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jobsearchtips02 · 4 years ago

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Trading Sportsbooks for Brokerages, Bored Bettors Wager on Stocks

When Russian table tennis or Korean baseball won’t scratch the itch, some are trying their hand at trading equities. It’s enough to move the market, analysts say.

When the pandemic shuttered sports, Steven Young switched from online sports betting to online stock trading. He’s invested about $2,500.Credit…Michelle Gustafson for The New York Times

June 14, 2020, 12: 06 p.m. ET

When he wasn’t coaching sports, he was playing them or watching them. And if he was watching — well, a little skin in the game always made it more interesting for Steven Young, a teacher outside Philadelphia. Just small-dollar bets, mixed in with shuffling the rosters of his fantasy teams.

But when the coronavirus pandemic hit, all the games he cared about sputtered to a stop. So he turned to one of the last places in town for reliable action: the stock market.

Mr. Young withdrew all the money from his sportsbook accounts and deposited it into Robinhood, the free stock-trading platform. When his federal stimulus check arrived, he put money from that in, too.

Forced into online lessons when his school district shut its doors, the health and physical education teacher had everything he needed to get into the market. “Having the time and the flexibility and the opportunity — it being as low as it was — I just kind of felt it was a good time,” he said.

Mr. Young, 30, has only about $2,500 invested, making him a guppy among whales. But some Wall Street analysts see people who used to bet on sports as playing a big role in the market’s recent surge, which has largely erased its losses for the year.

“There’s zero doubt in my mind that it is a factor,” said Julian Emanuel, chief equity and derivatives strategist at the brokerage firm BTIG. “Zero doubt.”

Millions of small-time investors have opened trading accounts in recent months, a flood of new buyers unlike anything the market had seen in years, just as lockdown orders halted entire sectors of the economy and sent unemployment soaring.

It’s not clear how many of the new arrivals are sports bettors, but some are behaving like aggressive gamblers. There has been a jump in small bets in the stock options market, where wagers on the direction of share prices can produce thrilling scores and gut-wrenching losses. And transactions that make little economic sense, like buying up the nearly valueless shares of bankrupt companies, are off the charts.

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Mr. Young, a teacher outside Philadelphia, wearing socks with the Eagles logo.Credit…Michelle Gustafson for The New York Times

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The Eagles fan emptied his sportsbook accounts and deposited the money into Robinhood.Credit…Michelle Gustafson for The New York Times

Even with modest investments, these newcomers can move stock prices, which are typically set by just a sliver of shareholders. On most days, the overwhelming majority of stock investors do nothing, while the buyers and sellers establish the prices. So even a small influx of hyperactive speculators can have a significant effect.

“Investors are increasingly asking us about the participation of individual investors in the shares and options market,” analysts from Goldman Sachs wrote in a note published late last month. “Our data suggests that individual investors are indeed a significant proportion of daily volume.”

Jim Bianco, president of Bianco Research, a financial market research firm, said gamblers were a small but important segment of those new arrivals, along with video game aficionados.

“Is it as big as what would we refer to as the institutional community?” Mr. Bianco asked, referring to mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and professional investors. “Probably not.”

But, he added, “it is big enough to matter.”

Stymied sports bettors are sitting on a substantial amount of money. Gamblers legally wagered more than $13 billion on sports last year, according to Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, a research and consulting firm, and estimates suggest illegal wagering is 10 times that figure. But betting has collapsed since the outbreak shut down the major sports leagues. Sports betting revenues in March dropped some 60 percent from February, the firm said. They may have fallen as much as 80 percent more in April.

“Basically, I needed something to try to gamble on or to try to make some money on,” said Sean Moore, a 23-year-old aircraft electrician living in Suisun City, Calif. With an initial investment of about $1,000, he has experienced all the highs and lows of playing the market in just a few weeks.

Mr. Moore’s bets on airlines and casino companies surged roughly 60 percent in about a week. “I was telling everybody: ‘You got to do stocks. Sign up — it’s easy money right now,” he said.

But then a bet he made on the casino company MGM — premised on the reopening of Las Vegas after coronavirus restrictions were lifted — went south.

“It did not go positive like I thought it would,” he said. “I thought that was going to be huge with them reopening.”

Mr. Moore got into stock trading after watching Dave Portnoy, the president of the raunchy, irreverently juvenile — and wildly popular — sports and gambling website Barstool Sports.

When the coronavirus shuttered Barstool’s Manhattan offices, Mr. Portnoy — who had almost no stock trading experience — reinvented himself as “Davey Day Trader.” With an initial outlay of $3 million, he started buying and selling from his apartment and streaming the results to his loyal readers.

“I have a pretty good feel for when something is entertaining content for them,” said Mr. Portnoy, whose streaming sessions mix confident pronouncements with colorful profanity.

It didn’t start out so well: Mr. Portnoy lost more than $1.5 million on repeated bets that the market would fall. He put in more than $2 million more and turned into a raging stock market bull, clawing his way back to positive territory.

The short-term swings make betting on stocks no different from betting on a game: “Same rush,” he said.

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In this in-camera double exposure, a scene at the New York Stock Exchange can be seen around opening bell time around the start of the global coronavirus pandemic.Credit…Mark Abramson for The New York Times

While Mr. Portnoy has been a considerable influence on Mr. Moore, Seth Serrano was tipped off by someone close to him: his brother. Stocks have replaced sports as their main topic of conversation. They keep one eye on market movements, and fire text messages back and forth.

“It’s funny — we talk about it like we talk about the betting,” said Mr. Serrano, 39, who lives in Edison, N.J.

Updated June 12, 2020

What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?

So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.

How does blood type influence coronavirus?

A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

Will protests set off a second viral wave of coronavirus?

Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

How do we start exercising again without hurting ourselves after months of lockdown?

Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid,” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “When you haven’t been exercising, you lose muscle mass.” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.

My state is reopening. Is it safe to go out?

States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

How can I protect myself while flying?

If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

How do I take my temperature?

Taking one’s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “normal” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’t have a thermometer (they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications.

Should I wear a mask?

The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

What should I do if I feel sick?

If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

How do I get tested?

If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’t be able to get tested.

A modest bettor — only a dollar or two on a game — he keeps a portfolio worth only about $200. He freely admits he started out with little idea of what he was doing, but he naturally gravitated to a classic stock-market strategy: Purchase stocks that have fallen and hope to sell them on the rebound — “buying the dip” in trader parlance.

“I don’t know what half this stuff is,” Mr. Serrano said as he scrolled through his portfolio, reviewing holdings that included Ford Motor, some pharmaceutical shares and a somewhat obscure E.T.F. that tracks the price of the fertilizer potash.

He also has a stake in a business he knows well: DraftKings, the gambling service he formerly used. The company went public in April, and Mr. Serrano figured its shares would spike once games restarted. He didn’t have to wait that long: DraftKings is up some 245 percent this year, even without games to wager on.

“Basically I’m, like, gambling on my gambling,” Mr. Serrano said.

The last time Americans showed any serious appetite for stock-market speculation was the tech-stock frenzy of the late 1990s. Since then, investors have embraced safer options, like set-it-and-forget-it index funds based on the premise that trying to beat the market is a waste of time.

That started to change in earnest last year when a brokerage price war kicked into high gear. Robinhood, fueled by hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital, had long been offering commission-free online trades. Its established competitors were forced to lower their prices until finally, in October, the giant brokerages — Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, E-Trade, Fidelity and Vanguard — started eliminating fees, too.

When share prices plummeted in the pandemic, would-be investors rushed in.

TD Ameritrade reported a record 608,000 new funded accounts during the first quarter, more than triple last year’s pace. Schwab set a record, too, with 609,000 — including 280,000 in March alone. E-Trade had 363,000 new accounts, more than double the same period last year and another record. And in early May, Robinhood said it had added more than three million accounts this year.

There has been a surge in small investors using option trades to make pure win-or-lose bets on where stock prices will be at a specific time, said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak, an asset management firm.

“That’s another sign that it’s these gamblers,” he said.

Jonny Tran, a lawyer in Fort Collins, Colo., has embraced options and scored some wins, including a $400 put option — a bet that a share price will fall — that ballooned into $7,000 after shares of the chip-maker Broadcom plunged.

“It was just a hunch,” said Mr. Tran, 31, who had tried to scratch his gambling itch with games overseas, putting money on South Korean baseball and Russian table tennis.

During Thursday’s brutal sell-off, which sent the S&P 500 down 5.9 percent, Mr. Tran made out just fine, thanks to put options on Snapchat and the overall index.

“I made like 600 bucks yesterday, which is kind of cool,” he said Friday. But the sharp pullback got his attention, and he thinks he might cool it with the bets for a while.

As of Friday he was out of the market. “I’m going to sit this out for a little bit,” Mr. Tran said.

The bettors stress that they play the market as entertainment. Many have 401(k) plans filled with the plain-vanilla index funds that are the bedrock of retirement planning, and they put down only what they’re willing to lose.

“They’re not expecting to retire off of trading stocks,” said Josh Brown, chief executive of Ritholtz Wealth Management, who has been following the growth of retail activity this year. “They’re having fun and they’re learning the market, and I think it’s great.”

Mr. Young started out buying index funds, but he has grown more adventurous as he has picked up more knowledge. He’s subscribing to investing channels on YouTube, and finds himself reading financial news in Barron’s and The Wall Street Journal.

“It’ll be interesting,” he said, “when sports come back, how invested I am in sports.”

from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/trading-sportsbooks-for-brokerages-bored-bettors-wager-on-stocks/

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veiltray63-blog · 5 years ago

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‘Red-striped’: How Johnny Doc played Philly’s building inspectors

It pays to know a guy when you want to build in Philadelphia. Especially if that guy is a sitting council member with the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspection on speed-dial.

Tapped conversations included in a simmering indictment unsealed Wednesday against the leadership of the politically powerful Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers exposed an allegedly corrupt link between politicians, political donors and city building inspectors.

“Henon used his position to threaten Dougherty’s opponents from other unions because Dougherty told him to,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams, in a press conference outlining the charges.

Federal authorities assert that Local 98 boss John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty influenced Philadelphia Councilman Bobby Henon to use L&I as a weapon against non-union laborers. Both allegedly acted to “hide the true nature of their illegal relationship,” the indictment charges.

“At defendant John Dougherty’s direction, defendant Henon caused L&I to inspect and in some instances shut down, operations or construction work at locations outside of his district, where non-union laborers were involved in electrical work,” the indictment states, citing incidents that occurred between 2010 and 2016.

These allegations are just one small piece of a sprawling 116-count indictment, but they have deep implications for a department that has historically been criticized as a patronage den beholden to the politically-connected.

Henon, who represents parts of Northeast Philadelphia, continued to hold a staff position at Local 98, during his time as an elected official. He earned an annual salary of more than $70,000 atop his government salary. Federal authorities now assert that this role and other gifts –– like $11,000 in tickets to sporting events paid for by Local 98 –– were solely designed by Dougherty to influence Henon’s activities as an elected official.

“Dougherty gave these things of value to defendant [Henon] to influence Henon in [his] capacity as a member of [City Council] and Chair of the Committee on Public Property and Public Works,” the indictment reads.

Federal authorities say that Dougherty compelled Henon in 2015 to use the city’s Department of Licenses & Inspections to pressure the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia over a decision to use a non-union contractor to install a “kid-friendly” GE Adventure Series MRI machine.

“It is also an L&I violation,” Dougherty allegedly warned a CHOP official. “You don’t want a city thing shutting it down. We have had other hospitals shut down because of that.”

The hospital proceeded with the machine’s installation, using employees from the company that manufactured the MRI machine. According to the indictment, an alleged complaint from Henon triggered an inspection by L&I and a preliminary “stop work” order. Dougherty refers to this action to in one captured exchange as being “red-striped” –– a reference to the distinctive red-and-white striping featured on L&I stoppage notices.

After a L&I staffer reverses the questionable stop work order, Dougherty complained to Henon, the indictment asserts. The councilman appears to agree to fix the problem.

“Oh really?” Henon said, according to the indictment. “I’ll walk over personally.”

When Local 98 learns of another MRI machine being installed at CHOP, a captured conversation shows Henon asking for the “exact location” of the job. L&I eventually issued a second stop-work order, denying CHOP a certificate of occupancy for a new wing.

Dougherty later assures other union colleagues that he is “on top” of the situation at CHOP.

Both men are depicted instructing associates to keep the effort under wraps. Henon directing a union business agent to “delete your email,” referring to possible messages reflective of the intervention at CHOP.

Deana Gamble, a spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Kenney, said the administration is taking the allegations seriously.

"We cannot get into the specifics of this allegation that occurred in 2015 before the start of this administration, because we are still reviewing the indictment and court proceedings are ongoing," Gamble said in an email. "That said, L&I fields complaints from all of our city residents, not just the well-connected or powerful. L&I staff are expected to do their job without view of how the result will or will not benefit some people."

Patrick Christmas, policy director for Committee of Seventy, a watchdog nonprofit, pointed to 2015 incidents as examples of an unethical political culture.

"The allegations of a city department being wielded as a political weapon are appalling," Christmas said. "If true, this would be among the worst examples of Philly's old school political machinery in recent memory."

Criminal Conspiracy

The indictment covers another controversial aspect of Philadelphia development – namely, unions gaming city building codes for their own benefit. Conversations revealed in the indictment include a debate between Henon and Dougherty about using 2015 legislation tweaking the city’s building code in favor of the Philadelphia plumbers union as political ��leverage.”

The men schemed to use the legislation to help Doughtery win his post as the head of the city ’s building trades, according to the indictment.

Dougherty believed the head of the plumbers union would vote against him in an internal labor election. He allegedly sought to use Henon to delay the introduction of a plumbing code bill as punishment so not to affect the election. Henon then directed his staff to delay the legislation. Dougherty was eventually elected Business Manager of the Building Trades.

The indictment also alleges deeper coordination: that Dougherty allegedly compelled Henon to support Mayor Jim Kenney’s soda tax proposal as a way of carrying out revenge on the rival Teamsters union, oppose a 2016 audit of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, modify a 2015 Comcast franchise deal to benefit a friend and union contractor, and even use a Council committee in an effort to punish a company that had attempted to tow Dougherty’s car that same year,

Prosecutors say, taken together, the individual acts add up to criminal conspiracy.

“Union officials and elected officials are held to similar standards, both are required to act in the best interest of others” prosecutor Williams said. “When they violate that duty in order to enrich themselves, it’s a federal crime.”

Editors Note: This article has been updated with comments from Mayor Jim Kenney's administration and the Committee of Seventy.

Disclosure: The Electricians Union Local 98 represents engineers at WHYY.

Source: http://planphilly.com/articles/2019/01/30/red-striped-how-johnny-doc-played-philly-s-building-inspectors

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jsnorcross · 8 years ago

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My Life Struggle from Poverty to Poor and Finally winning the Battle.

So I've seen a few posts on social media about the cycle of being poor and poverty. I'm not knocking any of those, as sometimes perception by people can be different, but there is something that I wanted to bring to everyone's attention (some of you may already know this); but there is a difference between being poor and impoverished. I've statuses regarding living paycheck-to-paycheck, struggling to make car and house payments and buying groceries and clothes for oneself or the family. Essentially, this is poor; you have money coming in, you may or may not qualify for state/federal benefits, but somehow, with a struggle you're getting by. Poverty is a question of a paycheck or if you have one, it is so little that the idea of having a house payment or a car payment is a pipe dream. You likely rent some low-down, slum home/apartment or something, and that is a struggle to maintain payments for. You ARE state/federal assistance for everything that you can and it's not maybe; you DEFINITELY qualify! You do most of your clothes shopping at thrift stores or take donations from friends, family, or some charity organization and just are thankful you have clothes, let alone if they're new for work/school. You continue to wear these clothes, even after they are totally worn out, too big/small for you, because you can't afford to worry about anything else. Grocery shopping is limited to community cupboards, cheap grocery stores that sell super cheap bulk "filler" foods like macaroni, hotdogs, block cheese, and peanut butter you could grease an axle with. If you're lucky, someone in the home works at a food restaurant with a really cool and giving boss that lets you take spare food home to the family; or even makes a whole meal for the family once in awhile for you to enjoy... yes, enjoy, because it's a "rich-feeling" welcome change. Everyone has experienced different struggles in their life like this... Let me tell you about mine, growing up... My mother married at a young age when she became pregnant with me. She divorced within a year; the reasons differ, depending on who you ask and I quite frankly view it as something in her past and not mine; so I let it go and live my life. Later, she met my stepfather, who was an Army Vet and a Telecommunications and Electrician (by how he was trained in the military). Of course, cause he did not follow the customary apprenticeship programs, it was difficult to find work because he didn't have the official license. Eventually we found ourselves living in a 2-floor, slum apartment in the outskirts of Philadelphia, PA. Water and electricity was the occasional luxury, but somehow it rarely got turned off, but it was always cold or hot in the house because there was no A/C and the furnace was only occasionally ran. My mother worked as a telemarketer for minimum wage for a photography studio and my stepdad was a pizza delivery guy, making less than minimum wage as tips were expected to supplement this income (yeah right). Cheap generic cereal with powdered milk was breakfast (if we had any), and thankfully, I got free school lunches in kindergarten. Dinner was macaroni and cheese; everyday, because it was a cheap filler meal. Most of my clothes came from family hand me downs that I wore until they fell apart; because we couldn't afford anything. Understand this was 1977-1979, and this is while we also received public assistance for food, welfare; we had no medical insurance to speak of. Somewhere in all that, my stepdad applied and was accepted into Lincoln Tech University in the Electrical Engineering Technician program. My stepdad continued to work 7-days a week for scraps and the occasional pizza that the owner would send home with him when he got off work after midnight. Nothing was better than being woken up at 1 a.m. to enjoy some pizza; a real treat! My stepdad would rarely sleep, except for when he was so exhausted, he collapsed with his face in a tech book. Fortunately, my stepdad was a genius; he would dream about his homework, answering the Calculus equations and wake up in the morning and hurry and right down the answers. I remember looking at his transcript later in life; he maintained a 3.6 GPA throughout school. Things never got better during that time. My occasional babysitter taught me how to read at 4 years old, so when I started kindergarten at 6 years old, I was already reading at a 4th grade level. My mother didn't start me at 5 years, because she didn't know how and was too busy trying to work to keep us alive. Fortunately, public school invested in me and I streamlined my way through gifted programs for reading, science, and mathematics. Eventually, after my stepdad graduated school he began looking for work in Electrical Engineering. It was hard, because most of the time, the hand-me-down VW bug didn't work, unless my stepdad could perform a miracle with scraps he found or someone gave him parts (we couldn't afford otherwise). My stepdad eventually found a job in Sherman, TX with Texas Instruments making around $12/hour; this was 1979 and that wage was approximately equivalent to about $38/Hour today. So I went and lived with my grandparents for the summer, while my parents drove to Oklahoma/Texas area to look for a house. They found a beat-up old trailer in a trailer park in Cartwright, Oklahoma that we settled into. It was like moving into a mansion for me. My stepdad never missed a day of work; even when the car broke down (very often) he would walk over 20 miles each direction to get to work and back home. Fortunately, he would occasionally get rides to work from strangers on the side of the road. Continuing with our good luck, he made friends with a guy named "Mark" that in exchange for gas money, would drive from Denison, TX to Cartwright, OK to pick my stepdad up for work and then drive him home again. Eventually, we saved money and was able to buy from a stranger, an old 1978 station wagon that lasted a few years. My stepdad worked hard and was given good pay raises, never laid-off, and even was promoted a few times. My mother found a warehouse shipping job at "Crazy Crow Trading Post" dealing with Native American and Frontier-style clothing, shelter, etc... for those that participated in frontier-style re-enactments. I got into Native American dancing and would go to Pow-Wows all over the place, wearing stuff that I was able to put together from what my mother was able to get for me (at a discount) from work. My mother was eventually able to go to night school at the local Vocational-Technical school (Kiamichi Vo-Tech) and get her LVN license. While my stepdad's career, combined with my mother's warehouse work, moved us from poverty to poor, my mother becoming an LVN is what helped us to move from poor to lower middle-class. I later graduated high school and pursued military service and it was during those 6 years, my mother became an RN and her and my stepdad moved into middle class and was able to finally buy new cars and a house. My life repeated much of a similar path. I left active duty with strong leadership/management skills and a California EMT certification (that Texas would not accept). I lived in a trailer home I rented, while working for K-Mart in undercover security for $6/Hour, with a girlfriend and a baby daughter on the way. I used WIC and medicaid and it was a God-send. Things changed some and I eventually found myself working in Carrollton, TX as an EMT-Intermediate for $8/Hour. I worked hard, got increased responsibilities, more pay ($12/Hour, in 1999). I left to go to school for medical ultrasound and eventually got a job, with overtime, that helped me to make over $80k/year. This was short-lived as I was soon activated in the National Guard and my income dropped to $27k/year. I had two cars, a house, and was looking at solid middle-clas with eventual quick movement to upper middle, when I lost it all in bankruptcy due to the dramatic change in income and a spouse who (unknown to me) couldn't manage money/bills properly and was having an on/off affair with an old boyfriend (we eventually divorced, when she tried to proposition one of my best friends and I was told). Upon release from active duty, I pursued a career as a police officer, rising in the ranks until I was at the Executive Command Staff level at almost $82k/year. Due to politics and burn-out, I retired 2-years ago, but fortunately had money in retirement that helped, along with temporarily returning to EMS for $10/Hour, while I went to night school. Granted, I already possessed a BA in Criminal Justice and a Masters in Public Administration. I worked on an ambulance 45 hours a week, taught college government classes on my days off, taught CPR, ACLS, & PALS on the weekends, and went to night school for almost a year. Fortunately, working 3 jobs and using my Texas Veteran's Education benefits, I didn't need public assistance, but it was still a struggle. I now make $42k/year (government IT job), own a home, and I don't really struggle anymore. However, I remember the struggle. I remember living in poverty, I remember living poor, and America needs to really look at itself and make some changes to help those still struggling to get by and even fighting to raise themselves up out of the poverty line. I have friends that make this struggle still. I see them and try to help them any way they'll let me. I don't do it because I pity them; pity is for the weak and by no means is my friend weak, but a strong, independent, fighter. I reach out because I truly care and love them. I fought the fight and won; if there is something I can do to help them win the same battle I will. Even if it's providing that little bit of sunshine to their life (like my stepdad's pizza owner did for us), with stuff for Christmas or something I know they like to have but just can't afford it right now. Very few were ever there for me, but I can be there for my people. Not out of charity, but out of love and understanding. I'm not saying if your struggle was not like mine, then you don't know what you're talking about. I'm simply trying to provide context for those that may have a hard-time understanding what poverty and poor is like; the difficulty of the struggle to rise above it and the fact is, you can overcome it, but it's hard work and you will have setbacks and triumphs; however, you can win!

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