What's your answer when you get asked what you do for a living in a social situation, especially when the person is trying to size you up?
“Derivatives Arbitrager”. Damn, I should know better than to walk and type - Blew out a flip flop, but at least I finally got those crumbs out of my armpit and my tie dye t-shirt will not show my earlier spill.
Such an annoying question to answer now that all the “average” people know about stocks/trading because of GME Now to save the time of explaining it I just say I rent out Jet-ski’s
They automatically assume everyone striking out on his own with stocks/trading is a daytrader and the negative connotation that comes with it (e.g. gambler, unemployed / can't get a real job, loser living in parent's basement, etc). That's why I get tongue tied all the time with this question.
Perhaps some people try their hand at trading because, among other reasons, they don't want to have to give a shit about what other people think.
Sometimes I'll be a smart ass and say I drive an ice cream truck. (Got that from American Sniper). I used to say I'm a professional stock trader, (I'm registered with FINRA, so I guess I'm technically a pro) but that sounded a bit pompous. So now I'll just say I trade stocks in my sweat pants.
I tell them I trade futures, stocks and some options, and manage the household investments. Then when I get an eye roll or what the "what stock do you recommend" question, I tell them I read and edit my sons papers, play with the dog, and similar to jnbadger I throw in how great it is to hang out in shorts and a t-shirt all day. I rarely actually give my 2 cents on the markets or a particular stock.