What was the late 90's bullmarket like, for those of you who experienced it? At the time I was not very interested in the market, in fact I became interested right after the bubble popped, so I wasn't paying much attention at the time. I can recall hearing about IPO's rocketing up 200 -300%. I can remember people bragging about market gains. I can recall worthless companies run by 18 year olds getting hundreds of millions in VC. But that's about it. I'm curious to hear what it was like for the traders. For those who were really in the trenches at the time, what was the bull market like? Anyone have any ridiculous stories of fortunes made or lost?
Some memorable moments for me from the bull market: 1) $400 target on Amazon.com 2) EBAY going up something like 120 points in one day before a split 3) The whole "stock split" phenomenon. 4) theglobe.com and thestreet.com IPO's (epitome of overvalued IPO's) 5) CPIH running from 2 to 72 in two days.
I remember buying 200 shares of an IPO and getting out with a quick 400 bucks only to see it continue to run 20 more points. 20 point moves happened daily. Spreads on some stocks (SDLI comes to mind) were 243 x 245 at times. It was sick. I was not a prop trader then but I came to know of a guy making 100,000 a month trading only 600 lots. Another who made a million in FEB. 2000. It was sick, and I missed it too!
Do you know the feeling you get, when you're eating fillet mingion, sipping cristal, and snorting up a giant pile of blow - all while being fallated by three incredibly hot 18 year old sluts? It was kind of like that.
Yeah, it was kinda like that. Here is a snapshot of me circa 1997: 24 years old. No charts, no stops. Always long. Always bet the whole wad, margin and all. Knew nothing about the markets (but thought I knew everything). Average weekly return: 10%. Trades were based on how much I wanted to make, not on how much I willing to lose. Those were the days.