The fact that I can slope off to the slopes clearly means that I’m not as important as one of my old muckers, who bitterly complained that this week’s market volatility meant he had to pull out of the jolly Deutsche had arranged for its clients in Beaver Creek.
It’s tough in the markets. When we went on a similar jaunt last year, Alex tried to claim some early bragging rights by going on about all the Billy Big Dogs he met at the airport who were reshaping the financial markets with their complex credit derivatives. I wager that he won’t be doing the same this year, although he was completely right about the credit guys having a massive impact. He just didn’t forecast that it would be quite so negative.
I have not had the best of weeks, but my travails are all domestic and minor compared to some of the carnage that has hit the market. Sharp moves, rogue trading and job losses – there’s not been a dull moment all week. Monday kicked off with talk about a sizeable dollar/yen put spread (100.00 versus 90.00 strikes, one-year maturity) Citi executed through the bookies.