Page 924 - How to Make Money in Stocks Trilogy

Black Belt Trading: Investing Like a Pro 173

only problem was, I didn’t have any money. I was just a couple of years out
of college and living paycheck to paycheck. I wanted to buy a round lot of
100 shares but didn’t have enough money, so I started saving and scroung-
ing up whatever I could. Meanwhile, the stock didn’t wait for me; it ran up
from $7 to $14. I realized I was going to miss the stock’s move if I didn’t act
fast, so with all the money I had, $540, I bought my odd lots. As I saved
more money, I continued buying more shares, and the stock more than dou-
bled by the time I finally sold. I learned a great deal from that experience.
Always be on the lookout for new products; they are what drive a stock’s
move up.”

The Christmas Present That Changed His Life
For Christmas that year, Mike’s parents bought him How to Make Money in
Stocks. “Little did I know this book was going to change my life,” After he
read Bill’s book, he recalls saying to himself, “I’ve just got to work for this guy.”
Mike remembers thinking he had won the lottery after he was hired by
William O’Neil + Company to work in the research department. Not long
after being hired by the firm, he was in an accident, and his car was totaled.
As he sat on the curb waiting for his wife to pick him up, he says, “I felt like
I was given a second chance in life and didn’t want to waste it. Right then I
wrote down my short- to long-term goals. The key goal was to become a
portfolio manager for Bill. I looked at that sheet every day, and it kept me
highly motivated, working long hours every day.”
Soon after that, Bill gave an inspirational speech to the research depart-
ment. Mike approached Bill afterwards and told him he wanted to be a port-
folio manager. Bill said he wasn’t really looking for a portfolio manager but
said, “Put some of your trades together, and come talk to me.”
Mike assembled several past trades and current stock ideas and nervously
entered Bill’s office. He says, “I’ve never been so nervous in my whole life.
Bill was pretty tough on me.” Mike felt “devastated and demoralized” after
the meeting but realized that the charts he had given Bill were stretched
and not properly sized, so Bill thought a lot of stocks Mike was investing in
had charts that were very wide and loose (volatile price movements) when
in fact they were not.
A longtime employee asked Mike, “How much time did Bill spend with
you?” When Mike responded an hour and a half, she said, “Bill wouldn’t
have spent that much time unless he saw something promising in you. Hang
in there.”