Millionaire TradersQ: 1999. This was the go-go years of the Internet phase, stocks
moving$10 to$20 a day. You say that you’re a better short, trader
than you are long trader. But this was still the last of the long run.
How did you manage to succeed in that environment?
A: I think it was really tough for the first six months. I was
fortunate that in 2000 the market started to go down. But that time
I had been at it for seven or eight months and I had a pretty good
idea what I was good at, and then for the next couple of years we
had wonderful, down markets. And it was easy to make money,
it really was. But I have found out from being around successful
traders that almost all of those successful traders are better one
way or the other. They’re either better long or better short, and
they know that.
Q: When you first started out, what was you initial capitalization?
A: I started with$150,000.
Q: So you were pretty well capitalized, and then did you give
yourself capital aside from this to live on? So this wasn’t a situation
where you had to make money right away?
A: Exactly. I think it’s a real handicap for people if they are in
a situation with the high cost of living and a lot of payments. It
is very, very difficult to make money. As a matter of fact, I found
with traders who are struggling that if they absolutely have to make
money on some particular day, they will lose money.
Q: How much time did you give yourself internally? Did you say
I’m going to give myself six months or a year before I succeed?
A: You know, I don’t really remember. I do remember in the first
year that I lost$50,000, and that was pretty good actually.