From CEO to pizza delivery driver

MandelbrotSet · Mar 23, 2009

Quote from Trader666:

2^10 = 1024. The rest of your points are also off by about 3 orders of magnitude.

LOL, this post pretty much points out what has been obvious throughout this whole thread.

There have been a group of people who have said time and again that this moron didn't know what he was doing, didn't crunch his numbers correctly and took extraordinary and irresponsible risks with his family's livelihood.

And there have been the other group touting the importance of luck (sushi et al) and how so much of life is random and how good things looked then, etc, etc,, blah blah blah.

Obviusly some people know what they are talking about, and others do not.

LOL this thread, these people act like they barely have a High School education, much less an MBA ... LOL some more.

mynd66 · Mar 23, 2009

Quote from MandelbrotSet:

LOL, this post pretty much points out what has been obvious throughout this whole thread.

There have been a group of people who have said time and again that this moron didn't know what he was doing, didn't crunch his numbers correctly and took extraordinary and irresponsible risks with his family's livelihood.

And there have been the other group touting the importance of luck (sushi et al) and how so much of life is random and how good things looked then, etc, etc,, blah blah blah.

Obviusly some people know what they are talking about, and others do not.

LOL this thread, these people act like they barely have a High School education, much less an MBA ... LOL some more.

Not a surprise, one mistake if you will (20 flips not 10) *certain people quickly re-checking my math again*... and the critics bum rush me!! At least the rest of the post had merit, oh wait can you guys do a spell check too?

Now is Now · Mar 23, 2009

I went back and looked at the video as I had only read the story which had left a lot of gaps......the guy is an absolute goose!!

What I did pick up was that his BEST year was 750,000, therefore it is reasonable that his average over previous years was a lot lower.

The wife is as much fault as the idiot, she was complicit in running up the credit cards, knowing full well they would not be paying them back or have the ability to pay them back.

Had to laugh at the pizza delivery as it was staged...he didn't even look at how much the lady gave him....typical of his hedge fund business plan.

This little PR gimic will not work this time and could be delivering pizza for quite awhile....and she needs to do a couple of shifts as well...while she is still with him.

mynd66 · Mar 24, 2009

scratch that spell check,

Quote from MandelbrotSet:Obviusly

... I mean obviously your english is as good as my math. LOL

anyways joking aside if you disagree bring forth some valid points based on facts. I'm not afraid to admit that I'm wrong. I don't claim to have all the right answers. I intend on having my views challenged.

I just see a lot of people that feel the need make a lot of assumptions. Your life can go from CEO status to nothing via many sequence of events.

If I were to make shit up I would blame it on aliens before I go with 40-50(?) year old man with an MBA in finance, CEO, family and kids goes off the deep end and turns degenerate gambler pisses his life away.

JB3 · Mar 24, 2009

Quote from MandelbrotSet:

As far as an edge not working ... simply trade multiple systems, or multiple sytles of trading, plenty of ways to reach the end goal, which is simply to make money consistently.

And as far as blowing out is concerned, that's why risk management is one of the most important aspects of trading ... something rarely discussed here. :eek:

If someone is trading without a net as it where, it would be prudent for them to have a substantial amount of money in the bank before even leaving serfdom, at least a year's worth of income should hold them steady. Otherwise you're going to have to trade and work at the same time ... something that many people do, one guy who runs a thread around here very successfully, I might add.

Just because this guy, or you or anyone else can't come up with a sufficient process for weaning themselves off of the corporate teat and creating a successfull business out of their trading doesn't mean that no one else can.

That is why this is a theoretical situation. The whole point of this question was to see what everyone's backup plan was if a disaster happened. I could create a million other scenarios to counter your points. What if you got sick and had to spend all of your stake money for treatment? Work and trade at the same time...what if you can't find a job that allow you to do that? That is if you do get hired...as what with no recent work experience.

I'm not even saying if someone can or can't do it, all I'm saying is what is your backup plan if things failed miserably in trading for you. At what point do you give it up for a job? And what kind of job do you think you can get?

You still remember than professional MERC trader in Chicago that killed himself when he blew out his account. It can happen to anyone.

MandelbrotSet · Mar 24, 2009

Quote from mynd66:

scratch that spell check,... I mean obviously your english is as good as my math. LOL

The logic you are using here is about as good as that used by the "hedge fund" manager turned pizza delivery boy (LOL, if he visits the right household, he might actually get lucky.)

Quote from mynd66:

anyways joking aside if you disagree bring forth some valid points based on facts. I'm not afraid to admit that I'm wrong. I don't claim to have all the right answers. I intend on having my views challenged.

I hold these facts to be self-evident:
* he went from wealthy man to indigent.
* he blew his family's savings and his kids' education (ie, future) - this fact alone makes him a fucking idiot in my book and the book of many people posting here - on a badly thought-out business venture.
* he didn't know when to quit ... still doesn't

Quote from mynd66:

I just see a lot of people that feel the need make a lot of assumptions. Your life can go from CEO status to nothing via many sequence of events.

On this point I agree with you 100% ... which is why the game is all about managing risk and refusing to play the game unless the odds are in your favor.

Quote from mynd66:

If I were to make shit up I would blame it on aliens before I go with 40-50(?) year old man with an MBA in finance, CEO, family and kids goes off the deep end and turns degenerate gambler pisses his life away.

LOL, I love it!

P.S. That took a lot of creative thought and is funny as hell ... too bad you're putting all that effort into defending a guy who has a BIG FAT "L" branded on his forhead.

MandelbrotSet · Mar 24, 2009

Quote from JB3:

You still remember than professional MERC trader in Chicago that killed himself when he blew out his account. It can happen to anyone.

That much, unfortunately is true ... and someting we should never lose sight of as we all strive for the pot-o-gold at the end of fragg'in rainbow!

mynd66 · Mar 24, 2009

Quote from JB3:

That is why this is a theoretical situation. The whole point of this question was to see what everyone's backup plan was if a disaster happened. I could create a million other scenarios to counter your points. What if you got sick and had to spend all of your stake money for treatment? Work and trade at the same time...what if you can't find a job that allow you to do that? That is if you do get hired...as what with no recent work experience.

I'm not even saying if someone can or can't do it, all I'm saying is what is your backup plan if things failed miserably in trading for you. At what point do you give it up for a job? And what kind of job do you think you can get?

You still remember than professional MERC trader in Chicago that killed himself when he blew out his account. It can happen to anyone.

Which brings up a good question, if the shit hits the fan do you jump out of a window or deliver pizza? Hindsight is irrelevant, your bulletproof risk measures have already been breached. Now is now... the answer is not a logical one nor will you truly know till it happens. The outcome is in direct correlation with nature of the person.

A lot of peoples lives were turned upside down the past couple years. The media liked this guy because of the the entertainment value. This story made the news because CEO turns busboy wasn't quite as bad, trader jumps out of window was taken way too many times, and retail trader makes millions shorting '08 was bad for recession morale.

MandelbrotSet · Mar 24, 2009

Quote from mynd66:

Which brings up a good question, if the shit hits the fan do you jump out of a window or deliver pizza? Hindsight is irrelevant, your bulletproof risk measures have already been breached. Now is now... the answer is not a logical one nor will you truly know till it happens. The outcome is in direct correlation with nature of the person.

Jumping just isn't an option.

You can always re-tool, you can always re-trench, even if you have to believe in yourself when nobody else will ...

Quote from mynd66:

A lot of peoples lives were turned upside down the past couple years. The media liked this guy because of the the entertainment value. This story made the news because CEO turns busboy wasn't quite as bad, trader jumps out of window was taken way too many times, and retail trader makes millions shorting '08 was bad for recession morale.

I like your breakdown of the different storylines.

thetrendfollowe · Mar 9, 2010

Quote from Sandybestdog:
I donât really have that much sympathy for him. Like others have said, he tried to be a hedge fund manager, which doesnât really contribute much to this world. It seems like nowadays, the money that is being made, is all being made through ways that really donât contribute much to this world.

What does this mean?

Hedge fund managers are mostly very active in philanthropy.