Hearing Chicago MERC trader commited suicide after blowing out

For the ones who missed the link a few posts back.

My condolences to his family may he Rest In Peace for all eternity.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=31449&seenIt=1


Trader takes own life over large losses
By: Ann Saphir and Shia Kapos Oct. 17, 2008

(Crain’s) — An S&P 500 futures trader died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound just hours after losing several million dollars Wednesday, one of Wall Street’s most volatile days.

Joseph Anthony Luizzi, 44, of Oak Brook, died in west suburban Berwyn, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. He left a note.

“He explained to his wife that he had made a substantial loss and was despondent that he could never regain that loss,” said Berwyn Police Chief William Kushner.

A 20-year veteran of the trading floor, Mr. Luizzi was registered as a floor broker at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and cleared through DAW Trading, a division of futures brokerage Rosenthal Collins Group LLC.

Rosenthal Collins CEO Scott Gordon declined to comment. RCG, which backed Mr. Luizzi’s trades, has more than $1 billion in customer funds.

“These are dangerous times in the markets, and anything could happen at any moment,” says Eric Reinholtz, a broker for DAW who said Mr. Luizzi was an Everyman of traders. “Obviously, the worst has happened now.”

Mr. Luizzi worked with XFA Chicago until he left about a month ago. Before that, he was a vice-president of HSBC Securities USA.

On Wednesday, Mr. Luizzi made a substantial number of personal trades that failed, according to the police report. Found in his coat pocket were trading cards that had not been turned in, the report said.

He was found about 7 a.m. Thursday morning in front of a firehouse near Metra tracks and just blocks from a second home he and his wife owned in Berwyn, according to police. Mr. Luizzi’s car was found parked in front of the home.

He was pronounced dead at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn.

News of Mr. Luizzi’s death stunned Chicago’s trading community.

Groups of traders and clerks stood in small groups on CME’s trading floor Friday morning talking about the longtime trader.

“It’s a great loss,” close friend Maria Fernandez said.

“He was a sweet guy,” said a teary Sharon Sumler. “He had such a warm spirit.”

Independent traders like Mr. Luizzi typically buy and sell throughout the day. In volatile markets, even a few wrong-way bets can have big repercussions.

“We express our condolences and sympathy for family, friends and all who knew him,” said a CME spokeswoman, who declined to comment further.

Mr. Luizzi’s death came hours after a plunge in the stock market. The S&P 500 posted its biggest gain since the 1930s on Monday before plunging the most since the crash of 1987 on Wednesday. It lost 9% to close at 907.84. The same day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 7.9%.

 

Those last 20 minutes ( before the NYSE 4PM close ) on Wednesday was some of the most brutal selling that I have ever seen in 28 years of trading . . . It's a shame that he was so despondent and unable to think about the good in his life and the friends that cared about him.

Godspeed Mr. Luizzi.

 

The American people didn't ask for a war with Iraq when they voted for GWB in 2000. When they voted for him in 2004, it was the better of 2 choices. But you are too blind to see that aren't you? And to think you have wasted more than 8 years at ET and haven't figured this out yet. Pathetic.

 

wow so sad to hear, I been trading in nyc for a while and either traders who can't handle these markets are blowing their accounts and those that have the discipline and right mind set are making more then they ever had. Sad to hear

 

But you obviously forgot... the Germans are the "master race'??!

LMAO

 

Absolutely true! I agree and trust me I can speak to everything on this thread from personal experience! I have known people from all walks of life and always was amazed at how they enjoyed thier family and friends and simple things like Rv-ing or camping etc.etc. Some people on the other hand get depressed if they have to sell their 50' stinkpot in Belmont Harbor and their turbo cabriolet that they hardly ever drive for fun!

I owned 4 boats and, in hindsight, the first boat (the little small one) I enjoyed the most... and so did friends!

 

As a former floor trader of 10 years in NYC, I totally disagree with your "analysis".

You point to what YOU PERCEIVE is the reality of this particular trader's situation - - - having to downgrade his standard of living, but that may not be the case given the amount of self-esteem that comes from trading for 20 years and the resultant shame that comes from "blowing-up".. . . being deemed successful by his peers, family, and friends for so long, only to then see it disappear in one day. He obviously couldn't deal with the "consequences" - - - but that doesn't necessarily mean that it revolved around a downgrade in lifestyle. That is a rather spurious ASSumption on your part, is it not?

Did it ever occur to you that perhaps one of the biggest reasons why he got up in the morning disappeared. That, unfortunately had become his "identity". If you've never been there on the floor, and in that kind of environment and community . . . you have absolutely NO IDEA what you are talking about.

Your post implies that this was some sort of "silver-spooned" kid that had been groomed with kid-gloves . . . Most likely you couldn't be more wrong as he probably worked his way up from a runner on the floor, to phone clerk, to broker, and local.

So easy for you to "judge" someone else, let alone define what REAL problems are.
How convenient of you . . . We should all be so lucky to be "judged" by you and your worldly knowledge.

You just pissed on someone's grave that you've never met.

Congratulations.

 

Agree 100%. Very few floor traders came from great inherited wealth. Jeez if I was a titan of industry I'd hope my offspring could do better than risk their sanity trading in a friggin' futures pit.

For all we know his home was at risk-or he'd just borrowed money from family-this could've been a multi-day meltdown. From what I've heard (I didn't know Luizzi) this was a much more severe financial/emotional hit than some "spoiled" trader who couldn't bear being seen in a downsized "C" series Benz.

I've had some epic blowups. They're tough to deal with especially when a few hundred traders are gossiping about it. If anyone here doesn't think it could ever be them then you're not opening your mind fully to the realm of possible outcomes. Truth be told, I'd guess more than a few people on ET have committed suicide....

 

Another nazi joke, you guys are really original...where did you steal it from? By the sounds of it, probably from some lame sitcom.

Anyway, the blowouts had probably...scrap that...obviously taken more risks than they should've had. This just purifies the market a bit.

 

Well put landis.