finance side rather than sales and trading. However I work closely with the syndication and sales guys such as if we are executing an IPO or a follow-on share offering.
I have a buddy who's small but established clean tech company needs money building biodiesel manufacturing plants around the US that run off garbage and wood chips. The technology is actually coming from a company based in Sweden. Can you help him on the money side?	Send me a link to their website.
	I find clean tech very interesting.
How did you get your job?	Did a summer internship then got FT conversion.
What college did you go to?	I went to LSE (university in the UK)
What jobs did you work before getting this one?	Did another internship whilst at university at an oil company.
At what age did you get this job?	22.
I hear the GS company culture is like " a frat on steriods" true or false?	False more than true but depends on team.
Is it as cut throat as I have heard with the bottom 50% of people getting sacked each year to make way for new guys who will probably be sacked the year after?	Bottom 5% is more accurate. 7-8% in a bad year, 3-4% in a good year. It's a fine line between 'cut throat' and having a 'healthy competitive atmosphere'. But we'd be out of business very quickly if we kept firing half of our staff every year...
Is there any stock I should look into in 2013? Long term or short term.	Short term- African Barrick Gold. The chinese walked away and so the share price plunged and despite serious operational issues, the massive drop has presented a golden buying opportunity.
	Long term- anything to avoid inflation, inflation scares the crap out of me and is going to be a big problem in the Uk and elsewhere in the future.
	Also buy into soft commodity boom e.g. meat in africa, think zambeef etc if you can find an attractive entry point.
What's the best preparation for an interview with an i-bank? I'm over here in the states and come from a non-target.	Read WSO, the forums are full of useful hints and tips especially for non target guys. Depending on what area you are applying for, make sure you know some really good examples and stock pitches as it is amazing how many candidates lack knowledge e.g. if applying for ECM for god sakes know some of the recent IPO's and likewise for equity research have good stock pitches and have conviction when presenting. Best of luck!
How important is your undergrad majogpa I'm double majoring in Econ/Conflict resolution studies with a possible minor in poly sci (depending on how the credits work out) I got a 3.9 gpa last semester but it only brought my overall gpa to a 2.4 because fuck klonopin. I should have at least a 3.0 by graduation, but I'm wondering its worth it to pay for and retake my first semester. Can I have $373 dollars? :D :D I promise only to get moderately drunk with this money. Sorry, a lot of questions, thanks for answering. Oh also, one last thing, all else being equal, is calc I enough math to apply for analyst job? or do I need more?	Undergrad course choice is not that important for IBD but obviously for more quant roles you need maths skills Again i am sorry but i am not very clued up on GPA Ok i give you money but first you have to register yourself as a charity so that you can gift aid it and get much more!
Where did you go to college?	LSE.
As an undergrad? How hard was it? I hear it's very difficult.	Yes, undergrad.
	Harder than most places depending on your course. Especially as you are competing with loads of kids from Asia who do extra calculus to relax.
How do you see regulation affecting the overall banking culture? Everything I have been reading and what people have been saying is that the culture is changing. Have you been seeing this?	I recommend reading "The Culture of Success" by Lisa Endlich.
Also how do you like the goldman culture?	Regulation is hurting us...but: Link to business.financialpost.com
How much total did you make in each of your years at the firm?	I don't want to get into specifics.
	But for your first three years as an analyst roughly 50k-70k (£ not $)
	As an associate 120k-160k.
	After that the numbers get exciting.
What tools do you use on a regular basis?	Excel, Outlook, Excel, Outlook, Excel, Outlook...powerpoint.
What is the biggest reward of working in IB? Where I study, students with high grades are pushed to chase the prestigious internships firms like GS, MS, etc offer. Their reasoning why they chase these jobs is that they think it is the highest (prestige) in finance they can go or are attracted by the money. It seems shallow to me. What does IB offer that makes your career personally fulfilling? Why didn't you choose to work elsewhere?	I find what i do at the front end of the energy sector fascinating. If your interested in business or globalisation or other similiar areas then IBD is pretty much at the cutting edge of it.
Thanks for the reply! When you were first starting out at GS, were you able to balance a personal life aside from your work? Has it gotten easier as you have gained more experience? Would you recommend IB as a field to pursue to your own children today? Thanks again!	I'd say during my first 3 years as an analyst the 'balance' was almost non-existent i.e. i was regularly working 100+ hours/week. Since then it's become easier year by year and i think that's true for most. And yes certainly i would encourage my children to pursue it - not that i have any yet.
Where did you go to uni what was your gpa? how many physics majors work their? did you start off as an intern? sorry for rapid firing questions.	LSE (london school of economics) - first class honours but don't know how that translates into GPA.
	I know only 3/4 physics majors in the office at the moment.
	Yes started as an intern.
Do banker run the world? how much political influence do they really have?	It works two ways. Some bankers have their fingers in politics in a way they perhaps shouldn't. But equally many politicians have their fingers in banking and can force our hands.
How hard is it for a non ivy leager studying finance to get an entry level job at GS? what about internships?	Tough. But with enough internship experience beforehand it's possible.
What do you think of Forex? Would you ever trade on it with your personal money?	Difficult to answer - you can trade forex in a million different ways - some ways are more interesting than others. I don't personally trade it, but others forge a very successful career out of it.
What was your bets investment in? (If that's how it works)	That's not really my role in IBD.
	But outside GS I invested in the Shanghai property market a decade ago or so. My 4 flats there are now worth 10-12 times what they were worth then.
WTF caused the 2010 flash crash?	Good question. Nobody knows for sure.
	From the link you've provided, I find no.2 the most plausible explanation. But I would also add 6. UBS did something stupid again.
As hardcore capitalists what is your feeling about (management of) banks that seem to live under the impression that profits are for a happy few while losses should be carried by tax-payers?	That's not what I believe at all.
	And by the way all of us are tax payers too. The top 5% contribute approx. 50% of the government's taxation revenue. So if losses are being 'carried by tax-payers' - that doesn't exclude people in the banking industry by any means.
Matt Levin at Dealbreaker (former GS guy) describes Investment Bankers as "Travelling money salesmen". Do you feel that this description is apt?	The operative word in your question is 'former'
	Do you think that's how he described investment bankers whilst he was still with the firm?
	People tend to get very bitter and sensitive after they get fired. See Gregg Smith for further evidence..
Is an MBA necessary to be competitive when looking for a job or is a B. Comm enough to compete with others when looking for jobs in the industry?	Depends on what entry point - if you do an mba then you apply for associate entry whereas b.comm is an undergrad degree and so you apply for analyst roles. If you do a b.comm at a top university/college and get some internships then you should be well placed. Good luck!
Do any of your co-workers frequent Reddit?	I imagine less than 0.1%.
	Then again 2 people on this feed at least have claimed to be my co-workers, so who knows...
Since you're new to Reddit, what made you want to do an ama here?	I'd like to alter the public perception of bankers - not all of us are the obnoxious greedy individuals you read about in the media.
	I'm also extremely interested in hearing what non-finance people see as our key economic issues at the moment - this seemed a good way to find out.
Proof?	How do i upload photos? i will upload photo proof. Sorry not very experienced with reddit!
I am a senior in high school and I am interested in majoring in either accounting or finance, but I don't think I know enough about either career path to make the best decision, can you explain the large differences the two paths I would go down depending on major, or any advice that may influence my decision that I would not know at this point?	What you choose to study doesn't necessarily determine the industry you'll end up in. We have guys in the office who studied history, languages, even medicine. Just go for what interests you the most and focus on getting high marks.
Curious as to what kind of degree you hold/what was your GPA in college?	BSc. Economics degree from LSE. First class honours, don't know about gpa
I used to work for the swiss banks and swiss stock market indirectly, and have a few friends in the banking business, including GS and Nakamura in London. What is your personall opinion on prostitution, cocaine, and medication misusage in your business? Also, also what is your stance on GS' questionable involvment in Backpage.com?	With regards to backpage.com, the guys on the deal did not do their KYC checks properly. KYC checks are crucial for banks- your reputation and future success is more important than any single customer. Look up riggs bank and the Obiang family and then you'll see!
Possible. But realistically those kind of excuses are given no matter what really happened. For a company as big and powerful as GS I can only take it with a grain of salt. Are you content in the way GS does business from a moral point of view?	It's either a pinch of salt, or a grain of sand...
Thanks. I'm not a native english speaker and have not used it regularly for years, so it's gotten pretty shit. Any chance you answer the other questions?	Yes, apologies. I think some of our deals have been morally reprehensible in the past. The same goes for any major investment bank. But i think we've done a very good job in 'cleaning up our act' over the past few years and the public has played a large part in that. With any luck we will see a much healthier banking industry soon.
How accurate is what is said on the Twitter handle @GSElevator?	It's grossly exaggerated, but not entirely inaccurate...
You guys got trolled hard. A GS IBD guy not knowing how to upload something to the internet? Seriously wtf. Probably some guy from wso who wanted to feel like he was "in".	Link to i.imgur.com Just doing some work now! Link to i.imgur.com In case you wondered what Lloyd's signature looked like.
Is there anyway you can help me out, connections or anything, someone I should talk to to get a interview? Can you interview me, I shall forward you my resume!	Private message me and we will discuss. Sure i can help you out. I know how tough it is for you guys who are trying to get in!
Any thoughts on the MSI/SSG mini-scandal this week?	Yes but won't comment.
	Very hush hush.
I also work for GS. Which building are you in? I'm based in PBC. Also IBD, North. Would do an AMA and provide proof.	I'm in PBC too, moved from RC quite a few years ago. I'm not sure exactly what sort of proof i'm supposed to provide...?
Would you say you were groomed for this kind of work from a young age? LSE is an elite school. Did you go to elite private schools growing up or were you an exceptional student at a normal school?	Yes, Jimmy groomed me from four years old
Do you like your job, or should i say career?	Yes. If i did not then i would go and sail around the world again.
From your experience, how relevant is CFA nowdays?	Definitely worth doing.
How large was your Xmas bonus and did it get taxed over 50%?	See below - total comp was c.600k and yes taxed above 50%
You said in other replies that you were 22 when you got this job and make 600K now. How old are you now, and how long did it take you to get the that salary level? Is it all commission?	Was analyst at 22 and then moved up the ranks. Just turned 30, feeling old now!.
Can you give some insight on the business model of Investment banking? (I have no clue to be honest) . And what does a portfolio manager do exactly?	Portfolio manager is not IBD. He/she would work in investment management e.g. for blackrock or GSAM or a hedge fund.
I'm currently writing a thesis on the future of rentierism in the gulf with an emphasis on Saudi Arabia. I don't have much of an economic background apart from this, but the international energy market is obviously important to my research. Can you recommend any good (preferably free or low cost) primers and newsletters on the subject?	Hmm there are many on energy market but not too sure about rentier specific ones. Will have a think. I did my university thesis on Saudi and so will have a dig around.
How do you live with yourself? Knowing that the company that you work for doesn't give a fuck about you or anybody. All they care about is money. They have ruined america many times over. Seriously, how do you live with yourself?	Actually our business is dependent on America and more importantly the rest of the world's prosperity. So actually our interests are nicely aligned.
Link to www.rollingstone.com. Seems to me like your bosses and former bosses don't give a flying fuck about anyone but themselves. Can you name one good thing Sachs has done since you have been there?	I think you meant 'don't give a flying fuck" in your comment.
Do you happen to work with quantitative analysts?	Depends which deal we are working on. Sometimes we need them, other times we don't.
What's your retirement savings invested in?	Property (international and uk), shares mainly through tax efficient ways e.g. isa and EIS, pensions and artwork.
	No swiss bank account i am afraid.
"The first thing you'll realize is that they are extremely disciplined. You would never come across a Goldman employee, who would, after two or three beers, say "My colleagues are a bunch of dickheads" From Money and Power William D Cohan. What do you have to say about this?	I agree with it.
What advice would you give someone who is interested in going into finance and is currently in university. What would you have liked to do in your time spent at LSE now looking back?	Party more! You only live once. You can have that advice for free.
Thanks for the AMA. Do you know anybody I could speak with regarding interviewing and internship opportunities?	Private message me.
Doing an AMAA are you putting your job at risk for releasing company secrets/opinions whatever?	I've not released a single company secret.
Edit: added an A to AMA.	There's nothing in my contract to say I can't express my own opinions.
What do the hopes and dreams of Americans taste like?	Raspberry sorbet, in my opinion
What is your feeling on the separation of traditional banking and investment banking as is proposed by the FSA?	I think overall it's sensible - Barclays being the best example of why they should be separated.
	At GS specifically of course we're not involved in traditional retail banking at all so it's not the most pressing issue for us at the moment.
You mentioned 80 hour work weeks. Could you explain the timeline for your typical work day. Do you work 7 days per week? Is your work more project based where you go non stop and have some time off between projects?	There's no typical working day - some days are 18 hours and others are 12. Depends entirely what stage of a deal we are at. Generally I work 5/6 days a week, but keep in email contact with the office 24/7.
	Yes, entirely project based. But if we are doing our jobs properly there's not much 'time off' in between.
I'm currently on target for a 2:1 or a first at university in my economics degree. But due to a slight hiccup in my a-levels, in which i got A* A C, still managed to go to a top 10 university but do they look at the C, which was in maths.	Your university grades are definitely more important. If you do well in a mathematical module at uni that will allay any fears they have about an A-level grade.
Do they look at a-level grades and expect a minimum maths grade? I'm not bad at maths by any means, just an unfortunate anomaly in the exam season.	Which uni are you at and what do you study?
Manchester and economics BA - but i have econometric modules and another mathematical module for 2nd year.	Any chance of switching it to a BSc? Immediately reassures employers about your quantitative skills..
Hello there, first of all I want to thank you for doing this AMA. I am a dutch college student and currently I'm writing an essay about the BRIC countries. I used your book to write down predictions of their economic future, and I'd like to ask: did you participate in writing that book?	Are you referring to Jim O'Neill's book? I have a copy on my desk, but no I wasn't involved in writing it.
What do the guys at GS think about @gselevator?	See same q&a earlier on!
How often do interns get recommended to come back?	In a good year, approx. 50% of an intern class will get hired.
	In a bad year (2008 for example) perhaps only 10% or 20%
Any opinion on Nautilus Minerals?	Can't comment on that company i am afraid.
How do you feel about manipulating the currency markets to screw over the average retail trader?	I don't know what you are talking about.
Have you ever seen American Psycho?	Yes.
I am going to copy and paste this in an email and send it around my team. You will famous at the firm, well at least in my team in london anyway! Yes of course i fucking do. The future is inevitable. Chuck Klosterman i like your name.	That would also be an awesome interview question! And i give them 5 secs to answer.
I highly doubt GS interns work for free. I've almost never heard of an internship in finance that didn't pay -- most firms I've encountered usually pay the same base wage as the first year full timer positions you are interning for.	Interns in front office at GS in london get circa £42k pro rata. So not bad for a summer job and remember no tax as they are below threshold across the year!
Gold Mansachs.	Not sure about that one.
	I prefer Goldman Snachs, the name of our canteen.
Yes, Jimmy groomed me from four years old	But yes went to a private boarding school before. Widening the diversity of applicants in IB is a key target for HCM.
What is the future of investment banking in a new world order where both governments and the people are fed up with the excesses that led us into this credit crisis.	The industry is always evolving, that's what makes it an exciting industry to be in. I imagine it will take us a good few years to fully regain the trust of certain clients, but ultimately if this whole saga causes us to readdress our methods and practices to improve our service then in the long run it's a positive outcome.
	PS. Do you not think people should be fed up with the governments too, as well as the banks?
Not OP but I can answer this as a 2012 intern who got converted for Programming. A Math degree is a good +. There are 2 ways. Either join in as a programmer, show your merit and change departments, ie move to Quant side. Other option is to get a MBA, and join the I-Banking dept you want.	What's your name?
Do you have any books or resources you'd recommend the layman for learning investment skills (i.e. the wealthy barber) I ask because i feel there is a lot of crap out there and would like to genuinely learn.	I have never heard of the wealthy barber.

Last updated: 2013-01-16 15:54 UTC
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