The Banksy Of Stocks? Anonymous College Student Earns Extra Cash Painting Charts

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"The Chartist" said he has always been interested in art and investing.

Combining the two was an idea that he had for a while, and once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he finally had extra time and got started.

The Chartist, whose pieces are available on his Etsy store, generally depicts the volatility of a certain chart, such as Tesla Inc TSLA or the market as a whole. One of his most popular pieces is a minimalist chart showing the price of crude oil and how demand sharply crashed when the pandemic hit last March.

"My slogan is ‘One line encapsulates a history'," The Chartist told Benzinga. "There is so much information in just a single line — the line of a line chart. The chart acts as an aesthetically pleasing reminder of that history."

The Chartist loves to encapsulate certain moments in history within his art, which can be also be seen on his Instagram account. There are charts showing the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY during the COVID-19 crash, Enron's stock during its collapse, and more recently, Dogecoin DOGE/USD going to the moon.

"The pieces can be used to remember a historic event or profitable trade," The Chartist said. "I do not just focus on stocks. I have created pieces of indices such as the VIX, commodities, currencies and more. Specifically, I have pieces related to the Flash Crash of 2010, Lehman Brothers, Enron, the Coronavirus Crash, and much more."

Like many people starting small businesses or side hustles, The Chartist's art didn't take off immediately. But as he kept putting more of his art out there, more people saw it.

"Once the CEO of a small ETF company found interest in a piece of mine, my following began to grow," The Chartist said. "Perhaps it was the encouragement that gave me the energy to move forward and continue something I am passionate about. In fact, I reached 500+ Twitter followers in about two months of joining the platform. However, contemporary art is a bit controversial and not universally loved."

(Photo Credit Courtesy of The Chartist)

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Posted In: StartupsSmall BusinessExclusivesInterviewartBanksyThe Chartist
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