Doesn't it get confusing when you talk to twenty-five people and fifteen are bullish and ten are bearish? Sometimes, but I've been doing this since 1976. I've always been able to read people very well, even though
no one thinks I listen. For example, I have one trader here who is cold as ice right now. All I have to do is listen to
him. Last night, he told me he wanted to be short. I knew that I was going to be long.
As long as he is cold? Right, and the one time he gets hot, fine. When the guy is cold, he is cold. You can't say to a trader, "You're
cold, you can't trade." You have to let them run their course.
Is reading other traders a key component of your personal trading right now? Yes, I'm pliable. I know these people, so I understand how to read them. I don't want to hear what Jack
Schwager says, because I don't know him. I only want to talk to people I know very well.
What other things are important to your trading success? The realization that when you don't care, you do well, and when you try too hard, you don't do well.
By "trying too hard," do you mean pressing when there is no trade? Pressing is one of the reasons I'm sitting in here with you for so long during trading hours. The markets
haven't traded well in weeks, and we are proud of ourselves for not having thrown a lot of money away.
So when the opportunities aren't there, you just lay fairly low? Don't misunderstand me. I'm not that good at that, but I have gotten better as I've gotten older. I've learned
that lesson over the last couple of years. After Richard Dennis left the floor, he said: "The first year I left the floor was
the most painful experience for me, and I have paid the largest tuition I ever have." It was the same with me.
What was the motivation for coming off the floor, since you were so successful there? I felt that the industry had developed to the point where my brokerage skills were no longer needed. All
anyone wanted to know was: "Where's the next tick?" "How can I move size?" The price to be paid for my particular
skills was too low.
