I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue the story. I’ve been writing my whole life. It’s how I got my first gig at Seligman back in high school. After winning a contest and having my article published in the Daily News, a fund manager at Seligman reached out to me and invited me to intern at the firm that summer.
But I am not really built for long form writing. I am a spur of the moment, reporting on crazy events, type of guy. Nevertheless, I felt my story about the dot com experience needed to be documented, not for self-aggrandizement, but for the sake of posterity.
Bitcoiners should buy it and read it.
I am working on part 2 of the saga, which is tentatively titled “BUST.” I am 3,500 words deep and just heading into chapter 2. I am guessing this one will run 40,000 words long, leading up to the final part of the series, 2003-2006ish — ending when the iBC era begins.
It is my opinion that there was and is nothing extraordinary about me or my experiences back then, which unto itself is interesting. I represent the little guy on Wall Street, one in 500,000, trying to navigate the treacherous waters, in and around the assholes who really dominate it. That story is your story, not so much Lloyd Blankfein’s or any of the other assholes who believe their opinions are worth more than ours.
If you have questions, feel free to ask them here. I probably won’t do another one of these until part 2 is out, which I suspect might be in early 2018. This part is more difficult, due to its glumness, and I am trying to build an arc that is both interesting and historically accurate, without revealing too much of my personal life.
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Just bought your first short story. I’ve enjoyed your site and insights for the last 15 years. I’ll read your story tomorrow and be too late for questions, but do you listen to any podcasts? I’m a programmer by trade and devour many. If so, do you have a recommended list?
No podcasts for me.
Work and trading during the day. Family stuff from 5-8.
Work again from 8-11pm
Reading in bed from 12-3.
Wake up at 6:25 and do it all again.
You’re an enigma who can function on 3-4 hours of sleep per night?
He does. I get 3AM emails all the time.
Where is Chris now, baba? What happened to him?
also, whats our pal Giovanni up to now days?
Ignore my comment in the other post please
I’ll get to both in next book.
Once all parts are complete, will you assemble a single book or will each part remain a separate book?
Sure, I can do that. Makes sense.
Giovanni was helping me with book 2 today.
In a few sentences, what is your parenting style? I have roots in the Princeton area and the hyper competitiveness can crush kids around there. Your thoughts?
With my first son, I was very strict and made certain he scored 95+ on all grades, unless he was punished. I forced him into extracurricular events and pushed him to excel.
He is a top tier student, but I believe I was too hard on him and it made him rigid. There are no secrets to parenting and I don’t believe I am a great example of great parenting. With my younger ones, I am more lenient, but demand they show respect towards others, no foul language at all and we monitor what they watch and do not permit them to be infected by the horrible culture that persists today.
That being said, I just want them to be happy and I try to be a more patient and nurturing parent each and every day. But it’s hard. Kids naturally want to rebel and boy-father relationship is a bit more complicated than daughter.
Thanks for the response. Where is that line of what to allow and to forbid? I ask that as an external question.
Rated PG and below.
What if your daughter insisted she wanted to be a boy?
I’m positive the Dr. Fly family has no genetic defects or mental retardation like yours.
I hope part II has more “home life” description in terms of your marriage/children because I’m in year two of marriage with a 4 month old and I can only imagine the added stress of having to support them during that kind of market. Like i said, that was main beef with part 1, because I feel like your wife played a huge role in supporting you through the ups and downs, yet she got no dialogue and was only mentioned here and there in passing.
That was done on purpose. I was trying to place myself in a spectating role, but I’ll reveal a little more in the next one.
Agreed. Opening up about you or your character’s thoughts on life/experiences at the time would add a lot of interest for myself as well. For sure it is a delicate balance so as to not reveal too much of your personal life. But knowing the goodness in the main characters compared to the blatant narcissism that sometimes surrounded them always makes for a good read. Us plebs enjoy the scraps more if we believe there is some goodness above us.
You were around in 1999, 2000 when Greenspan let Nasdaq run wild and crash.
Is there a level today that you think the Fed needs to slow this market down?
I love this bull run but feel we are very close to a danger zone. What say you?
The Fed is always wrong. The kept hiking in 2000, during the crash and had to start cutting like animals for the next 3 years to save economy.
I think they learned their lesson. But you never know.
I hope there is a chapter detailing your experiences on 9/11.
Yes, 9/11 played a big role for me. Also, I happened to run into Abdul on the first day back to work on the train and was shocked at the scene he made on that train filled with somber faces all wearing American flag lapels. You would not believe it if I told you. But it’s true.
I was in front of the towers when the first plane struck.
Really loved the book. The artwork adds a lot of value to the paperback. Wish it was twice as long. Would have loved to hear more about New York life at the time, the eateries the drinkeries and the excess, more about crazy old tootsie roll Sydney and other characters. It’s a really great success story in the vain of Market Wizards. Has potential to become a manuscript like Confessions of a Street Addict.
Please leave a review on Amazon if you haven’t already.
Part two I’ll try to be more descriptive.
You got a bad review for not spell checking it man.
Just ordered the paperback on amazon. Looking forward to the read. Curious – did you start in the business straight out of high school or after college? I remember you saying you started your family very early; at least earlier than most. I bring up family because I feel that I have become much more risk averse now with wife and child. More hungry now too but also more calculated, which does not always tie well with trading. I paid for a large portion of grad school with trading profits gained in a renegade manner. Can’t do that anymore. Curious if you encountered a similar pattern. Thanks!