The Only Black Guy in the Office

Amateur Stock Trading Is Tanking My Job Performance

Day trading with a day job is too damn stressful

The Only Black Guy In the Office
LEVEL
Published in
4 min readMay 24, 2021

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Illustration: Michael Kennedy

Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.

The first step to solving a problem is admitting that one exists. Unfortunately, I’m not quite there yet. Turns out, there’s little time for self-reflection when your workdays consist of meticulously surveilling charts, Reddit forums, and investor corners of social media to make shrewd purchases and sales of stocks and cryptocurrency — all while the workload from your salaried day job steadily piles up.

I’ve always had an interest in retail investing from afar, but this past year has damn-near turned that curiosity into an obsession. An obsession that feels like a high-speed roller coaster complete with exhilarating peaks, unpredictable turns, and dips that make you want to throw up. And thanks to this newfound fixation, I’ve found myself pondering potential swing trades during work calls and compulsively checking my investment apps every two seconds like a teenager refreshes TikTok.

The reasons for the Covid-19 era awakening of the amateur investor abound: quarantine boredom, additional disposable income due to…

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The Only Black Guy In the Office
The Only Black Guy In the Office

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Do you know him? Is it you? The trials and tribulations of a Black man navigating corporate life.

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