Sep 11th

Still gets me.  I understand what people who lived through Pearl Harbor or the day Kennedy was shot were talking about. Since I was barely out of a crib when Kennedy was shot I don’t have any recollection of it.  Where were you on 9/11?

At 8:46 AM when the first plane hit, I was on the CME trading floor in the Eurodollar pit.  It was a beautiful day in Chicago. My family had just returned from a vacation in Colorado.  Our entire house had been destroyed by a water leak in the master bath so we were living in a hotel.  I was wallowing in a bit of self-pity.

I was long 80 lots and it was a couple of ticks against me.  Looked like it was going to be a bad day.  I was out around 4g.  We looked at the television screen and there was a fire at the WTC.  A broker behind and up to the right of me, Mike Mullins (MLNS) who we called Moon, started bidding.  I sold him an 80 lot and scratched the trade.  Today, Moon runs one of the top AAU basketball programs in the US with more than a few kids in the pros.  Turning to my left, I saw all the guys at the Cantor Fitzgerald desk frantically working their phones.  All the phone lines, and all the people on the other end were dead.

My self-pity ended and I was thankful for what I had.

A month later I lost one of my mentors (ORV) that had brought me onto the floor in the first place.  Orv died of a freak infection.  It is still the funniest funeral I have ever gone to and while I was sad, I laughed a lot and Orv would have liked that.  An Orvism, “I just found out I was dyslexic.  It’s great news for me.  All these years I just thought I was dumb.”

Kids that are 18 today were born in 2001. Let that sink in for a moment.

On that day, the world turned into a different place and it wasn’t for the better. A day of infamy. Never forget.  I won’t.