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‑ S e c r e t s o f T h e Wo r l d C up Advisors
Why do you say that? Well, I don’t know that I have an obnoxious personality, but maybe it’s a flamboyant personality when it comes to trading in the markets. And I’ve always tried to separate myself from the crowd a little bit. When you do good research and good writing and good presentations, it draws out critics. Swashbucklers have people who want to swashbuckle against them. After closing out a 105-lot winner of $192,000 on April 29, your account balance was a whopping $872,000. You had made two-thirds of a million dollars in 20 trading days and had a lock on first place in the World Cup competition. Were there any thoughts about cashing in your chips at that point? Yeah, there were several points along the way early in the year where you’re saying, “Well, you know, I’ve done it.” But we had a lot of time left, and it would have felt pretty hollow to say, “Well, all I really did was get a jump on other people here, then I took my marbles and went home.” I don’t think real men do that. Was there anybody who was giving you any kind of run for your money that year? Oh yes, there were. There were a bunch of us in the pack at the $40,000 to $50,000 level. There was pressure. I was worried about where I was: second, third, fourth, second, third, first, second. It was up and down there for a while. By the end of May, your account balance had been more than chopped in half. You had stepped up your size and 100-lots were common in both the bonds and the S&Ps, but the magic seemed to have worn off. How were you sleeping? Same as always. This is what I’ve done all my life. Some people look at this kind of trading and they go, “Oh my gosh.” Well, I have that same awe for a mechanic, because I don’t know how to fix mechanical things. When somebody brings in a junk heap I say, “No way the guy can do this,” and he repairs it. But that’s what he should do because that’s what his career is and he lives with that.