Exciting things going on

Well it seems that week after week there seems to be much more going on than the week before.

The first and most exciting news is that I passed my series 55 exam this morning. This was definitely the hardest test I have taken in my life, but thankfully I passed on the first try. If you look up online to try and find out what the series 55 you will have a hard time finding a good definition but basically it will allow me to have access to all the quotes on the Nasdaq and allow me to trade as a proprietary trader on the Nasdaq.

This past Sunday we attended church at the new facilities that were built for Simpsonville First Baptist and went to Sunday School for the first time. I will say that the class is not even close to the size of Houston's First Baptist but everyone was very nice. The new facilities are amazing and we really like the direction that the church is going. Hopefully we can get really involved with the future of the church.

This past week we both met with our realtor and we went over a lot of different options as far as homes and areas. We went out and drove to some of the neighborhoods and this Friday we are actually going to look at 7 different houses and hopefully find one we like. If we find one, we are thinking we might move in before our lease ends here. If there are any that we really like, we will post pictures online.

Lots of Updates

Update #1  

I got back from Austin today and it's good to be back home.  I had a great time in Texas and learned a lot but it's definitely awesome to be back with my wife.  The day trading experience has been a great one.  I have honestly found something that I really enjoy doing and can't wait to start.  All I have to do now is pass the series 55 and 63 tests.  I take my series 55 test on August 4th (and if all goes well) then my 63 a week later.  

Update #2

We have found a real estate agent and are going to be looking for our very first house very soon.  At this time we have no idea where we are going to end up buying a house.  We originally thought that we would live southeast of Greenville in the Mauldin or Simpsonville area but we are not sure anymore.  We will definitely keep everyone posted with pics of any houses we are interested in.  

Update #3

Soooooo, I told everyone that this was my first blog and today I realized that I knew very little about blogs.  I honestly did not realize that people had been writing comments.  I did, for the first time, read all comments that people wrote.  I greatly appreciate all the feedback and promise that I will respond to all comments in the future.  

Kevin's New Job

As many of you know I, Kevin, have been in Austin, TX for training for the past week which is the main reason the blog has not been updated.  There will be a much longer post when I get back to the east coast but I wanted to let everyone know how/what I doing.

I am currently training with Assent LLC which is a day trading firm.  Most of the guys that work for the company work in the office (about 40 guys) but I'll be trading from home which makes things a little more difficult but I like a good challenge.  The atmosphere is nothing like I've ever seen in my entire life.  I have watched the market my entire life, thinking I had an idea of how/why things work the way they do.  No book can prepare you for day trading I can tell you that first hand.  I will go much more in depth on my "Look back at Austin" but I did want to go ahead and post a few things about what I do and don't do because not many people (including myself before this week) really know what a day trader does.

Question 1- What exactly do you do?  

That is a great question imaginary person #1.  I basically trade securities all day long (stocks, bonds, etfs, adrs, options, futures...you name it we trade it).  

Question 2- Do you have clients that you are calling and trading for?

We do not have any clients.  We are leveraged by Assent but the profits are 100% ours.  The company makes profit on every trade we make which is why we can take 100% profits (much like a poker room takes rake, they make money as long as people are playing).

Question 3- Is this a rough time day trading with the market getting shalacked (yes I just made up a word)?

Day traders make money if the market goes up and if the market goes down.  The only thing we are looking for is volatility.  As long as there is movement things are good.

I have definitely learned a lot while I've been in town and met a lot of awesome guys in the office but it is definitely time to get back home to my bride.  Hopefully that gives everyone a better idea of what I will be doing.  

Trip to Austin

So in a week Kevin will be in Austin for two weeks training with Assent and learning to be a day trader. If anyone will be around that area def call. It should be a lot of fun and the first time Kevin has been back to Austin in over a year.

For the fourth of July Kevin's parents came in town. We got to show them all that is Greenville. The lovely Erica fixed many fantastic meals and there wer lot of games played. All in all I think everyone had a great time. There will be pics from the visit up very soon.

Kevin has a Job

We just wanted to write and let everyone know that Kevin has accepted a job with Assent, LLC as a proprietary equities trader (basically a day trader). Assent is located in Austin, TX so Kevin will be making visits down to Austin to meet the other traders and learn from them. For the most part though, Kevin will be working from home which is pretty exciting. Kevin will be studying for the next month for the series 55 and 63 and then will start working (yay more tests). Thank you everyone that has prayed for the right opportunity to come up.

Summer Time

Well things have definitely been hot in South Carolina this summer. It is a much dryer heat compared to Houston which is good but we will be glad when the heat leaves us. Things on the east coast have been really good and quite a bit has been going on in our lives.

We think we have narrowed our church search down to two churches. They both are great churches and are in different parts of town so it may depend a lot on where we eventually live. Speaking of where we are going to live, we have been on the house hunt as of late. We think that we are probably going to live in the Mauldin/Simpsonville area (cities just outside of Greenville) because you can get a LOT more for your money and it's not very far from Greenville.

Erica's work has been very good but her bosses are out of town so although she is on a project, there isn't anything for her to do right now. Thankfully there are some really fun young people at her work that we have been able to hang out with. It's always fun in a new city when you don't know many people to get to hang out with people close to your age.

Kevin has joined a Bible study with Simpsonville FBC that meets weekly which has been a good time to meet with other guys and study the Word. As far as the job search, things have been frustrating but an opportunity has opened that looks promising. We will keep you posted as things are finalized on the job front.

Thanks for everyone's prayers. We have been so blessed with great people in our lives.

1 Month in SC

Well the Butlers have hit the one month mark in South Carolina. Things so far have been going really well. Kevin has his new driver's license and new plates for the car. South Carolina doesn't put stickers on the front window like Texas does. They put the stickers on the plate itself. We thought that was a pretty nifty idea. Erica is liking her job more. She has been put on a project in Lybia but we don't know if she will have to actually go there. Kevin is still looking for that right job. We recently went up to the mountains in North Carolina to visit Kevin's grandparents. They are both doing well and it's always good to hang out with a familiar face. We went and saw Billy Graham's place, then drove around and took a tour of Montreat and Ridgecrest. We forgot to take a ton of pictures but did take one of the grandparents. As always we hope everyone the best.