Since Zimmerman was hauled off the floor of the Board of Trade, nearly every major Wall Street firm has been slapped with enormous fines for cheating customers. NASDAQ, the so-called "exchange of the future," earned a $100 million judgment against it for practices that sound a lot like stealing. Nick Leeson buried Barings Bank with a billion dollars in hidden losses. And copper traders at Sumitomo, the giant Japanese bank and trading firm, did the same to their sponsors. To Zimmerman, it all proves he wasn't so unusual after all.
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Great read. I can tell stories from my experience with a Guy at Marlyn Trading on the 14th or so Floor of the CME, or COIN from the floor of the S&P..or Dennis Richard over at Spike II, or the Russian whom Traded with Schonfeld, or the "Options" wize Kid I know and traded with (out of UofC's B school,) who was the Russian's option guy ...calling the Financial Meltdown back in 05 when I traded with him...selling everything and headed to Hong Kong ( a little early on his call but prooved right)....Or the story of our own Rearden Metal of ET, a success unlike many who only dream.
All in all, my stories are more positive and end with my friends making more money than most people can imagine. Of course, they are the top 1% who actually make it in the world of trading. I had to find my wealth in Private Equity, building relationships and becoming a "rain maker"....not a trader.
The most important part of the article is the paragrapha above..... "it all proves he wasn't so unusal after all"...
I would say the markets are far more manipulated by Banks, Firms, Fed, etc than ever in the history of the "Free Markets".