Here is another interesting article:
Lehman Trader Recalls Suicide, âPornographicâ Portfolio: Books
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...lls-suicide-pornographic-portfolio-books.html
The cause of Dillianâs distress wasnât Lehmanâs collapse; that drama unfolded some six years later. His despair reflected something much more common and corrosive about markets. His job, index arbitraging, had been automated by a computer program.
âThe diabolical index arb robots had taken over my trade,â he writes in the mocking voice familiar to readers of his financial newsletter, the Daily Dirtnap.
Not long after his over-the-counter overdose, Dillian opted for proprietary trading, placing bets on futures contracts. Soon he was back in the game, buying, selling, cursing and -- on one rough afternoon -- smashing his desk phone to smithereens. The trading floor roared in approval, granting him âa long, lusty standing ovation,â he says.
The market possesses âa malignant omniscience,â he says. âYou are a sinner in the hands of an angry God, and your positions are going to pay.â
In this environment, common norms of behavior fall away. On Wall Street, you can call a guy a jerk, or worse, without provoking him, Dillian says, because jerks often make bags of money. The real insult is to call someone a bad trader.
âIt implies that there is something fundamentally wrong with that person,â he says. âHeâs unfit. Heâs weak. And worst of all, heâs a mook. A loser.â
Judging from this blunt and sometimes hilarious account, Dillian was a good trader. He also was so unhinged that you wonder why Lehman allowed him past the front desk, let alone trusted him to execute billions of dollars of trades.
Evidence, psychopaths trader. Also, this is evidence HFT is taking over traditional traders.