The eight rules of Dean Carney

From the [very entertaining] book Ugly Americans by Ben Mezrich, the tale of Ivy League traders playing the Asian markets:

1. Never get into something you can’t get out by the closing bell. Every trade you make, you’re looking for the exit point. Always keep your eye on the exit point.
2. Don’t ever take anything at face value. Because face value is the biggest lie of any market. Nothing is ever priced at its true worth. The key is to figure out the real, intrinsic value — and get it for much, much less.
3. One minute, you have your feet on the ground and you’re moving forward. The next minute, the ground is gone and you’re falling. The key is to never land. Keep it in the air as long as you fucking can.
4. You walk into a room with a grenade, and your best-case scenario is walking back out still holding that grenade. Your worst-case scenario is that the grenade explodes, blowing you into little bloody pieces. The moral of the story: don’t make bets with no upside.
5. Don’t overthink. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck — it’s a duck.
6. Fear is the greatest motivator. Motivation is what it takes to find profit.
7. The first place to look for a solution is within the problem itself.
8. The ends justify the means, but there’s only one end that really matters: Ending up on a beach with a bottle of champagne.

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