Belisle hitting right notes with stocks
Vallejo resident giving market advice on YouTube while playing guitar
Since Vallejoan Toby Belisle was in and out of work at Buffalo Wild Wings due to the pandemic, he knew to stay afloat he would have to find another way to make money.
Due to this, the 2003 Benicia High graduate thought maybe trying the stock market would be worth a lick. In fact, it’s been worth a lot of licks.
After having some early success with the stock market, Belisle is now giving tips to others on YouTube’s Shoppin Options while showcasing his musical skills with an acoustic guitar at the same time. Although he may not be shredding like Eddie Van Halen or hammering away notes like Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour on the song “Money,” the music does give a nice ambiance while Belisle gives tips on increasing one’s income.
“When I first started looking at
YouTube videos with people giving advice, there was a lot of different ways people were doing it,” Belisle said.
“Some were even doing videos in their bathrooms to get a unique echo. But more and more I saw people having to take down their videos because the music playing in the background they didn’t have the copyright for. So I thought I could give stock market advice but play my own music. I wanted to do something that was unique for me.”
For years Belisle has played instrumental music while he was a worship teacher at Northgate Church in Benicia or First Baptist in Vallejo. So performing in front of an audience was no big deal to him and something he was used to already.
Belisle is also a bartender at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Concord, but the restaurant has opened and closed a few times due to COVID-19 rules.
“In October I started thinking that I better find another way to make money, because who knew when we might have to close again and we ended up closing again in December,” Belisle said. “I knew I had to start saving money and putting some more in the bank. That’s when I started looking on Facebook and seeing some people were trying the stock market. I began researching and looking more at YouTube videos.
I started to realize that there is a lot of information out there on the subject.”
Belisle first invested 10 shares of $33 each on NIO, which focuses on Chinese electric vehicles.
“It looked like a good one and I made $10 bucks on each share for a total of $100,” Belisle said. “So I started getting excited and I got hooked. I invested in Disney and SKLZ, which is an online gambling site. I invested in SBE, which is building charging stations for electric vehicles.”
Belisle has been so successful early on that he and his friends have come up with a tagline similar to the one used by Dos Equis and its Most Interesting Man in the World, played for years by Jonathan Goldsmith in commercials.
“I don’t always trade stocks, but when I do I prefer options,” Belisle said, with a laugh. “Stay green my friends.”
Belisle said that anyone thinking about trying the stock market, there are ways to test it out without losing money.
“You can trade with paper money, which is kind of pretend money, like a Fantasy Stock Market,” Belisle said. “That way you can try some stuff out and see where it goes without losing money.”
Belisle, however, went for the real thing.
“I figured if I was going to have some learning issues, may as well get them over with right away,” Belisle said. “For myself to get involved I had to commit right away.”
Belisle said he’s made a lot of money, but his ultimate goal is to make five times what he puts down by the end of the year.
“If I put something like $10,000 down this year I ultimately want to make $50,000 by the end of the year,” Belisle said. “That would be nice.”
Well, music to his ear anyway.
Visit Belisle with some of his tips at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=S PCGeKX2vPY&t=18s.