http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123387976335254731.html This is why it will always be possible to make money trading because of guys like Niederhoffer, Meriwether and this idiot.
Most of these bulge bracket prop traders, and by most I would say 90%, are just gambling. This blow up is becoming a common story. All they were doing was going long mortgage derivatives.
But they all walk out with huge compensations for the few years they do it. He made 40 mil in salary. Most of us who trade will not come even close to this figure even in 1 or 2 decades.
The market is not a chess game, or a blackjack game, or any other closed set game. Taleb knows this. These other clowns don't. Or don't care.
You know This Boaz character is exactly like the character in Taleb's first book, fooled by randomness. Its amazing how in the 1990's it was swaps traders that were hero's. Now its credit derivative traders. Same story different actors.