My Grandfather died and I was distraught with grief. I took 5 days off from work, mourning the loss of Grandpa Fly, a young stockbroker at a bullshit firm. I had been there for about 6 months and my production numbers sucked moose cock, approximately 3-5k per month.
So, after taking a week off from work, I returned to the office and began packing my shit. I knew that taking a week off, no matter what the excuse, would get me fired. Lo and behold, like clockwork, shortly after I was finished packing my stuff, the sales manager called me into his office.
He was a burly Irish man, short on talent, long on work ethic. He was the type of person who always seemed jovial; yet at the same time, everyone knew he’d stick a knife in your back if given the chance. Also, he was known for hiring young reps, only to fire them shortly thereafter, in order to take their books. A regular fuckface, if I might be so bold.
Anyway, I sat down in his office and he said: “Fly, just throw in the towel.” I just sort of looked at him, all cow eyed and shit. He furthered: “This business is not for you. You can make more money as a dishwasher or paper boy. Just hang it up.”
Still depressed over the loss of my Grandfather, coupled with the fact that I was poor as fuck, meekly, I agreed and handed over my book (prior to entering his office, he asked me to bring in my book), without an argument.
Planning ahead, I had secured a place of employment at a small NYSE member firm, where a good friend of mine worked. He allowed me to share an office with him. However, upon transferring over, the market was so bad, due to the LTCM bullshit, hardly any of my clients followed me to the new firm. As a matter of fact, only 3 clients had the balls to come with me.
A few months passed and the market was in idiotic full crisis mode. I was young and overzealous and could not fathom what the fuck was going on. It was surreal. My work hours were consistent, 8am to 11pm. I worked like a fucking slave, often times slacking on the sales front in order to sponge information from the bloomberg terminal. I was an information junky, always reading, studying my trade.
Shortly before the LTCM crisis ended, the owners of the firm asked me to ” go work in the boardroom,” since I was undeserving of an office. They were right and I hated them for it.
By that time, despite being in the business for little more than 1 year, I was burnt out. I spent a week or two looking for a salaried job. My interviews were egregious, mainly because I really hated myself for failing and it showed. I wore it on my sleeve. The fact that I was being forced to find alternative employment, due to early set backs, ate me up inside. Needless to say, because of my poor interviewing skills, I was unable to land discount house gigs, or anything else for that matter. I had a new baby at home and I was living off of credit cards, in stupid basement apartment, Brooklyn, NY. My back was up against the wall.
I went back to work.
Almost immediately after “throwing in the towel” (again), in search for “steady employment,” my life changed for the better.
To be continued…
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Long Time First Time….Megga Dittos ….Stuttering Booyah Fly
Just when it is the darkest….
Keep the Faith baby!!
Done for the AM.
Thanks SMH.
“Without struggle there is no progress” – Frederick Douglas
Great story man…seriously, I am very interested in knowing more…especially the part on keeping the balance between work and family.
When you say you “had poor interviewing skills” I assume you knew to wear underwear underneath the robe (ala Fly’s videos) and not to tell the interviewer to “Fuck Off” when he said something you did not like.
A story much like mine. Same kind of manager same kind of luck.
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” – T.S. Elliot
i could have written that very story, book stealing, back stabbing etc, Biggest guys at those firms could not invest there way out of a paper bag, or pick a stock to save themselves, better at “servicing” the sales manager
Obama is on the attack touting his budget
Great post so far fly. Dude, are you thinking of writing a book?
When do we get to the part about the blue radio?
just bought 20% position in TNA @ 14.31
KIM taking another beating today. Down almost 6% so far this morning.
Commercial RE is fucked
Long the FLY.
He truly is GOD.
Fly,
Your best asset is your writing skill. If you had a separate section just on stories and tales of the Fly, AND, it was a paid service, I would sign up.
Thanks again for sharing your gift of writing with us.
Somewhere in NY the Rocky theme song was playing
Yea Fly, make a seperate section somewhere for your stories, they shouldnt dissapear in the old blog posts.
the Gy is Flod
illmatic.
I just tagged this “Fly Story,” for easy reference. One day I will take time to find all stories and tag them.
Thanks Master Fly.
Nice post Fly looking forward to next one.
Kind of OT but anyone hear the rumor that Peter Schiff is running for congress in 2010?
Sorry Fly…your story pales in comparison to mrkcbill’s story of his childhood struggle as a seamstress in downtown Bangkok.
anyone else feel the need for meds in order not to throw my 7 iron thru screen while watching CNBC..? serious…fucking low end journalists who should cover a gucamole festival in Venezuela..
I love The Fly more than his wife and kids.
Ill fucking stab anyone who fucks with him– any time and any where.
Let me know FLY. Im looking for a place to stay and I figure jail will be a cool place to ride out the depression.
Holla at me when you need something.
Poor Interview skills. “Yo, jackass ever been choke slammed by a grown man.”
It starts in a one bedroom apartment and then you blow up like Don Lapree
ooooooh papi tell me another story… again again!!
Many a great man have similar starts.
“it is a man’s world, but it would mean nothing without a woman or a girl !”
Don’t forget Mrs. Fly
Part 2: The Fly becomes ‘The Man’
The Making of The Fly.
Happy St. Patricks Day to all.
Sounds a lot like my recent stint as a financial advisor. Tell how it all ends, in part II.
I shorted DXD in the March Madness Contest. Not sure why you forced me to go long, when I wanted to go short. But since the prize was crap anyway, it really doesn’t matter.
For every egomaniac there are 1000000 sheeples I guess.
Great stuff Fly. Can’t wait for the rest.
Does this mean that you’re going to be treating us to the Fly’s first sexcapade? I hope it doesn’t include any regurgitation.
Are any of those original clients still with the fly?
Fly:
Thanks for posting this. I am at a similar point in my career, still learning the ropes trading. I have had some set backs, but I am becoming much more consistent and no longer take the beatings I took earlier in my career. It has been dificult making do with two very small children, but I know in the long run I will be rewarded for my patience and hard work. Again thanks for the insight.
Hey
I just joined the PPT and recieved my username and password, logged in and got the paypal payment page. I made the payment but when I try and log in all i get is the paypal prompt to pay again! whats up with that?
Good to see price controls making their way back and not a moment to soon. What other way to fuck a market. Fuck the left are stupid economics wise.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/16/free-market-meltdown-economists-fret-return-price-controls/
love fly, no matter what anyone says.
In case anyone hadn’t seen it..
Meredith Whitney is appearing as a guest host on Squawk Box this morning and below are some of Meredith’s thoughts on the banks and credit markets.
* We need solutions now and worry about regulatory changes later.
* Whitney said smaller banks have to grow their originations.
* Meredith said mark-to-market won’t solve the problem.
* Banks will start to assets sell off, bringing asset values down, but less bad stuff will be left on banks’ balance sheets.
* Whitney doesn’t think this year will be any different than last year.
* She says supercharge smaller, local banks so they can lend out to the end market. Insert non-punitive capital into smaller banks that have healthy balance sheets. She thinks that could help move the market. Meredith Whitney said, “Centralized lending is dead as we know it.”
* She expects many people who use credit to go in default and deliquencies will only increase.
* Lenders are pulling credit because they don’t want to be the last one stuck with outstanding loans.
* Consumer credit continues to shrink faster than many have speculated.
* She said banks are not investable until these banks get some earnings momentum.
* Meredith Whitney believes the stocks of big banks will drop due to lack of growing earnings.
Bman,
I fixed it, however you still lost in week 1. run the numbers.
Christ ..Cronkite is Mrs. Fly..my God you people should fucking read a real BOOK sometime..A real honest to God Classic ..not romance novels or comics.And stock technical analysis doesn’t count..
Fly Versus the Volcano
—————-
Coming SOON … to a theatre near you !
.
Fly, you should continue in the premium iBC only – make the cheap pikers pay for it.
Jed, loves to use his 20% OFF coupon at Bed,Bath&Beyond.
f*ck fly and his anon friends too
Art Cashin is a lepreclown
Nice story Fly. Be sure to not leave out the part about meeting a guy named Rodney at the OTB who turned you onto a 100-1 shot and that you took those proceeds arnd are still banking serious coin with
You can name part II the degerate old fuck and the nag 🙂
Good story. Reminds me of my own early tribulations. Thanks for sharing.
Time to turn off CNBC. Power Lunch is the absolute worst segment in TV.
By the way, anyone notice Trish Regan’s green sweater? My word…
Bravo…I certainly noticed it. Wowser…where have those been hiding all this time.
Fly, I think you’ll like this…
“If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise don’t even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives, jobs. And maybe your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery, isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance. Of how much you really want to do it. And you’ll do it, despite rejection in the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods. And the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is.”
– Henry Chinaski in Factotum…by Charles Bukowski
Fly.. where can I purchase the rest of the book? I’ll send you my usless Rich Dad/ Poor Dad series in exchange for some real interesting reading.
nice,right now im 27….woking from 9am to 3am(midnight)….but i never felt im tired…i love to do more work….
Annual St. Patty’s Day Breakfast Roast of the Governor of MA:
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/18936319/index.html
BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick belted out an Irish folk song he dubbed the “Gas Tax Lament” as jokes about dealing with the struggling economy took center stage at South Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day breakfast.
http://wbztv.com/services/popoff.aspx?categoryId=59&[email protected]&videoPlayStatus=true&[email protected],[email protected],[email protected]&videoTime=11.258&
Fly on the verge of the second coming of Charles Dickens.
Bravo I like that!
sold my TNT day trade @ 15.25
that was perfect laughter.
Top 3 holdings
SFLY about to BO
ARST about BTFO
DIG rebounding of lows nicely
Wow look at that lady’s hair on CNBC. It is spelled:
I M A G E C O N S U L T A N T
Very nice Fly..you truly are a very talented writer. Seriously, write a book. It will make the best-seller list
Go ahead tell us all about how great you are now thanks to that S.O.B sales manager!!!!!!!!!!1
Fly–following up on what The Artist commented on your banner I think the diamond would be better served as the dot on the i and the coin as the o in coin. Just my opinion but I think it would flow better visually. I know you were just sitting there waiting for my opinion on the matter on bated breath.
Seems getting shit-kicked in the teeth by the employment situation can firm up resolve. Especially when little kids and debt are involved. I’m planning to drill a well this year (or next winter more likely), and I’m almost done raising the 10 million bucks. If this works out, which I feel quite confident that it will, my investors will have at least a ten bagger, and I’ll have an overriding royalty that should pay out over $2-3 million within 5 years. If I had kept my job I wouldn’t have the time to be stepping out like this. I hope to report a success case in a year or so.
Thanks for the perspective fly. Can’t wait until part 2 of your eulogy.
Mars.
It appears Mother Market is in fact Kate Winslet.
Topless.
Mars,
Glad to hear you were able to raise the funds!!
Hope everything works out for ya!
ARST seeing volume come in over 12
Looks like the consolidation under 12 is coming to an end 13 will happen in an instant
Keep it coming fly, good motivating shit. I am sure plenty here can relate to the darkest before dawn thing. Just sux that corruption and manipulation can often put a wrench in all the hard work.
Nice story…I worked at OLDE discount selling buckets of special ventures for the spread to my churned up 15 mil book.
I started on 30 Broad calling from the Manhatten yellow pages.
oh the stories…stranger than fiction
Watching the screen while swilling down a McDonald’s Shamrock Shake.
Anyone believe that oil’s run is legit or just a short term move. Given that the fundamentals are pretty awful from both a demand and supply perspective, I want to call bullshit on this rally and may buy April puts on USO. That said, oil doesn’t seem to be following fundamentals lately and I dont want to get in front of the bs reflation trade, speculation that some dispute will be manufactured or the belief that the Chinese will actually increase their stimulus.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Oil Fuckery,
If you don’t have a firm view then don’t trade it.
This is some good shit.
Fly, stay in cash as long as you want, so long as you continue to regale us with tales of your exploits!
Mars:
Good luck. BTW what’s happening to YYC Home prices?
Great story Mr.Fly.
I’ve traded DXO a few times but never really thought about the symbol then this morning I was out driving and it suddenly hit me, D(ouble) X(times) O(il). Was this really obvious to the rest of the world or what?
You went all in on AOL?
Can’t wait for part 2!
Fly,
Looking forward to more “history” posts.
-DT