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Posted on Bloomberg this morning.

FYI

Are You Weird Enough to See Profit in Katrina? Michael Lewis
Oct. 20 (Bloomberg)

Two days after Katrina hit New Orleans -- where I was born and raised, and most of my family still lives -- I had a message from an investor to whom I once peddled stocks and bonds on behalf of Salomon Brothers.

When I worked on Wall Street my customers were generally viewed by my firm's traders with condescension: They were the morons who existed only to be on the wrong side of whatever trade Salomon Brothers wanted to make. This fellow was different. When he did something that some trader suggested, it usually worked out well for him, and badly for the trader.

He was at his very best in volatile markets, when he looked to take the risks shunned by others. Occasionally he was wrong, but more often he was spectacularly right, and in the two years we did business together he did so well for himself that the Salomon traders routinely stopped by my desk to ask what he was up to. Eventually they became terrified of him. He was one of those people who, when he poked his nose into a market, picked up scents undetectable to most humans.

It had been many months since I had last heard from him, but 48 hours after Katrina struck home he sent me an e-mail from London to say that now was the perfect time to buy New Orleans property.

<blockquote data-quote="Yippyio" data-source="post: 22399" data-attributes="member: 1801">Posted on Bloomberg this morning.FYIAre You Weird Enough to See Profit in Katrina? Michael LewisOct. 20 (Bloomberg) Two days after Katrina hit New Orleans -- where I was born and raised, and most of my family still lives -- I had a message from an investor to whom I once peddled stocks and bonds on behalf of Salomon Brothers.When I worked on Wall Street my customers were generally viewed by my firm&#039;s traders with condescension: They were the morons who existed only to be on the wrong side of whatever trade Salomon Brothers wanted to make. This fellow was different. When he did something that some trader suggested, it usually worked out well for him, and badly for the trader.He was at his very best in volatile markets, when he looked to take the risks shunned by others. Occasionally he was wrong, but more often he was spectacularly right, and in the two years we did business together he did so well for himself that the Salomon traders routinely stopped by my desk to ask what he was up to. Eventually they became terrified of him. He was one of those people who, when he poked his nose into a market, picked up scents undetectable to most humans.It had been many months since I had last heard from him, but 48 hours after Katrina struck home he sent me an e-mail from London to say that now was the perfect time to buy New Orleans property.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Yippyio, post: 22399, member: 1801"] Posted on Bloomberg this morning. FYI Are You Weird Enough to See Profit in Katrina? Michael Lewis Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) Two days after Katrina hit New Orleans -- where I was born and raised, and most of my family still lives -- I had a message from an investor to whom I once peddled stocks and bonds on behalf of Salomon Brothers. When I worked on Wall Street my customers were generally viewed by my firm's traders with condescension: They were the morons who existed only to be on the wrong side of whatever trade Salomon Brothers wanted to make. This fellow was different. When he did something that some trader suggested, it usually worked out well for him, and badly for the trader. He was at his very best in volatile markets, when he looked to take the risks shunned by others. Occasionally he was wrong, but more often he was spectacularly right, and in the two years we did business together he did so well for himself that the Salomon traders routinely stopped by my desk to ask what he was up to. Eventually they became terrified of him. He was one of those people who, when he poked his nose into a market, picked up scents undetectable to most humans. It had been many months since I had last heard from him, but 48 hours after Katrina struck home he sent me an e-mail from London to say that now was the perfect time to buy New Orleans property. [/QUOTE]

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