If you were completely out of touch Thursday you might have missed the adventures of our latest rogue trader. And this one’s a biggy. He puts Nick Leeson to shame. How about $7bln+ in losses for his employer, French bank Societe Generale. Check out the Bloomberg story. Inexplicably, he’s vanished. Imagine that!
Let’s just say someone didn’t practice very good money management. 
By the way, a lot of folks are blaming this guy for the market insanity this week. He apparently had gotten very, very long (read tens of billions worth) in European stock index futures, especially the DAX. The unwinding of that position, which Soc Gen only found out about on Friday, was a major contributor to the global sell-off.
In case you never heard the Nick Leeson story (he’s the guy who sank Barrings Bank about a decade ago) you should definitely read his book – Rogue Trader. If you can get beyond the questionable ethics of helping a guy who caused the loss of over $1 billion and the death of Britain’s oldest bank make a few bucks based on his experience doing so, then it’s a interest read. The film version starring Ewan McGregor is ok, but lacks the real depth of the story as Leeson tells it in the book.
Another good read if you’re into the kind of “inside Wall Street” type of book is Black and White on Wall Street. This one is an autobiography written by Joseph Jett, a former Kidder Peabody fixed income trader who was accused of improper trading or accounting or something (it’s a bit unclear) which resulted in substantial losses. Unlike the Leeson book in which he admits to his wrong-doing, this one is an attempt by Jett to tell his side of the story and clear his name. There are some complex financials issues discussed in places, but they don’t really hinder things when you read it.
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About the Author
John Forman, author of this blog, has traded for more than 20 years, is a professional market analyst, and authored The Essentials of Trading. He is an active participant in trading forums, consults for trading related businesses, as published literally dozens of trading articles, and has been quoted in a number of books and in the media.
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