Millionaire Traders

JWBK169-Lien July 3, 2007 13:56

Millionaire Traders

Q: What about one of your better trades?

A: I made good money on Imclone [IMCL] when there was

congressional investigation. I got short and the stock went down

a good amount. Sometimes it takes a few minutes for news to

disseminate and this was one of those times.

Q: What was the most humbling experience for you?

A: My first six months I could not figure out how to make any

money. I was just humbled. I was saying to myself: Wow, this is

not as easy as I thought. Trading is not easy and not for everyone.

If it was, everybody would do it.

Q: What is the most interesting part of this job?

A: It’s just like sports. You come in. You play every day and there

is a scorecard at the end of the day. I liken trading to baseball.

There is a game every day. Some days you play well and some days

you play badly. But you play every day. When the game is over,

you do it again the next day.

Q: Do you gamble at all?

A: No, if I go to Vegas I don’t gamble because there is no edge.

The house has the edge. If I know I can make money 9 out of 10

time trading, then why would I gamble when someone else has the

edge? I have no interest in it.

Lessons from Steven Ickow

Make Your Stand in the Right Domain

Success in trading is as a much a function of finding the right

instrument to trade as it is a matter of using the correct strategy.

Building on his experience from trading on the floor of the Chicago