FX Family Valuesthat point. But I started becoming interested in the fluctuations of
exchange rates and began to change one currency to another in a
very informal way and essentially try to speculate on how I think
currencies will move.
Q: So were currencies the first product that you tried trading?
A: No, I began with commodities trading in Chicago—coffee and
sugar—and then started trading the stock markets before I moved
onto currency trading.
Q: How long ago did you start trading commodities, and why
did you decide to pick that market?
A: I started approximately 16 or 17 years ago. I began out of
eagerness or the desire to get something started because I didn’t
have an academic background. I was really looking to start with
something. I began paying attention to the price of coffee and
at the time Brazil, which exports and produces 50 percent of the
world’s coffee, had a very bad crop. So I knew that prices were
going to rise. I chose to take advantage of that, and that was when
I started to trade.
Q: What made you eager to trade something? Has anyone in
your family ever traded before?
A: No, there was no precedence in my family. My family is
very humble. No one has previously traded. But it was really just
something instinctual for me. I’m not a good basketball player.
There are people who are good at basketball. But instinctually, I
felt that this was something I could be good at.
Q: So when you first started trading coffee, how much did you
start with?
A: Approximately$8,000.