"Dad, I need some cash now."

His parents were stunned. They both stared at each other and expected nothing but the worst from Jon. But Jon's demand had merit and was genuine.


"The Feds are announcing interest free lending to all the major corporations and this is finally the time to exploit the system! This is a gift from Bernanke! Why should only the rich benefit for this once in a lifetime opportunity?"

Jon's parents wasn't catching on. Jon's parents were regular blue collar individuals and didn't have the slightest clue how the stock market functioned. After Jon persisted on multiple occasions, his eventually parents finally gave in. Jon's parents opened an account that had their most of savings, entrusting their son that something good would come out of it.

Jon still lived in the basement of his parents. It reeked with rotten pizza and the place was corroded with walls that had water damage and the carpet stained that one would feel uncomfortable just to walk on. Jon wore the same shabby clothes since high school. He had outgrown his clothes but lacked sufficient money to buy some affordable clothing. His bed was a squeaky couch that there parents had reluctantly moved downstairs. His parents had no expectations of Jon anymore. In his parent's viewpoint, Jon was the byproduct of laziness and bad parenting. Jon however always loved to dream big. When Jon got excited about something, it was almost as if he had Asperger's. Researching everything about the topic until he understood almost all aspect of something. This time was no different.

Three months later, Jon's performance was atrocious. Not only had he lost a third of the portfolio value but the Dow had concurrently ran up 10%. Jon had dark bags under his eyes, drinking over a dozen cups of coffee just to keep him awake for the opening bell. Working in the West Coast was especially hard for traders, they would have to be awake when it was still pitch black outside. Jon had determined that he needed some professional help and decided to consult to his friend Mark. Mark was a classic rags to riches story, from relying on food stamps to one of the well renown investors in the Valley, making serious returns ever since he received the opportunity to invest with his mom's coworkers.

"So, you really want to know how to be successful in this market?"

"Absolutely! I would walk a thousand miles to find out how you do it Mark"

Mark looked intently at Jon and after a long pause he decided to let Jon in on the juicy secret. Jon had realized how much Mark had changed over the years, he started to wear Alfani suits and had a clean look about him. After a brief discussion, Jon was bewildered by what he had just heard. He didn't know if he was impressed or ashamed to hear about this revelation.

Mark and Jon decided to team up and Mark showed Jon how to navigate the decision making process. Then on a beautiful afternoon, just five minutes before New York would close for the day, Mark's office received a call and Mark instructed Jon to pick up.

"Amazon going to be in the red." Click.
And just like that, Jon had placed five thousand short. After the next half hour, Jon would see green like he had never imagined. Jon was ecstatic with how easy making money really turned out to be.

Over the course of two months, Jon brought beach houses in Bel Air, right by Larry Ellison and Sergey Brin, the all new Model S, and collections of Movado watches. Nonetheless, it wasn't to say everything had been good. Within several months, things started to heat up between Jon and one of the top brokers that was used by Mark's firm.

"I don't give a s*** what you think. I want you to place an order for thirty thousand at market price."

"Jon our systems will not take thirty. Will you do ten?"

"NO! You guys are pathetic!" Jon shrieked in Mark's office.

Click.

Jon slammed the phone down, disgusted at the situation. The sudden realization that the next few minutes he would miss a couple million dollars in opportunity cost deeply agitated Jon. Jon got the other employees to track the success rate for each and every broker. It took dedication and hard work to come up with this type of information and the last thing he needed was his order unable to be filled!
What Jon hadn't realized was the very same broker was suspicious of Jon's recent cutting edge transactions and this recent confrontation was the last straw for him.

One day after work, he went back to his house only to find tinted, dark Chevrolet SUVs parked outside his house. When he conspicuously walked in, there he found three agents sitting at his living room couch. After continuous ramble, both parties had enough of the quarrel.

"Jon, you can lie all the hell you want but the evidence is against you. You have two options: Cooperate that only gets you barred from of stock trading or go to jail for twenty years."

"Your telling me that you want me to wear a wire and go out there to get everybody indicted? Because if that's what you think is going to happen, you might as well throw me in now."

Jon was on the edge of his seat. His heartbeat was pounding and his face was as red as a rose.

The next day, Jon was jittery. He subconsciously paced around the office still unable to accept what had happened the previous day.
Mark said cheerily, "So...Jon, how about that near miss on Cannibis Science? Really was able to turn that sucker around!"
Jon had wrote a little note on a yellow post it and the message was in dark crisp Copperplate bold font that was clean and clear to the point.
Mark had glanced at it only to look up with all the color drained from Mark's face. The note had finally made Mark realize what he had feared all along. He was dumbfounded, unable to process the information that Mark just had posted.

The next morning, two guards were standing right next to Jon's bed. They held up the little yellow Post-it that Jon had inadvertently left on the desk. Jon signed and knew that there was absolutely no way he could escape from this dilemma. In the back of the black sedan, tears began streaming down Jon's face. Jon over the past several months found something that he was actually good at! But that all didn't matter. Mark had scrambled to get all documents shredded by the employees and had demanded everyone stay in the office until there was no more phone records or any traces of illegal activity that the Feds can use against them. When the Feds marched into the office complex, all the employees already had anticipated the raid. The Feds showed their badges and it looked as if the party had finally come to an halt. Four employees were read their Miranda rights as the Feds had started to seize all the equipment and any remains that was left. Mark was appreciative that Jon at least had loyalty in the company that he took one for the team. Mark felt relieved as the majority of evidence was gone and it would just have to make the SEC's lives a lot harder for them to convict them as a company let alone all the individuals.

Jon walked into the courthouse, waiting for his trial. Jon walked in unknowing what was going to happen to him nor anyone else involved. Jon smiled though, reassuring himself that everything will turn out just alright.