Hi rrman; I thought I'd comment on gambling and stocks,
but it seems a little too far from the purpose of the Mohan
thread.
I don't get a thrill by buying lottery tickets or whatever,
either. I hope this is a sign that I am suited for
trading for a living. But a couple of the other students
got into a conversation with another guy, (who had
already blown through his account and is now in a
different side of the business) about trips to Lost Wages.
They were going on about which slot machines have
the best payoff, etc. The guy who runs the class is
young but a survivor, though without the years of
experience you have. During this conversation, we
looked at each other and just shook our heads. It
was clear to me that these guys were gambling
addicts and would be a real wealth hazard on the trading
floor.
Traders need to be risk averse, so if someone likes to go
to Las Vegas to gamble, (as opposed to visiting
the brothels, or watching the shows,) then I think they
will have to exercise more than the usual amount of
self discipline while trading.
I read Blood in the Water, which is about the
derivatives trade, and a lot of the professionals seemed
to also have a fascination with small time gambling.
Also Neidermeyer(sp?)'s book, Education of a
Speculator has the same observation. Of course,
now he's out of the market, having sold index puts on
an unfortunate morning this past October, and the
derivatives people are largely in flames from the SEA
problem.
-- Carl
P.S. I really don't think LTS is that much more rude than
average around here. On the other hand, he is incredibly,
almost unrelievably boring, never has anything to say, new
or old, is a unrepentant nit picker, is quite hypocritical about
insults, has very little self control, and uses way too many
words to say what he means. |
