mod (Andy) note: "Blast from the past - Best of Eddie" If there's an old post from Eddie you'd like to see up again shoot me a message.
"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been twenty-one months since my last decent steak."
Daddy's home, boys. After a month off and a whirlwind global tour, I return to WSO rested, humbled, and in one piece. In the past month I returned to the States for the first time in almost two years, I ran with the bulls in Pamplona, I chilled on the beach on the Bay of Biscay, and I ate, drank, and made merry among the vines in the rolling hills of Tuscany.
In the spirit of those often senseless middle school essays our teachers made us write about our summer vacations, I thought I'd spend my first week back sharing a few of the things I learned during my month off. Much of it applies more to life than Wall Street, but you'll be surprised to learn what a charging bull can teach you about trading in general and risk management specifically.
Most of you are well into your summer stints at various firms by now, so maybe I can provide a vicarious escape while you're laying the very important groundwork of your future career. Maybe I'll give you an idea for a future trip, or something to add to your personal bucket list. In any case, here are just a few of the things I learned while I was taking the first break I've had since November 2007:
- Paris has made me soft.
- America feels a little darker than it did since the triumph of Hope and Change (I moved to France two days after the 2008 election and hadn't been back since).
- Topless beaches seem to have gone out of style in France, with only the older gals partaking these days. Meh.
- Bulls are much faster than I thought.
- I am much slower than I thought.
- Fear; true, unbridled fear is an exquisite sensation. I don't know why we go to such lengths to insulate ourselves from it.
- Farmers (real farmers, not bullshit Con-Agra/Monsanto/Tyson cabalistas) seem to have shit all figured out. I suspect it has been thus for the past 5,000 years.
- You should never go two years between filet mignons.
- When it comes to wine and many other things in life, great isn't necessarily expensive and expensive isn't necessarily great.
- If you are reading this website, you are a genetic lottery winner. Act like it. You could replicate the travels of Marco Polo for less than $10,000. You're a damned fool if you don't.
It's good to be back, and I'm looking forward to getting into the swing of things. We have some exciting stuff coming up on the site, and it's going to be a fun ride. I hope you're all having a great summer, and getting out of the office at least enough to enjoy it.
Let's get after it.
you're a special guy... banana time for you
Edmundo, thank you for reminding us that we need to explore the wall beyond our cubicle. Sometimes in the heat of the day we often forget a world lies beyond it
YES!! You are back Edmundo!! We all missed you here. Can't wait to read your upcoming articles!
i wanna run with the bulls sooooo bad.
I am agreeing with 6. The rush is pretty intense, although I haven't had charging bulls chasing me.
LETS DO IT
If you can't make the trip to Pamplona, there's a running of the bulls in New Orleans on the same weekend. Instead of bulls its roller derby girls chasing you down with plastic baseball bats as you run through the streets of the French Quarter. Obviously nowhere near as cool as the real thing, but still a pretty fun experience.
ahahahaha this sounds awesome, are you serious?
Walton and Johnson refer to this event as the Running of the Bulldykes. I still listen to those guys with internet radio sometimes. It's a little weird to hear them in the afternoon, though.
accountingbyday, the timing of my move was purely coincidental. Actually, I think the outcome of national elections has very little impact on the average person's life, so making a grand gesture like leaving the country if so-and-so gets elected should be left to the self-aggrandizing purview of nitwit Hollywood types.
The feeling I got was that the country was just somehow edgier. It's hard to quantify. Consider that I was in New Orleans while the BP spill was at its worst, and a President most people down there already hate seemed to be doing nothing about it. I run with a pretty libertarian crowd, and they didn't know who represented the bigger threat: encroaching government or the Tea Party crowd (who most of my friends view as little more than useful idiots of the GOP).
I guess there are a lot of contributing factors (recession, unemployment, the region of the country I was in, etc) but it just felt like things were more on edge than when I left. Again, it's hard to get more scientific than that.
Edmundo,
Welcome back! Your posts are really what make this site top notch and are a great interuption to my day.
I'd like you to elaborate on #2 at some point. Was the timing of you leaving the US just a coincidence or were you one of the people swearing to leave if he got elected? Also, can you explain what makes it feel darker?
$10k to follow Marco Polo huh? That sounds like money well spent.
Glad you're back so I don't have to see that ball sack avatar every morning.
Welcome back Edmundo! Life was boring on the forums while you were gone. Please help us keep Goldman's avatar off the front page.
Yes! and Magoo's
nice!
10 was money.
I second the ball sack comment...
hey Edmundo - glad ur back... now we'll get to see what you think of GS settlement, the tea baggers...oops tea party racist drama. oh...and share more about the bull run experience
We could get a whole group of investment bankers and fund managers together in Spain and go on a bull run.
Welcome back Eddie!!!
Are you 4-hour work week-ing life these days?
8 - 2 years in between filets hurts me to think about.
9 - I get what you're saying, but at the end of the day, quality of wine is mostly reflective of price.
Try the beaches in southern Spain, the topless scene is alive and well there. Great article
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