He Bit Off More Than He Could Chew

Have I told you this crazy story from early in my career?

Take a trip with me back in time to the 1980’s…

New Kid on the Block

I had just started working at a brokerage firm as a new stock broker.

The area where all the stock brokers were was what they called the “bullpen”.

And they had a cluster of 4 desks in a square around this thing called a Quotron machine.

It was like a computer and it was in the center of each cluster of desks so the brokers could spin it around and use it when customers asked for a quote.

Izzy’s Fall

Anyway, I notice this guy, Izzy, who was always standing up, biting his nails and smoking as he stared at the Quotron machine.

Hard to believe, but you could smoke in the office back in the 80s…

Anyway, if anybody tried to touch that Quotron machine, Izzy would damn near kill you.

So one day I’m standing at my desk, talking on the phone to a customer and I see Izzy faint.

BAM! He fell flat on his face — didn’t even put his hands out to break his fall!

They ended up hauling him out on a stretcher while his partner cried like a baby.

That was it for Izzy. I never saw him again.

What Happened?

But that rattled me. Remember — I’m a young guy, it’s my first week in the brokerage….

I’m wondering what kind of job this is where guys are passing out and being hauled away on a stretcher.

So I asked my boss, “What happened to Izzy?”

And he just hollers at me, “Carter! Don’t ever trade options. Options are a zero sum game!”

I didn’t know a zero sum game was.

But it scared me — at least for a little while.

You’d think I would have learned my lesson from Izzy’s mistake… But no, I had to learn stuff the hard way.

Part 2 of the story is now up. Watch it here.

Trade well,

Jack Carter

P.S. This story is one of the events that ultimately changed me from an options buyer to an options seller. And over the past almost 40 years, I’ve refined an options selling strategy that lets me get on the right side of the options game. Click here to check it out.

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