The View From The Floor

(Part-4)

Brian Gelber: Broker Turned Trader:

Brian Gelber started his career as a broker and after successfully advising institutional clients, he started trading for his own account. He was one of the most prominent brokers on the floor and also one of the largest local traders.

He shares his experience of buying just because CitiBank was buying. He did not interpret it as reallocation of assets or changing the duration of the portfolio. However, today he knows the characteristics of various institutions. He pays little attention to the view of portfolio managers because they have a longer term outlook than Brian’s.

He believes he is successful because he was attentive and had good instincts. He has been so consistent because he has been a great listener. He talks to almost 25 traders each day who don't want to listen but just want to tell their opinions.

He also believes that when one doesn't care, he does well and when he tries too hard, it doesn't work for him.

He calls himself a discretionary trader and uses technical analysis and systems as trading tools only. They developed a particular system related to volatility because he believes that volatility offers clues to trend direction.

He thinks most traders fail because of their large egos. They can't admit that they were wrong. Some traders fail because they are too worried and if you start being afraid, the game is already over.

He doesn't straight away trade big early in the year. He likes to make money at first and then gradually ply with that money.

He advises traders not to overtrade and beg for tips.