《股票作手回忆录·第十二章·棉花惨败·被专家说服》第6节
I am so accustomed to losing money that I never think first of that phase of my mistakes. It is always the play itself, the reason why. In the first place I wish to know my own limitations and habits of thought. Another reason is that I do not wish to make the same mistake a second time. A man can excuse his mistakes only by capitalising them to his subsequent profit. Well, having made a five-hundred dollar mistake but not yet having localised the trouble, I just looked at the fellow to size him up as a first step. I’ll be hanged if he didn’t actually smile at me--an understanding little smile! He seemed to read my thoughts. I somehow knew that I did not have to explain anything to him; he knew it without my telling him. So I skipped the explanations and the preliminaries and asked him, “How much commission will you get on that five hundred dollar order?” He promptly shook his head and said, “I can’t do it! Sorry!” “How much do you get?” I persisted. “A third. But I can’t do it!” he said. “A third of five hundred dollars is one hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty-six cents. I’ll give you two hundred dollars cash if you give me back that signed contract.” And to prove it I took the money out of my pocket.
注释摘要
利弗莫尔在这里坦承了自己看待亏损的独特方式，这段剖白是全章心理转折的重要起点。他说自己“太习惯于亏钱”，以至于犯错时首先想到的从来不是金钱损失本身。这种心态需要放在他整个人的投机哲学里理解——对他而言，每一次交易都是一次判断力的测试，考场上的分数比学费数目更有价值。他急于定位的是思维过程中的漏洞，是自己的局限与思维习惯，因为只有找到根源，才可能避免重蹈覆辙…