I have a name!

Yesterday I closed above the $75,000 balance mark in my brokerage account for the first time.  I’ve finally decided to use this arbitrary number as an excuse to start using my name on my blog.  I’m Alexander Fotopoulos.  That’s a mouthful, isn’t it?  I’ll just go by Alex.  Actually Alex is my real name and Fotopoulos should have been my last name, but my grandfather changed it not long after my dad was born.  I’m not using my real last name due to the fear that when I’m looking for a new job someone will Google me and will find this blog I keep while pretending to work. 

Somehow I can’t imagine that being a good selling point to hire me.  Can you imagine this conversation:

Potential Employer:  “Are you the same guy who blogs at mytradersjournal.com?”

Me: “Yes, I will work hard for you and only spend a few hours of my work day per day on investing and blogging.”

Potential Employer: “A few hours per day?!?”

Me: “Yes, that still leaves you with five hours every single day, unless the Fed cuts rates or there’s a big earnings miss.  On those days I’ll only give you two to three hours of work for the eight hours you pay me.”

Potential Employer: “Why would I hire you if you are going to spend your time on your personal stuff?”

Me: “Because I’m still going to get more done than your other employees who sit around gossiping.  At least you’ll know I’m awake at my desk if you need me.  Do we have a deal?”

Potential Employer: “Sure, sounds fair.”

My wife and I have actually discussed changing our last name back to the Greek last name instead of the vanilla American version my grandfather might have pulled out of a phone book.  I have no attachment to my real last name as there are only six people related to me with the same one.  The Greek one is certainly distinctive, but I fear, as my grandfather did that it could still evoke prejudice.  Recruiters might “happen” to pass by my resume looking for “a good white name”.  Also, my wife and I have both established names for ourselves in our respective industries under our current names and it might be hard to network at first with a different name.  I imagine women who change their names after marriage have figured out a way to deal with it, but I see no need for such a hassle when I can use my father’s original name as my alias here.  I get the best of both worlds this way.  I honor my past while not screwing up my future.

Some of the other blogs I read daily where the writers give full names (real or not) are listed below and worth checking out:

Stock Trading to Go, The Bull Trader, Self Investors

There are others I read at home sometimes, but AT&T blocks blogspot and wordpress.com blogs from the office so I can’t claim to be a regular reader and therefore they didn’t make the cut. 

Do you list your name on your blog?  If so, what is it?