《股票作手回忆录·第六章·旧金山地震·做空联合太平洋》第17节
As soon as I saw Union Pacific making new high records I said to myself, “This is no stock for me to be short of.” All I had in the world was up as margin in Harding’s office. I was neither cheered nor made stubborn by the knowledge of that fact. What was plain was that I had read the tape accurately and that I had been a ninny to let Ed Harding shake my own resolution. There was no sense in recriminations, because I had no time to lose; and besides, what’s done is done. So I gave an order to take in my shorts. The stock was around 165 when I sent in that order to buy in the four thousand UP. at the market. I had a three-point loss on it at that figure. Well, my brokers paid 172 and 174 for some of it before they were through. I found when I got my reports that Ed Harding’s kindly intentioned interference cost me forty thousand dollars. A low price for a man to pay for not having the courage of his own convictions! It was a cheap lesson. I wasn’t worried, because the tape said still higher prices. It was an unusual move and there were no precedents for the action of the directors, but I did this time what I thought I ought to do. As soon as I had given the first order to buy four thousand shares to cover my shorts I decided to profit by what the tape indicated and so I went along. I bought four thousand shares and held that stock until the next morning. Then I got out. I not only made up the forty thousand dollars I had lost but about fifteen thousand besides. If Ed Harding hadn’t tried to save me money I’d have made a killing. But he did me a very great service, for it was the lesson of that episode that, I firmly believe, completed my education as a trader.
注释摘要
这一段发生在他刚经历了一笔凭直觉做空的巨大成功之后，市场环境已经发生变化，而他却在联合太平洋这只股票上犯下了一个教科书级别的错误。要理解他为什么会亏掉四万美元，又要靠什么迅速赚回来，首先得看清当时他是在什么样的金融机制里交易。 他提到的 Harding Brothers 是一家真正的纽约股票交易所会员经纪商，而不是他年轻时混迹的那种对赌行。在经纪商那里，买…