Andrew’s note: If you’ve been following along, tomorrow evening market wizard Larry Benedict will be hosting his exclusive presentation for the rare event he calls the “7-day blitz…” and it’s quickly approaching.
So, join Larry tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET where he’ll reveal all the details about this upcoming phenomenon in the markets. It’s guaranteed to happen as soon as Monday, so make sure you catch the one ticker you need to trade during the event right here.
And read on below to see why Larry was fired every day, and how it made him into the successful trader he is today…
The year was 1984, and I had just started my trading career.
I worked as a runner, and a clerk, in the pits at the Chicago Board Options Exchange. And it was there that I learned the first, most fundamental rule of being a successful trader.
As a clerk back then, you would answer phones, write orders, and run the orders out to the pit to execute them. And then, you’d get back on the phone and report the fill to the customer.
When I first started, I was getting trained by another clerk who worked for my boss. My boss was a big-time trader. And the clerk who was training me said something strange…
“Look, you’re going to get fired every day. But don’t listen to it. Come back tomorrow and everything will be fine.”
I’m originally from New York. And here I was… 21 years old, in a new city where I didn’t know anyone, and I knew absolutely nothing about my job. Not to mention, I’m being told I’ll get fired every day.
I also didn’t know the ins and outs of working on a trading floor. I was expected to know what I was doing. But I knew nothing about trading, period. And on the first day, I got thrown right into the fire.
My boss was giving me hand signals for what trades to do from the pit, but I was clueless. They gave me a sheet with all the hand signals, but it was like having to learn sign language in minutes… I’d look up at the screens with the current stock prices, and it just looked like scrolling gibberish.
He really needed someone with much more experience than I had.
Inevitably, I messed up an order and my boss went ballistic. He told me I was an idiot and didn’t know what I was doing, and he fired me.
So of course, I’m freaking out. I call my mom and tell her, “Mom, I just got fired. But they told me I’ll get fired every day and to just keep coming back.”
And she goes, “Well, just do what they say then!”
So, I go back in the next day, and I’m there early. My boss walks in and he’s got a cup of coffee and a bag of McDonald’s, like everything is normal. He starts asking me what I did last night, and is in a normal, upbeat mood.
I was stunned… Everything really was fine.
So, the next day comes around, and he asked me a question about adding fractions together. I didn’t know the answer, so I guessed.
Bad move. I guessed wrong. So, he went ballistic and fired me again.
Suffice to say, it was a high-strung and high-intensity environment. And as miserable as it was every day – getting fired and coming back with my tail between my legs – I kept coming back.
Not a lot of people are built to handle that kind of environment. It forces you to learn quickly. You get knocked down and get back up – every single day.
That’s what my boss was trying to teach me, in his own strange way. And it’s a lesson every new trader needs to learn.
No matter how many times you fail, lose money, or even “get fired,” so to speak…
You have to get up, dust yourself off, and try again. That’s the fastest way to learn and improve.
It’s easy to get discouraged, especially when money is on the line. But if trading were easy, everyone would do it… And everyone would be rich.
So, maybe the advice to “never give up” is something of a cliché.
But that cliché is the reason why I turned that first job into a 35-year trading career, making millions along the way.
And if you want to be a successful trader, you must follow it too.
Regards,
Larry Benedict
Editor, The Opportunistic Trader
P.S. Thankfully, these days anyone with a social security number can open a brokerage account and potentially turn hundreds of dollars into millions.
But there’s an undeniable advantage to working on Wall Street. You get to learn trade secrets that most everyday traders aren’t aware of…
And tomorrow, I’ll be revealing one of those secrets – it’s a weeklong period of rampant volatility that occurs several times per year I call the “7-day blitz.” During this short window, if you trade one specific ticker, you can make more in one week than many do all year long… and it’s almost here.
So, join me tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET to get all the details about this event – including the free ticker I use to potentially see triple-digit gains. Sign up right here… You won’t want to miss it.