*Ahem*

For those wondering why I've continued working at McDonald's and not "found a real job", something higher paying or "finished my degree, because it's what will set me up for life".

Since I've heard it so much, I can't dismiss the advice.

I haven't ignored you all; nor do I have a proper response that can say, "I know what I'm doing with my life, where I'm going, how I'm going to get there, and how best to take care of myself" -- because I don't ...

"Succeed or do absolutely nothing approach."

It means the list of things I haven't done is so long you might wonder if I've sat in a corner my entire life. The short answer: there is none, because I'm still figuring things out ... but the long one may be hidden in plain sight in the second essay I wrote for my role model's most recent Twitter challenge/job thingy -- So, yes, I applied to other jobs, including Amazon and the one in the tweet linked below, but while getting rejected, I realized a bit more about myself than I was prepared to find out ...

... and since I posted my last embarrassing entry, it was only a matter of time before I published this on Publish0x. So, without further ado ...

My Audition

My name is Jason Chunn, I currently work and stay in Corpus Christi, Texas.

My history with trading started with my Mother’s tutelage in reinvesting dividends into stable, high growth dividend stocks; Ameren UE was the stock. We would call the investor relations number and check the incremental growth together with my sister -- then I realized that there were publicly traded companies all around me that were sustainable, gave out steady dividends, and growth. This was later put to the test, as during my lunch and freetime breaks, I spent much of it in libraries or teacher’s computer access rooms. Many of the early stock simulator sites I used back then no longer exist, but an inset screenshot of “Wallstreetsurvivor.com” hopefully gives a glimpse of the types of stocks I picked.

Since my Mom went through the financial crisis first hand (but braved it sufficiently enough that my younger sister and I never noticed) -- all investing from that point was deemed gambling; by this time I was in high school, and my contrarian mindframe had a singularity event with my penny-pinching habits -- and I replaced what was recreational computer browsing to obsessive research. Even the most mediocre of successes contributed to my self-confidence in due diligence; Sprint doubling from $1.86 to +$3 was a simulation bet, contrary to the research done to find and buy (on the simulator) Nvidia at $9. Once I could trade at age 18, like many I also had a penny stock faze; after flopping with the marijuana stocks, my eventual combing led me to $AAMRQ at $0.36 exiting Chapter 11 bankruptcy it led to quite a few arguments that I didn’t know what i was doing from family members until they peaked around $11 and merged with U.S. Airways to for the new American Airlines [$AAL] today ; I stopped trading its shares when it was at $44 and realized the opportunity cost of not simply holding shares -- which led me to swing trading stocks like $AMBA.

In terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs simplified to “surviving, living & thriving”. I have survived on a portfolio of around $5,000, enough to pay bills, but like today I tend to have a full-time job’s worth of income as a safety net; $10,000 is usually the amount I tend to feel comfortable trading for a living with without a full-time second job; and +$15,000 full-time investor.

I lost an aggregate +$5,000 in the years prior to the ascent to my first $25k; at the time of this success, unfortunately I was over $100,000 in debt for the path in life I felt was inefficient; and since it was heavily touted by those who continually doubted investing/trading on all levels: for better or worse, the first day I crossed the $25,000 mark, I officially notified my teachers I wasn’t returning the next semester of my Senior year. I made an extensive plan to buy a car, rent and stay in the cheapest state at the time to own a Tesla and pay down debt with my trading profits and get a job if my funds ran below a certain threshold. I obviously didn’t know I could have afforded my own house at that point, build a tiny home, build credit, nor did I have the itch to travel for fun.

Being aware, but still susceptible to the fact that I was young, impressionable, impetuous and contrarian meant after dropping out of school I had second thoughts -- over Christmas break I was eventually convinced after extensive debates to hold off on my plans, and instead to stay in a state closer to family. I take full liability for falling to near zero after the change of plans; my focus was misplaced and I was definitely trying to prove others what I should have been trying to prove to myself. The rebuilding process into a portfolio that crossed the $25k the second time was while learning to trade options; through a process of impromptu plans, unbudgeted spending, lax focus and trading losses, I knew the only way forward was for me to move away and start fresh. For better or worse, I stayed, and received money based on my past performance from sympathetic parties -- that had to be repaid over the next few years via working at restaurants more than from trading profits.

I don’t deserve another chance, I know. I’ve had my shot, and honestly speaking, if I didn’t revere Chamath Palihapitiya so much: I probably wouldn’t be typing this right now. That fact doesn’t stop me from staying in my car to save +90% of my income to save up money to try again though. In my down time, I am learning the value of long-term Crypto investments and asset leverage/collateralization -- which has been a lot less costly a trial and error lesson so far in comparison to Swing and Options trading like before.

The reason these short three pages took me so long to type though, is because I couldn’t rationally squeeze in how I got the funds in October 2015. Trading is more psychology (in my opinion) than it is mathematical. However insane my ambitions get, they (like everyone else) are rooted in what happened in my childhood. In short: I inherited the funds that October.

Flashback to 2008, three years after my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer; four years prior, her Mom passed away from it; this was also 1 year after she had revealed to our extended family, church and family friends about the previously hidden illness. For me? I was starting the life altering stage we call high school; in the fall of that year, the stomach and chest pains I had been having on and off for a year came to a crescendo in August 2008. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s: an incurable, but treatable disease I previously knew nothing about; lost 4 feet of my colon and 19 feet of my small intestine the next day; the Clinical [Severe] Depression diagnosis was merely an obligatory officiation came the day after that. I retreated into myself; I forgot how to swallow food and drink, and even how to walk. Months of check ups, surgeries, therapy, walkers, canes, and diapers later: I somehow rejoined high school in time for the next semester early 2009, trying to act as if nothing had happened; I even joined the JV soccer team, all the while, as I improved, my Mother’s health slowly but steadily deteriorated.

My Mom was prayed for by more people than I can remember. I myself prayed once; having lost much faith earlier that year. It was an ultimatum. At 10:02pm CST September 10, 2009 I prayed: “God completely heal my Mom tomorrow or end her pain and take her home.” At 8:52am CST, Friday, September 11, 2009, a: supernovae occurred. I couldn’t cry. I only watched as a room full of family, friends and church goers did. I had an argument 3 days prior, the last time I saw her -- yes, it was about money and living on my own -- today I can’t stop crying every time I reread this to edit, but it needed to be said a long time ago. Watching the strongest person in my life decay, while going through hell myself broke me. I’ll never know if I killed my Mom with a prayer; or whether I’m trying to atone for it in my behavior, or when I undervalue myself; but I know being a Contrarian was forever etched in my psychology, the moment I walked away from her that day. Last time I checked, that personality trait was only good for investing.

I want to study with and learn from Chamath and his associates; I desperately want to have the funds to change the world. It’s just up to whoever reads this though to assess whether wanting it is enough.

Here's the tweet that prompted this for those wondering

I wish I could end this entry on a happy note and say: "Well I earned a bazillion dollars and started an Amazon rival to show both of them up", but ... nah, I still just work at McDonald's.

Summary

If you've made it this far and originally thought this was about Crypto, I'm REALLY sorry 😬