I think everything is about risk and pressure. Like a lot of guys on this thread said, its a great stuff if a guy came up finishing the year with 1B up, but, if the "risk" of a bad trade (or year) is what happened to brian hunter then they are not dealing with real risk and they know that, so that's why they took such wild positions. By risk i mean that guys running hedge funds as employees only have the risk to lose their jobs (against great bonus if they did pretty well). That's not the same risk a self-directed trader is taking whit its own money trading for a living. Anyway someone could say that this is like apples and oranges and may be is right.
To me, the second of the list might be the first. This guy Arnold was the counterpart of Hunter in the gas trade and we may have seen him blow out and Hunter on the top of the list, as well . I don't like these guys using all their capital on one bet...
That amount of money is BULLSHIT! They should take that money and give it to unwed mothers who are addicted to crystallized methamphetamine! What about people who can't hold down jobs because they didn't get some fancy high school diploma? They should be allowed to have some of that money too! What about some nappy-headed ho who can't get a job playing basketball after she graduates college, huh? You going to sit there and tell me she doesn't deserve some of that money? Those are some sweet numbers. Doesn't matter if they are tading big, have a huge support staff or hire quant jocks to figure things out - that is some big bucks. Good on all of em.
What was one of the main problems of the Great Depression? There were plenty of wealthy people, but they already had eveything and couldn't spend enough to lift enough economy up. I'm not suggesting we are coming anywhere near that, but a serious recession is going to happen at some point. We dont need anymore billionaires in the US. We need the average income to rise just like it is in emerging markets. The US won't function well in a very bifurcated economy. Thats why the Barney Franks of the world are getting a lot support
The up-tick rule didnt exist at that time either, which didnt help the market any. Besides, there will always be a value buyer somewhere.
These traders take risks, risk is rewarded in this society. If succesful they employ countless others( from the valet to the PhD quant) allowing them to take risk. risk is good, government control/redistribution is bad. capitalism works. any questions? surf
James and Vetten, why don't you two go out there and make that type of money and then give it all away? The beauty of our system is that there is nothing stopping you from making it and giving it away if that's what you want to do and if you have the talent. Do you really want a system that penalizes talent? And don't give me some sob story about opportunities not being equal for all. Some of the most successful people in this world are people who have come up the hard way.