《股票作手回忆录·第六章·旧金山地震·做空联合太平洋》第12节
I have no explanation to give you, either scientific or childish. I am telling you what I did, and why, and what came of it. I was much less concerned with the mystery of the hunch than with the fact that I got a quarter of a million out of it. It meant that I could now swing a much bigger line than ever, if or when the time came for it. That summer I went to Saratoga Springs. It was supposed to be a vacation for me, but I kept an eye on the market. To begin with, I wasn’t so tired that it bothered me to think about it. And then, everybody I knew up there had or had had an active interest in it. We naturally talked about it. I have noticed that there is quite a difference between talking and trading. Some of these chaps remind you of the bold clerk who talks to his cantankerous employer as to a yellow dog--when he tells you about it. Harding Brothers had a branch office in Saratoga. Many of their customers were there. But the real reason, I suppose, was the advertising value. Having a branch office in a resort is simply high-class billboard advertising. I used to drop in and sit around with the rest of the crowd. The manager was a very nice chap from the New York office who was there to give the glad hand to friends and strangers and, if possible, to get business. It was a wonderful place for tips--all kinds of tips, horse-race, stock-market, and waiters’. The office knew I didn’t take any, so the manager didn’t come and whisper confidentially in my ear what he’d just got on the q. t. from the New York office. He simply passed over the telegrams, saying, “This is what they’re sending out,” or something of the kind.
注释摘要
这段文字表面上是情节的过渡，实则隐藏着关于投机心理与人性的关键信息。它发生在利弗莫尔凭借旧金山地震的直觉做空赚得二十五万美元之后，讲述他带着这笔巨额利润前往萨拉托加温泉度假的经历。我们必须先理解这笔钱在1906年的意义——二十五万美元相当于今天的数千万美元，足以改变一个人的社会阶层。所以他说“这意味着我现在可以操作比以前大得多的规模，只要时机到来”，这是一…