Interview with eliteG

[David Randolph]

eliteG gave an interview to a Portuguese financial newspaper. They only published an excerpt but eliteG gently sent me the whole text.

I think it is a quite interesting read:

«What's your age?

**I just turned 24.

How long have you been trading on the stock market by
your own? 

**6 years.

How did you start investing? Just a little bit by fun?
Or did your first contact with the stock market was
professional, in an investment bank, for example? 

**My first contact with the stock market happened
freshman year of college when I was 18yrs old.  I was
studying Electrical Engineering and I was interested
in new technology companies.  The NASDAQ was making
new highs everyday.  It was crazy and I had to know
how to do it.  I can't explain exactly why I was
interested because I had never done anything like it
before.  My grandfather and dad gave me about $2000 to
work with. 

Do you have a degree in economics or had any specific
training in the stock market? 

**I do not have any specific training in the stock
market other than my experience and my own research.
I have read about 30-40 books on the stock market and
half of those were.of no value.  This is actually a
high percentage of great books compared with the
average trader because I did some research on which
books to buy.

How many deals, do you make, in average by day? Pedro
told me you have a position trading or fast position
(what's a fast position, is it day trading?) 

**I have a lot of variety in how much I trade by day.
This depends on the style I am using.  I have made
hundreds of trades a day and sometimes I make no
trades because I am holding my positions or doing some
research.  I also take breaks often after a big win or
sometimes a losing streak.

Do you invest simply in stocks or also in other
products like warrants, swaps, forex.? 

**I trade only stocks but I keep an eye on futures and
options. 

How many hours by day do you trade? 

**I am working on something trading related 10-12
hours per day.  I do a lot of research and have come
up with a few things that I think are revolutionary.
So I am writing a book about it and doing research on
this a lot.  Actual trading is about 6-7 hours per
day.  You can be a successful trader and only work 1-2
hours as well but this is what I do full-time.

Now for the second set:

How do you organize your day? At what time do you get
up and at what time do you start? 

**The organization of the day is very important.  It
doesn't always happen this way but this is a
breakdown:
6:30am exercise, eat breakfast..  8:30am read news,
check on stocks that are moving pre-market..  9:30am
scan market, research, manage plays, trade ,sometimes
lunch, sometimes not.. 4pm market closes, do end of
day research..

How do you prepare your working day, do you study the
markets and your positions for many hours before the
market opens and after it closes? 

**I read a little news but the truth is that the
market will tell me what its doing, not the news.  So
I do technical analysis of the market and just read
some news for fun and ideas.  I make sure I have lists
of what stock I want to watch for my trades.  When the
market opens @9:30 am it is intense.  I call it the
battlefield. 

Where do you work? At home in a special place just for
independent traders? I don't know exactly what kind of
structures do you have in the States for this kind of
activity. 

**I work at home and live with my dad, younger sister
and younger brothers.  I would like to move to my own
place but my mother died of cancer in March.  She was
only 45 and after graduating I moved here to be with
her.  So I will be around to make sure everyone is ok.
It was very hard but she was always behind me in
stock trading.  She thought it was very exciting and
was so proud that I chose to do that.

If it is at home, how do you fight against isolation?

**This is a very good question.there is isolation.
There are not many people my age that do this kind of
thing but I have found some really great people on
message boards to talk to during the trading day.  The
truth is I have always felt fine on my own.  That may
be an important ingredient to being a trader.  I enjoy
what I do a lot.

Do you have high levels of stress when your working?
Or do you have a trading methodology that prevents,
more or less, high levels of adrenaline? 

**In the beginning there were very high levels of
stress but now it is not that bad.  I feel like I have
experienced a lot and use very safe methods now.
There is always emotion in everything I do.  I think
it is only human to feel excited and scared when you
do something that people consider very dangerous.
These feelings can help you even.

How do you deal with the fact that you can lose all
your money in just a working day? Do you suffer any
anguish with this kind of subject? Have you ever lost
it all? 

**It used to be possible for me to lose all my money
in one day but that would be almost impossible now.  I
have lost it all twice.  I think the most successful
traders will tell you that they have lost it all.  It
is the price of education that the market takes from
you.  I learned a lot from this.  It is absolutely
essential that you learn from the mistakes that you
make in the market to be a trader.  You must always
analyze what you did wrong, even on a winning trade.

I leave in a country where it's very difficult for
specific stock to go down for example 20% in a day or
for a huge company to present bankruptcy from one day
to the other. But in the States that's not the case.
We saw what happened in the Enron and WorldCom case
(that's an extreme example). So the volatility of a
stock is very, very high. You must have nerves of
steel to trade on the US market? What kind of
characteristics does a trader have to have? 

**I would not do what I do if I believed that the
market was just a gambling arena.  I believe that the
markets can be analyzed by technical analysis.  As a
trader you must be able to learn and adapt
constantly, manage risk/reward and believe in yourself
a great deal.


Do you have any story that you would like to tell me?
I mean, something funny or something dramatic that
happened or that you saw happening to others in the
market? 

**One day I went to my engineering class, Power
Systems, @ 11am.  Everyone in the class knew that I
traded stocks and so before class started some friends
asked me, "how the day was going?"  I told them, "it
was a really good day."  One who doubted me and
thought I was crazy for trading asked me, "Oh really?
How much did you make today?"  I told him, "Well you
know the markets open @ 9:30am and now it is 11?  Well
I stopped trading @ 10:30 this morning so that I could
make it to class.  I made $4300 in that hour."  He was
speechless because he knew I was telling the truth.
He is now invested with me.  Everyone was
congratulating me.  It ended up being a $15,000 week.
Good times.  There is a lot of intrigue going on in
the markets but I always remember that day.   

How do you know where to invest? Do you contact with
other traders? Do you have friends that have the same
activity?... 

**I don't consider what I do investing.  I am
speculating.  Just trading a short term position and
in essence what I'm looking for is momentum.  For that
I need volume, patterns and historical analysis.  I
only play stocks that I have picked out for myself.  I
try to find message boards that have traders like
myself.  My friends are interested but don't know
enough to talk about trading.


Does the money you gain in the market give you a high
stile life? Being short on words: did get rich? Or all
you can get is to pay your daily expenses? 

**I am not rich at this point because I haven't really
had any capital to work with.  But that is growing.
Even now I make more than my daily expenses.  I am
having a very good time.  I think it's very important
to be doing something in your day that you enjoy a
lot.  Not everyone can enjoy their job but there is
something that they should find to do for fun.  I am
lucky because it is my job.

At the end of a trading day how do you disconnect your
brain from the markets? Do you have specific hobbies
to do that. go out with your friends? What do you do?


**I play sports: soccer, basketball, tennis,
football..exercise, movies and I read a lot.  I go
camping and hiking.  I also like to travel to cities
my friends are at around the U.S.A.  Also I'm thinking
about getting a fish tank.

Do you think you could be a trader for the rest of
your life? It's a really stressing activity and I was
told that people can't do it for a long time, because
it's very wearing. 

**It seems to be getting less and less stressful.  I
will always be involved with the markets in some way.
The truth is if you are a successful trader you do not
have to do this for a long time.

What do intend to do afterwards? To have another
business of your own. 

**I have some business ideas I would like to work on.
I would like to do something good for the community.
First thing I will do, though, is travel the world for
a year with my friends.  Then back to business =)

Is it rewarding to work by yourself? I'm making this
question in two different perspectives: if the money
you win makes you happy and if it's enough to say that
you wouldn't like to change your way of living. Or do
you think it would be better (more financially stable)
to work in a company, where you know exactly how much
you earn at the end of every month? 

**There is nothing like working for yourself.  It is
not easy and takes much discipline but it is very
rewarding to make it on your own.  It is not for
everyone.  With the money I make I plan to help
advance the world and make it a better place.  I will
be forming a company by the end of next year.

Do you have a family? How does your family deals with
the financial instability? 

**Since I live at home with my family there are not
many expenses.  Financial instability is not an issue.

[AussieTrader]

Nice one Elite, your success is clearly a result of your dilligence and hard work. Keep it up
Mike

[eliteG]

thx mike.     These shorter weeks can give us lots of volatility..many opportunities..lets all have a great week! 

[Melf Elf]

thx mike.     These shorter weeks can give us lots of volatility..many opportunities..lets all have a great week! 

Great interview, eliteG.  Applause.  You've got your head on straight, and what a bright future you have ahead of you!  Keep up the good work.  I wish you much success. 

I'm very sorry for your loss of your Mother.

[bula]

good read.  It was spooky how many similarities we share -- EE degree, trading style, twice hit bottom - and your trading methodology is exactly where I think the best balance of risk/reward lies.  And at only 24, to have your trading wisdom (and discipline) at such a young age makes you positioned extremely well for success. 

Congrats on the interview. 
Bula

[puenthouse]

Well done!!! I enjoyed that.  When you get that book out, let us know, Ill be sure to get copy or 2.

[gmarc66]

only 24 and already a master at his game....good for you! love to hear things like that...self-taught even!...very impressive!

yes, let us know when u've completed your book! i'm sure it will be very useful.

my condolences on the loss of your mother..my mother also died of cancer when she was only 34, but many years ago...But, I'm sure she is extremely proud of you!!

you sound like a very intelligent and well-rounded individual...good luck to you on all your endeavours..although i'm sure you won't need it, u seem to be in control of your future and won't be depending on luck very much.

julia

[eliteG]

only 24 and already a master at his game....good for you! love to hear things like that...self-taught even!...very impressive!

yes, let us know when u've completed your book! i'm sure it will be very useful.

my condolences on the loss of your mother..my mother also died of cancer when she was only 34, but many years ago...But, I'm sure she is extremely proud of you!!

you sound like a very intelligent and well-rounded individual...good luck to you on all your endeavours..although i'm sure you won't need it, u seem to be in control of your future and won't be depending on luck very much.

julia

wow thx Julia     everything you guys said means a lot to me.  I didn't know what to expect when David asked to post my interview... thx David.  I thought it might come out a little boring but thx for all the comments. 

I think of everybody here as my co-workers and that we are all on the same team.  On to the next game...

you know what? i think we hang-out too much to be co-workers..LOL

See everybody at work tomorrow 

[Adam]

When it talked about pressure in the article, you didn't realize that we are all expecting you to make us millionaires.  Way to go BRO!

[setravis]

I was out for the day.
My first reading of 3SOF.When I seen that it had been posted,I knew that this had to be the the very first thing I would read.
Very well done G! I knew from reading your stocks picks when I discovered the 3SOF web site, that there was something special about this young man.It doesn't take long of reading to know that the wizard has it together as a trader.You are going places G. When that book of yours is ready to come out don't forget to let me know.This is a must for my library.
My condolences on your loss.

Best Regards

[Tirebldr]

Normally when one gets to be retirement age (as is my case), one can begin to read an individual. You have become totally successful, not only because you have come close to completely mastering your trade, but also because you are joyfully able to share your knowledge with others. I, along with so many others, have shared our appreciation for your help so many times. 

You go man!!! You deserve happiness and success in life. And when you return from that trip around the world, you will have many more stories to share with your 'working companions' !!

My condolances, also on the loss of your mom. Knowing you, I believe she had to be a fantastic person. Mom's are like that. Yes they are!!!

[gmarc66]

No problem eliteg..you really do deserve all the compliments u are getting.

I also forgot to thank you for all  your trade advice and for sharing your knowledge and picks with us. THANKS!!

Great to be on your team and of course with the leaders of the pack, David, Fredrick and all the others who contribute so much to this site..i think they know who they are. 

I am learning alot from everyone, unfortunately I am not able to give advice  as I am a complete novice and don't really know much about trading.

So, again i am thankful for all those who share and help some of us that need it, but I think this type of community benefits everyone in one way or another which in itself is a great accomplishment...there really is nothing else out there that seems to compare to 3SF.

I have said this before...eventually I would like to donate to this site and pay my dues for all I have taken from it..i just have to get out of the red first...please bare with me. I think with the help of everyone here, that will happen.

Great site, great people.
glad to be here.


thanks very much,

julia

[starfire]

Elite, interesting interview. Looking forward to your book. And Good Luck in all your endeavours.

[strp609]

G,
It would seem that your real success is not in what you have but who you've become....and so willing to pass it on to others and make the world a better place....well done!  If you ever find yourself in Atlantic City lunch is on me.
Al.

[ramlau]

We have so much in common, eliteG. I'm a couple of years younger than you are, and I'm still in school. But I've gone through literally all the issues in your life, especially the biggies - winning big (oh, IPIX 2004! $20k in an hour remember?), losing big, losing loved ones, and growing up...

Thanks to Randolph and Ramsburg, trading has become an even better learning experience. I guess then Senator Al Gore also deserve little credit for investing in the internet research project. We're quite blessed to live in this troubled world.

Ram
P.S. This week I'm trading/enjoying my vacation in Boston, a town that has Wi-Fi everywhere. Yes, these Massachusetts liberals have declared free internet for all. And I love them.