All of the markets are offering unparallelled trading opportunities. It feels like I’m playing baseball, the ball is coming at me at 100 mph, but is the size of a soccer ball. I’ve never, ever seen easier, better trading opportunities and set-ups in my entire career. The market is just broadcasting it’s future moves in real time. There is a chance, though, that I might just be in the zone and trading well.
I might be taking on an apprentice. A neighborhood kid recently graduated from the University of Central Florida, and has expressed an interest in the markets and trading. A few weeks ago, he knocked on my door wanting to see my trading set up. I showed him my screens, and gave him a high level overview of what I was doing, and why I was doing it. We talked for awhile, mainly about philosophy. He told me that he was a C student, majored in math, with a minor in statistics and partying. He expresses an interest in markets, and admits that he doesn’t have a clue. I look at him like he’s a blank slate.
His parents are nouveau riche millionaires, who own one of the most ostentatious McMansions on our key. I happen to loathe his parents, who consider me to be some sort of pariah, because I live in an 80 year old shack at the beach, and don’t fit the normal social conventions of our neighborhood. He told me that the folks are basically broke, being buried under debt, and living way beyond their means. He was quite frank and open about his personal limitations, fears, tolerance of risk, and lack of money. Despite being a C student, he seems quite bright. Yesterday, he came over, and I invited him to a game of chess, in which he almost beat me.
The kid has no cash, no real prospects for a job, no chance of getting accepted to a good grad or law school. If he shows some persistence, I might take him aboard and show him a few things.
John is coming home at 7:30 tonight. He got the “running with the bulls” thing out of his system, and bought me a red scarf as a present. I’ll have to pick him up at SRQ, and see what he wants to do, but I bet that he will probably want to crash. As for me, I’m up for dinner at the Columbia Restaurant, which I’ve described before in this blog.
There are no waves, and no possibilities for any swell for the next few weeks. There’s no trace of a wind, very high humidity, and 90 degree temps every day. This summer flatness always drives me slightly mad, kind of like a reverse Mistral.
Jeff
I can’t believe you are giving away my dream apprenticeship to some nice honest kid!!! I hope he just realizes what an awesome opportunity he has and doesn’t blow it. Next you will be telling us you are going to teach him how to surf too???
I think I am going to cry like a little baby…
Comment by newbie — July 11, 2008 @ 9:23 pm
I have had the same idea too - taking a few UCF students and seeing if they can be made into ‘turtles’ or whatever today’s equivalent would be. In return for database management, strategy exploration, etc… Wanted to try three kids: 1) a computer programmer vs. 2) math major vs. 3) business major and see what happens. Eventually lend them a small $5k account or so to test their mettle.
Markets this week have been awesome, haven’t they? Ducks in a barrel. I almost feel as if the circumstances have transformed me from a retail trader into a market maker where you know where all the stops are and are trading against a REALLY big order!
Comment by drsteph — July 11, 2008 @ 10:45 pm
I learned the craft from old pit traders who started in the late 1920’s early 30’s. They were grizzled old guys who knew everything, saw everything, and had balls of steel.
I really don’t know what college major is best suited for trading, but the physical sciences guys seemed to pick up trading better in my own estimation.
I don’t know if I’d have the mettle to start up a Turtle type program.
I think a key ingredient to success in trading is an ability to play games well. Mastery of chess, poker, backgammon and Go are good indicators of an ability to pick up trading….Athletic competition also helps.
90% of the guys I ever saw lease a seat at the exchange weren’t there 2 years later. I don’t know where they ended up after blowing up…..maybe they work at seven eleven
Jeff
Comment by masteroftheuniverse — July 11, 2008 @ 11:06 pm
His parents are nouveau riche millionaires, who own one of the most ostentatious McMansions on our key…He told me that the folks are basically broke, being buried under debt, and living way beyond their means.
Gee, there’s a shock. How many stories out there like that? Ask Freddie and Fannie and IndyMac and Bear and Lehman…
Comment by We Are...Penn State email list — July 15, 2008 @ 4:21 am
I think a key ingredient to success in trading is an ability to play games well. Mastery of chess, poker, backgammon and Go are good indicators of an ability to pick up trading…
I started playing poker about 20 years after I started trading. I was amazed at how similar the decision-making process is. I think it’s better than chess as trader training, because poker is a game of incomplete information while chess is WYSIWYG.
Athletic competition also helps.
And you don’t even have to be very good. I’m a craptastic athlete, but I love to compete. This drive to win is especially vital in a trading pit.
Comment by We Are...Penn State email list — July 15, 2008 @ 4:25 am