I better take the lead.

trdrbear: How are you?

nderivs is typing…

nderivs: fine

Not good.

nderivs: fun last night. Good 2 see u

That’s better. All is forgotten. It occurs to me that while I don’t do something I regret every time I drink, every time I do something I regret I am drunk.

Shit. I get an email from a competitor that says that VerticalNet got upgraded. Weber doesn’t need the research to find out what is going on with the company, though; he just wants to see what the dumb analyst thinks. That’s the genius of Weber; he doesn’t trade the information, which is useless, he trades people’s sentiment, or opinions. The street is short this thing and the squeeze is on. I type VERT into Instinet, and there it is, already up fifteen in the box. I go into Bloomberg to see who upgraded it, and my worst fears are realized. It’s Boone Dog’s bank.

Back to the New Girl. Might as well have fun with this.

trdrbear: Hey sweetheart

I imagine her in her Aeron chair, shitting her pants.

trdrbear: jk!

trdrbear: U guys upgraded VERT can u sent report pls

Now she’s scrambling, because she knows she should have sent this to me already. I am cutting her slack. I am not averse to yelling at sales traders, but I am not going to do it this time, not after last night. It’s a major oversight on her part, one that already has me in hot water with Weber, but I let it slide. I might need her later today.

Weber: B 10000 VERT

Son of a bitch, he’s already squeezing these guys. I’m not going to run the New Girl over. That’s not the point, and it’s not Weber’s style. I’m going to buy it in the box, as sloppy as possible, to run the stock up. I’m not marking the book, I’m making the rest of the Street panic. The world is short this thing; in fact, the world is short this market, and Weber is on the other side. Some days, it seems like we’re the ones holding up the entire tech sector. The other team is going to score on us, soon.

It occurs to me that, over the first hour of the day, I have completely forgotten about the divorce, engrossed in work, engrossed in the market. And this is how it is, that saying about an idle mind. I do like my job. If I didn’t have this to keep me busy, I would be preoccupied with the fact that I make $5 million a year and I am fucking broke as shit.

The telephone is ringing. It’s my lawyer.

“Hello?”

“Buddy.”

Anyone who calls you “Buddy” is a psychopath.

“How am I getting fucked this time?”

“Court-ordered psychological testing for the children.”

“I notice you didn’t try to tell me I wasn’t getting fucked.”

“You’re getting fucked.”

“How much?”

“Ballpark, mid five figures.”

“Can you explain to me again how this is possible in the land of the free? She cheated on me. A lot.”