My first days in this so called industry, were no more exciting than they are today. You wake up with this notion that what we have to offer the market is like something short of being the “Key to the Pearly Gates”. This golden opportunity that very few have to offer. “Hey guy, I’m giving you the chance to access the liquidity of your stocks without selling a single share or using that deadly instrument called Margin”.
Ohhhhh… you just know that any moment you’re going to have a mad stampede of elated borrowers and shareholders rushing toward your door. Hundreds upon hundreds of them yelling, “Me, me, me!”
Any fool entering the game for the first time looks at this as a “No Brainer!” Who wouldn’t want to pledge their stocks to get a LTV greater than 50%, not be subjected to margin risk, keep voting rights, maintain upside appreciation, no tax consequence, etc., etc., as the list goes on. “I can make a fortune doing this!” is the immediate reaction. So what happens next? A fool is as a fool does; gathers some preliminary information, makes a call or two and calls that due diligence”, aligns themselves with an agent of another agent of another agent who is connected to the capital source or claims to be the money, launches a website, opens up their doors for business and VOILA! A stock lender is born.
Sounds familiar? Well for those who’d like to pretend that their better and much more sophisticated than the others in this “high profile” and greatly respected industry, I do apologize for perhaps casting my blanket of assumption, but for all others who aren’t afraid of the truth, say Amen!
I for one was one of those fools! Ahhhh, and what a fool I was. And what an even bigger fool I might have become nearly seven years later. The stock lending industry was all but glamorous. All but sophisticated. All but completely legitimate. And yet, year after year, old fools were recycled with fresh ones. And those who endured are hopefuls, but fools none the less. For this we pray, that one day, all of us true romantics will actually survive to relish in a moment where all of the pains and ills of our past are vindicated by our persistent efforts to behold a brighter future. However, today… just for today, this future exists only in our dreams. But together, I know that we can make it a reality.
Ajene Watson
www.truestockloan.com