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2001 Readers Digest, 2001 stock Traders Almanac........................
What are you presently reading?
- Thread starter mikeriley
- Start date
2001 Readers Digest, 2001 stock Traders Almanac........................
I found this on the shelf of my local library tonight. I don't have time for more books, but we'll see about that....
Kamal Gupta chronicles his journey from a professional gambler to a money manager at some of the world's largest hedge funds.
Kamal Gupta chronicles his journey from a professional gambler to a money manager at some of the world's largest hedge funds.
Nice, gotta add that to my already long list of things to read
In regard to the Gupta book, I'm only on page 40, but it's interesting so far. He was another follower of Ken Uston's methods for advanced card-counting.
Surprisingly, he got hired for Lehman's front-office, despite not knowing shit about trading:
---
"Bond prices are quoted as a percentage, ninety-eight and sixteen, for example."
I knew that he had meant ninety-eight percent, but had no idea what the second number was. Unaware that I was about to make a complete fool of myself, I asked, "What's this sixteen?"
"Sixteen ticks," Donnie said matter-of-factly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
...
"Even though it made me sound like a fool, I couldn't help asking, "What does time have to do with bond prices?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" he blurted--
...
"It's not thirty seconds of time. It's a thirty-second, as in one divided by thirty-two. So ninety-eight and sixteen is ninety-eight percent plus sixteen divided by thirty-two or 98.5 percent."
...
The look on his face left no doubt as to what he was thinking: How on Earth did this idiot get into this business?
Surprisingly, he got hired for Lehman's front-office, despite not knowing shit about trading:
---
"Bond prices are quoted as a percentage, ninety-eight and sixteen, for example."
I knew that he had meant ninety-eight percent, but had no idea what the second number was. Unaware that I was about to make a complete fool of myself, I asked, "What's this sixteen?"
"Sixteen ticks," Donnie said matter-of-factly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
...
"Even though it made me sound like a fool, I couldn't help asking, "What does time have to do with bond prices?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" he blurted--
...
"It's not thirty seconds of time. It's a thirty-second, as in one divided by thirty-two. So ninety-eight and sixteen is ninety-eight percent plus sixteen divided by thirty-two or 98.5 percent."
...
The look on his face left no doubt as to what he was thinking: How on Earth did this idiot get into this business?
Most traders these days probably don't know this but stocks were quoted in fraction until 2001, down to 1/16.
Anyway, just started reading this lately.
Still reading through it this weekend. Some of it is filler that has more to do with a wedding in India than anything on Wall Street. Luckily the author has returned back to Lehman Bros again...
---
"Gupta, can you sell me twenty-five million Fannie Mae 235 IOs?"
Fannie Mae was short for Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), one of the largest issuers of mortgage-backed securities, and 235 was the series number of the IO. Normally, Dodger would have asked Jon, the lead IO trader and the head of our desk, but he was out visiting clients that day and had left the book in my care. A few days earlier, Jon had purchased three hundred million of the 235 IOs from a Florida hedge fund, a substantial trade that had required preapproval from higher-ups. As with any large trade, Jon had managed to extract a significant concession from the seller. His plan was to distribute the bonds in a piecemeal fashion over the next few weeks, which made me reluctant to trade them in his absence.
...
"Gupta, where did those twenty-five million 235 IOs go?" he asked.
...
"You fucking moron!"
---
"Gupta, can you sell me twenty-five million Fannie Mae 235 IOs?"
Fannie Mae was short for Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), one of the largest issuers of mortgage-backed securities, and 235 was the series number of the IO. Normally, Dodger would have asked Jon, the lead IO trader and the head of our desk, but he was out visiting clients that day and had left the book in my care. A few days earlier, Jon had purchased three hundred million of the 235 IOs from a Florida hedge fund, a substantial trade that had required preapproval from higher-ups. As with any large trade, Jon had managed to extract a significant concession from the seller. His plan was to distribute the bonds in a piecemeal fashion over the next few weeks, which made me reluctant to trade them in his absence.
...
"Gupta, where did those twenty-five million 235 IOs go?" he asked.
...
"You fucking moron!"
It was a good read. But I think Number Go Up, by Zeke Faux, is required reading.
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It was a good book. It led to to read Wim Hof's book, and then Scott Carney's book about Hof. Glad I did.