Millionaire TradersQ: So how long did you trade in the pit?
A: I traded for that company for three years.
Q: How were those years? The next year, when you said you
were going to get serious about money management, what were
your equity swings like then?
A: Very controlled, and I started to make anywhere from$100,000
to$300,000 depending on how much opportunity I was given.
When the markets threatened me by going against me and I didn’t
know what was going on, I would really play defense. Really cut
back.
Q: What would that mean when you played “defense”? Could
you cut your positions?
A: I’d cut my positions. In other words, if I was long vols, and
I owned several strikes and the thing went against me and wasn’t
turning for whatever reason, I’d cut the trade, take the loss, get
out.
Q: Did you then try to make money scalping?
A: Yes. You could make money scalping, but not all of the time.
When the markets are slow you couldn’t. If the market got really
dead or slow I’d leave the pit. One of the areas where I find my
trading is horrible is when the markets are dead. I do one thing
that is stupid. I want to trade, open my mouth, or, in the electronic
format, buy and sell stuff on the screen and then wind up with
a graveyard position. I get the crap that no one else wants just
because I couldn’t keep still, and now I will probably die with this
stuff.