The Starting Line

    Hey, guys. My name is Derrick, and I’m 22 years old. Most of you know me as “DerrickJL.” I got my start in day trading when I was 16 years old. It all started after I opened an E-Trade guardian account with my father. I started out in the OTC markets and, like most, had little to no success in the beginning. I took hits left and right and eventually decided that this wasn't for me.

   

     Over the next few months, I made some decisions about what I wanted out of life. I decided to give the markets one more chance. At the time, I was a high school dropout with no direction and no future in mind. I just wasn't motivated enough to learn and study like the others in the classroom. At the same time, though, I wanted more than just “a job.” I wanted to do what I wanted, when I wanted, and to do it with whoever I wanted. And I knew a regular job wouldn’t allow me that freedom.

     

     For my second venture in the world of trading, I joined a penny newsletter around the time that “Awesome Penny Stocks” (APS) was the king of OTC newsletters. I had had some success with their picks like NSRS and SNPK. After those picks died, I took a break from trading and spent all the earnings I had made. Then, for the second time, after a period of not doing much with my life, I decided to return to trading. This was the true start of my career.

    

     As I finally got serious and funded my Suretrader account, a stock some of you may know—SGOC—was on fire. This, I decided, was my chance to learn how to short stocks, and I decided to take a crack at SGOC. I shorted it at $2.20 to start, then it ran to $2.75: I added, and added again at $2.90 and $3… you get the idea. One day I read a random comment in the newsletter room that went, "Nate says that this is a short squeeze and probably ends up going higher." I replied, "Who is Nate?" Little did I know that this was the start of an amazing career. Nate still doesn’t know this, but I blew my account on SGOC and decided that it was time to think more seriously and educate myself further. I joined his service before the move to Profit.ly and learned a lot, but yet again I got hit again on the second run of a stock called GTIM. So there I was with a blown account yet again. So, I went back to doing absolutely nothing with my life. I finally graduated high school, and as I once again tried to decide what I was going to do with myself, the dread of trading was still there.

 
   I rejoined Nate’s service in December of 2012. I bought in for a year and I remember telling Nate, "Hey man, I plan to be here a year from now." You know what he said? He said, "Do it up." I went from making or losing $50 a day to $300 a day, then $500 a day, and I kept it going. I was on the biggest streak of my life at the time. I banked over 26k in 4 months. Then SR & STXS came along and I nearly wiped my gains out. I took the money I had left and decided once again that this wasn't for me. In October of the next year, after having dinner with Nate and a couple of other renowned traders, I decided to give this a shot again. I started a new account. I made over 6 figures in 3 months and was completely hooked. I decided to reduce my account size and invest the quick profits I had made to fund my current account in order to protect myself from myself. Fast forward through some ups, downs and everything in between and here I am.

     I’d like to give a big shout-out to everyone who has helped me so much along the way. That includes Investors Live, FreeFlow, Elkwood, Mike, Splendores, Offshorehunter, bbstock & Miles J Stoner. Also a big thanks to the new friends I have made in the Investors Underground room, like Brandon, Christian, Timothy & Emil. Happy trading, all.

Derrick