Every once in a while I come across a story that just writes itself. I went out with a pal on Friday night and got tore up from the floor up after a couple months of pseudo-sobriety. When I woke up on Saturday I only had a vague recollection of leaving the club, and I thought for sure I'd left my jacket there (turns out I didn't). That's disconcerting enough; imagine waking up the next day to find that you moved world oil prices by a buck and a half a barrel and spent a half billion dollars of your firm's money in the process, and had no recollection of doing it.
Steve Perkins, a (former) senior broker at PVM Oil Futures did just that in a blackout drunken stupor on the night of June 29, 2009. The trade ended up costing the firm $10 million to unwind (could've been a lot worse), and Perkins was suspended for five years and levied a six-figure fine. But perhaps the most baller aspect of this whole thing is that the FSA deemed it necessary to label Perkins "an extreme risk to the market when drunk". That's pretty bad ass.
His drunken trades amounted to 7 million barrels of crude oil, or 69% of the world supply. That's a busy night. He didn't even realize he'd done it until he got a call the next morning from somebody in ops wondering why he'd bought 7 million barrels of oil. Did I mention it was 7 million fucking barrels of oil? Holy shit. Now that's a bender.
I've said and done some really dumb shit when I was drunk, but I don't even know anyone who's gone this far off the reservation while under the influence. Why the hell would you go to work of all places when you're this wasted?
Mod note: "Blast from the Past - Best of Eddie" - This one is originally from 10/01/12
HAHAHAH
I've only come in semi-drunk once on my day off due to sickness among the other traders. They made me sleep under my desk and would kick me in the shin if shit hit the fan. Went home with a stiff back and I promised myself to never answer my work phone at an afterparty again.
i remember this dude, i thought he was banned from the financial jurisdiction he was in, and then was hired by a swiss company, who probably put a breathalyser instead of password on his account.
I cant believe Steve changed his name to cover his tracks...he knows damn well he was helping fund my fitness efforts
One of these days some drunk Middle-Eastern dictator is going to cause an actual geopolitical event affecting the oil markets.
The ruling class is drunk on power and expensive scotch.
Dealbreaker already did it.
Unrelated to work - but the worst/best drunken story I know of...
Two of my buddies freshman year of college disassembled the bathroom stalls on their dorm floor then packed it all up and drove out of town and ditched the evidence...
The RA/administration assumed it was them and they had to drive back, pick it up and reassemble (they were the suspects b/c they "borrowed" a foosball table from another dorm and walked it back to theirs during another drunken evening)
Somehow I have never felt the impulse to work while drunk. I would love to see the drunken efforts of other professions: "Initiating coverage on DEO - Strong Buy, with potential downgrade tomorrow morning"
What a bad ass move. Imagine he did this with a friend on his side, oh boy, it's the safest way to die laughing.
Not my only takeaway from the post, but I thought the world oil production was around 80-85 mbpd. Is the 69% just a typo?
I remember this haha. The 69% is the amount of oil futures he bought. He bought 69% of the open oil futures interest.
I really gotta wonder what kind of person would be like, "F*ck the bar, I'm gonna get all up at my trading desk! Models and bottles? Nah, models and barrels" (Ok...it was a terrible joke)
Hah - I got a laugh out of it. Not sure if was truly funny or b/c its much more exciting than my current CIQ screen
The US consumes something like 20 million barrels a day, so unlikely 7m=69% of global production.
Braverman chill on the purple drank.
69% of the open interest, big guy. Good to see you back.
And I love me some purple drank.
its a good thing im not a trader... i woulda got wasted the next day and tried to move 8 million barrels
The Sunday before I started, a buddy and I got stupid drunk on Delirium, the pink elephant. I lived across the street from work and accidentally went to work instead. The security guard found me trying my home fob on the elevator.
Security: "Sir, what are you doing?" Me: "I can't get into my apartment" S: "Sir, this is an office building. No one lives here."
Took him a few minutes, but he figured it out and walked my drunk ass home. He gives me a knowing wink whenever he sees me in the lobby now.
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