Apparently, that was about the only thing you knew.
Right. Our next trade, in wheat, didn't work either. After that, we went back to corn and that trade worked
out better, it took us three days to lose our money. We were measuring success by the number of days it took us to
lose.
Were you always getting out after about a $100 loss?
Yes, although one trade lost almost $200.1 was down to about $500 when John came up with an idea that
was "going to save the day." We would buy August pork bellies and sell February pork bellies because the spread was
wider than the
carrying charges
[the total cost of taking delivery in August, storing, and redelivering in February]. He
said we couldn't lose on that trade.
I vaguely understood the idea and agreed to the trade. That was the first time we decided to go out to lunch.
All the other times we had been too busy scrutinizing the board, but we thought this was a "can't lose" trade, so it
was safe to leave. By the time we came back, I was just about wiped out. I remember this feeling of shock, dismay,
and incredulity.
I will never forget the image of John—he was a very portly guy with thick, opaque glasses—going up to the
quote board, pounding and shaking his fist at it, and shouting, "Doesn't anyone want to make a guaranteed profit!"
Later on, I learned that August pork bellies were not deliverable against the February contract. The logic of the trade
was flawed in the first place.
Had John ever traded before?
No.
Dostları ilə paylaş: 
