So where did he come up with this story about doubling your money every two weeks? I don't know, but after that trade, I was wiped out. So I told John that, in light of what happened, I thought I
knew as much as he did—which was nothing—and that I was going to fire him. No more potato chips; no more diet
soda. I'll never forget his response. He told me, "You are making the greatest mistake of your life!" I asked him what
he was going to do. He said, "I am going to Bermuda to wash dishes to make a trading stake. Then I am going to
become a millionaire and retire." The thing that amused me was that he didn't say, "I'm going to Bermuda and take a
job to make a trading stake." He was very specific; he was going to
wash dishes to get his trading stake.
What eventually happened to John? To this day, I have no idea. For all I know, he might oe living in Bermuda as a millionaire because he washed
dishes.
After that, I managed to rustle up another $500 and placed a few silver trades. I wiped out that stake as well.
My first eight trades, five with John and three on my own, were all losers.
Did the thought ever enter your mind that maybe trading was not for you? No. I had always done well at school, so I figured it was just a question of getting the knack of it. My father,
who died when I was fifteen, had left $3,000 in life insurance, which I decided to cash in, despite my mother's
objections.
But I knew I really needed to learn something before trading again. I read Chester Keltner's books on wheat
and soybeans, and I also subscribed to his market letter, which made trading recommendations. I followed the first
recommendation, which was to buy wheat, and it worked. I think I made 4 cents per bushel [$200] on that trade. It
was my first win and very exciting.
Then between letters, the market fell back to my original buying price, so I bought it again and made another
profit on my own. I felt I was beginning to develop a sense for trading. Even in the beginning, I liked the feeling of
doing things on my own. What happened next was just sheer luck. I bought three contracts of December corn in the
summer of 1970, based on a Keltner recommendation. That was the summer that blight devastated the corn crop.
