Trading used to be all about the money, but that changed.
When I started my career in the trading industry, the money and the excitement lured me in. I’ve had a great deal of success in many different aspects of the business and my career path changed when I started OneOption, LLC in 2006. Before that I traded full-time. Now, I would also provide research and education to other traders. Both were compatible for many years, but that would eventually lead to a fork in the road. I had to decide if I wanted to trade or if I wanted to dedicate myself to the retail side of the business.
In 2006 I published daily research reports with stock picks, I traded, I wrote educational articles and I build a simple scanner. Life was good and I was able to balance everything. During the 2008 financial crisis I started to develop Option Stalker Pro. I did it for my own selfish reasons. I wanted to design and test my own proprietary indicators. That was a very deep and expensive rabbit hole and I offered access to the trading platform. That cash flow helped me to finance future projects (to this date, I still put most of the revenue back into the software). My goal was not to compete with TC2000, TOS or TradingView. They have incredibly deep pockets and I did not need to reinvent the wheel. The reason I developed Option Stalker Pro was because no one had the data I needed and no one had a platform specifically designed for the system I trade. Five years ago, the foundation had been built and 1OP was working well. My trading was great, but I had non-stop distractions from members. Something had to give. When I was trading and I had to help one of my members, I would get frustrated that I missed an exit. If I ignored customer support I would get frustrated that I was not taking care of my members. I was spread incredibly thin. I did not want to hire a staff for Option Stalker. This is a very fickle business and I had to cash flow it. For those of you wanting to pursue the software route… good luck. It has been much more challenging than learning how to trade.
It was time to do some soul searching and I had to determine what makes me happy. On one hand, I love trading and I love winning. It was very liberating to just trade. I didn’t have to post an entry or an exit or explain in detail why I did the trade. Trading is a skill I will always have and I did not need to prove it to anyone (including myself). This was the simple path and I contemplated selling OneOption, LLC. Trading isolated me and that drawback was one of the reasons I started the company. I knew that the trading path would always be there for me.
On the retail side of the coin, I could teach people how to do this and I could continue to build new features for Option Stalker Pro. This would be a much more challenging path. The same old stupid questions would drive me insane. Did I have the fortitude to withstand this abuse? The unrealistic expectations on the part of members and the need by some to be spoon-fed trades was also an issue. Is this something I wanted to do? The new features would be expensive to add, I would have to build a mobile (web) app, I would have to redesign my website so that it appeals to the retail public and I would have to produce more educational content than ever before. The amount of effort needed to write articles would be extreme and I would have to force myself to do it. If I was going to pursue the retail option, I would have to do it while I still had the energy, desire and mental capacity. Would I ever be able to recoup my investment? That remains to be seen. I’m not one to shy away from a challenge, so I decided to take this path.
As I got older I started to think about my legacy. My journey has been extremely tough and I wanted pave the way for others who share my passion. I had to learn/develop all of this and my journey took a lot more than the two years we reference. There was no one to teach me or to share the “secrets” and I had to create the system. It was a very long process and Dave Wyse has been here for most of it. He taught me a lot about trading. Thank you Dave Wyse, you helped me stick it out! So I summited and now I have the new challenge of teaching others. The chat room has become a community of successful traders who help each other. When I return to trading full-time, this will be my home. I’m glad that I am forcing myself to write. So much of my knowledge is subconscious. I often start writing a simple article that is much more involved than I realized. The content reveals itself and by the time I’m finished it looks more like a chapter in a book. Much of it I post to the Reddit sub, but much of it is only available to members. This content is special and I want to give you a leg up. I don’t charge for the educational content, but I don’t want it scattered in the wind either. This content is unique and it is another reason to be a member of OneOption, LLC.
With regards to content, I am well past the halfway point and I plan to have the Stock section completed by fall. That will be 75% of the content (first pass) which I hope to complete in early 2024. Then I can fill in any remaining spaces at my leisure. Option Stalker Pro has been a journey in and of itself. I have a very aggressive agenda and you will start seeing new features in coming weeks.
In this day and age, I’m supposed to feel bad that I want to get paid for my time, effort and investment risk… well I don’t. I am not spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and 70+ hour work weeks to provide all of this free to the world. This is NOT my most lucrative path and it is NOT my easiest path. However, it is one that I am excited about.
There are many people who have helped OneOption, LLC and I thank you all. No one has contributed more to the company’s success than Vincent Bruzzese (Hari). He brought the masses and he is a daily role model for all of you. Rest assured that I am in good health and that I plan to continue on this path for a long time. I just wanted all of you to know some of the history of OneOption, LLC and what my mindset and plans are at this stage of my journey.
