The Other Half

We don’t learn about Finance growing up, do we? Not just like basic “how do you handle your own money” but not even about how the finance in our world actually works. Ok, we learn a teensy bit of economics but what after that? We read there was once a great depression, we hear stuff like the 99 bubble, 2008 short, what else? Now we look at the news, we hear some words. We try to make sense of it all.

Then there are these traders, oh the Nifty, the NSE, the BSE, then we hear stuff like FDI, DII, FII. And by the time we try to understand how exactly these things work, and what Options are or Futures are and “what’s equity then, what’s shorting?” we start to think, “Oh My God. I know so much.” Well, ya don’t.

So you start thinking about risk management and trading strategies, oh then there are so many factors. So you start thinking, “Should I think collectively? How do I assess their value? Should I just look into Forex? Wait! There’s Crypto! I see her! Oh her majesty.” Oof! Of course these days, the order is the other way round, right?

And while you’re trying to wrap your head around these huge numbers, there are these huge firms. Yes, Trading Firms for one, but then there are these Investment Banks and Hedge Funds. And there are so many big names, you think, should I have known these guys from the beginning? Well, honey, if you knew Warren Buffet and Satoshi Nakamoto, you’re doing better than SO many out there. Trust me.

You see on Youtube, you discuss with your friends, and everybody seems to think reading a few books will help you become a good trader and you start daydreaming at your 9-5 IT job, 9-5 if you’re lucky honey. You imagine the great days that will lie in your future, you trade for a few minutes a day, you swim in a pile of cash and that’s it. You go to Vegas every week. Or maybe you live there. I don’t know your fantasy.

While you’re doing all of this, you don’t even realise there’s this whole world out there. A world that only does Finance. Day & Knight. They do nothing else and care about very little else. They have different branches for research, another for analytics then another for valuation and many more. There are people giving trade sheets, tips on which ones to put or call. And there’s an entire structure just for this. These people know exactly how free cash moves around in the world. Meanwhile, you don’t even know where the term “batcrap” comes from.

I’m not here to just make you feel bad about yourself, I’m too narcissistic to care that much about you. But that fantasy with the cash pile and Vegas was, for sure, not me. I don’t dream that small.

I’m here so we can talk more about this world that at least half of us know absolutely nothing about. There are so many more things, right? And well, I’d like to have a one-sided discussion since one seems to like me enough to listen to me. ;’)