Last night I gave a visiting lecture at Rutgers. I thought I would share some of my observations.
1) Rutgers is doing a masterful job of promotion. The deep red logo stands out. I even bought a shirt for myself I liked the logo and colors so much. Signs on the highway blast out their Top 10 ROI. Did they hire Donald Trump to do their marketing? Genius.
2) One student was super inquisitive about the price direction of oil. I gave him my answer. I don’t know. And then walked them through different possible scenarios. Essentially oil is broken and needs an intervening catalyst to lift it higher.
3) There was an attendee who knew so much more about oil than me, or guys like me. This student had worked at a prop firm, building models for energy names. I did not meet him until the very end. You need to stay humble in this game. There are many much smarter than you.
4) I am not sure there is a better use of my time than giving talks like this. I drove 6 hours to Penn State about five years ago, and then 8 hours back in a hail storm to give a lecture. One trader in attendance, who joined our firm, runs his own team on our desk now. You never know when you are going to meet that next high performing trader. Meeting just one makes every trip for the year worth it.
5) Packed house. Two females. Again how do we get more women interested in markets?
6) Does Pepsi have an exclusive contract with Rutgers? There were no Coke products in the student convenience store. More importantly, there was no Coke Zero.
7) The lesson that resonated most with this group? Confidence is your ability to persevere in the face of disappointment (Dr. Menaker). It’s not holding positions that are trading against you for which you have “conviction”. Thesis + news catalyst + price confirmation + fighting for price make the best trades.
We had a great conversation on this topic.
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*no relevant positions
