The Virtual Trading Pit

Sean McLaughlin
April 30, 2022

Twitter is on everyone’s mind these days. In light of Elon Musk’s takeover, there are a lot of people with mixed thoughts/feelings about the platform. But I for one am incredibly grateful for what Twitter has brought into my world.

During the depths of the financial crisis, I was trading (poorly) from home. I had left my office at the Chicago Board of Trade a couple years prior and I was having a hard time adjusting to being away from “my people.”

I missed the camaraderie of being around other traders. I missed the serendipitous strategy brainstorms. I was lacking the sounding boards to vent after a bad trading day, or to celebrate after a good one. And there was nobody else on Earth who understood the inside jokes and mannerisms that were second nature to those of us who attempt to pull money from the markets on a daily basis.

We are a different breed of human animal.

In March 2009 as the stock market was nearing the bottom of the Great Financial Crisis, I read an article in Barron’s that mentioned this “new online community called Twitter” and it highlighted people in finance who were using the platform to share trading ideas and network.

I thought it sounded like an interesting idea and I signed up for an account.

Of course, my early attempts at using the platform were amateurish at best.

I didn’t quite “get” the language and the whole hashtag thing, or how and why I would “retweet” something.

But I stuck with it, and after following all the finance people Barron’s had highlighted, I started identifying other traders with similar interests and outlooks that resonated with me.

Within a short period, I found a cadre of local Chicago guys and girls who were involved in the world of finance and we soon started forming “tweetups” where we’d gather at downtown bars near the Exchanges after work and knock back a few beers and forge new friendships.

This only emboldened me to get more active on the platform and continue forming new connections.

Soon, I was getting invited to speak at Trading Conferences in Chicago about this new “virtual trading pit.” And then I was even featured alongside my new friend Jon Najarian (met via Twitter) in an article for Crain’s Chicago Business.

It was around this time that StockTwits formed and I knew immediately that was the community for me. My active participation there caught the attention of Howard Lindzon and Phil Pearlman, and they soon invited me to join the company to help them build their growing community.

To say this was a life-changing opportunity would be an understatement. It was during my time at StockTwits when I formed some of my best and most enduring professional friendships. And it was where I first met a young portfolio manager who had just started a blog about technical analysis — your friend and mine, JC Parets. Mr. Allstarcharts himself.

And none of that would’ve happened if it wasn’t for Twitter. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for Twitter.

I certainly wouldn't be hanging with THESE guys:

On the one hand, I’m excited to see what new blood and focus will bring to this incredible utility. On the other, as a long-time small investor in the stock, I’m bummed I won’t get to see it grow to a “$500 stock” that I long maintained it was worth.

~ @chicagosean

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