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Chad Mason Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102

Topic Proposal: Stock Brokers Introduction/Overview Ever since I was young my father has always instilled in me the value of investing. his led me to always have a fascination with the stoc! mar!et. "hile I was coming through the early years of my education I especially grew interested in the era of the roaring 20#s and the stoc! mar!et crash that shortly followed. I began to become interested in the patterns of the stoc! mar!et that intertwined into the global economy. $toc! mar!ets contain the heart of %merican Capitalism and what it#s all about. In the middle of this are the people that ma!e these trades happen: $toc! &ro!ers. "ith recent popular films such as The Wolf of Wall Street a bright light has been shined on the bro!erage industry that is met with mi'ed emotions. I will be e'amining what it is truly li!e to live the life of a $toc! &ro!er and the demands such a (ob entails. "hen most of society thin!s of $toc! &ro!ers they thin! of greed) corruption) and the fictional characters li!e *ordon *e!!o from the hit 1+,- movie Wall Street. "hile the media e'poses the li!es of the .ordan &elfort#s and &ernie Madoff#s do all $toc! &ro!ers lac! all sense of morality/ I#m off to find the truth about what being a $toc! &ro!er is really all about and to see if one must sacrifice their morals to become successful in such a cutthroat industry. "hile conducting the preliminary research for my topic I too! to first read a couple of famous investing boo!s from two $toc! &ro!ers who have had ma(or success while being !nown

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for also having outstanding reputations) these are billionaire $teve 0larman who wrote what some call the bible to investing 1Margin of $afety2 and the colorful Mad Money host .im Cramer who recently authored 1*et 3ich Carefully2. hrough reading these I learned there is a lot more that goes into being a $toc! &ro!er than simply investing in stoc!s. $toc! &ro!ers must also maintain high relationships with their clients and most of the hours they wor! are spent off the cloc! trying to gain new client relationships. o be successful one must has good communication and networ!ing s!ills to go along with being a 4uic! and rational decision ma!er when it comes to pic!ing stoc!s that will provide a high return on investment.

Initial Inquiry Question(s) 5ne of my main in4uiry 4uestions I will attempt to answer throughout the process of researching my topic will be 1"hat type of characteristics do successful $toc! &ro!ers share/2 I#m interested to see what e'actly separates those that can thrive in a profession that many others fail to survive in.

My Interest in t is Topic My interest for this topic comes from an interest in developing new ideas about a practice that has been a staple for man!ind in one way or another throughout history. he trading of goods has been around for centuries and the way it has evolved into the big business it is today is astounding. he thought of being able to ma!e your money go to wor! for you and watch as it can grow or dwindle in the matter of days has spar!ed a desire to learn as much as I can about this e'citing career path. "hile I have recently been attempting to research as much as I can about the ways of $toc! &ro!ers I feel as if I am (ust scratching the surface of the information I need to uncover.

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"hile going through my various research materials I find myself getting frustrated with the lac! of !nowledge I currently have on the topic) I often find myself struggling to understand the vernacular that is communicated and I feel that throughout gaining further !nowledge I can begin to grasp the concepts others are attempting to teach through the various mediums I have been see!ing to learn from.

!e"t Steps In the ne't steps of my research I will strive to gain information from reliable sources such as the Wall Street Journal, CNN MONEY, and documentaries that feature the lives of $toc! &ro!ers. I will also utili6e some untraditional methods of research) for e'ample) I plan on watching a television series called Wall Street Warriors that goes inside the lives of up and coming $toc! &ro!ers in their (ourney to become successful. I also hope as the semester goes along to personally interview an actual $toc! &ro!er and get his7her ta!e on what it is truly li!e in a typical wee! of a $toc! &ro!er.