Part I
Beginnings
March 10, 1961. Yes, to put these chronicles of recent trading years in proper perspective, we must first go back to the day I took my first breath. Long before we can talk about the failures and redemptions of my trading life, we must first journey through the years that would shape my view on life and mold a certain degree of perseverance that would become paramount in later years.
Actually, we must go back two additional years, to 1959, because although we all came into this world through no asking or effort of our own, I consider myself particularly blessed given that two years prior to my arrival, my parents had experienced a devastating stillbirth. And although they've never discussed those trying days much with me, I do know that the baby was male and that my mother carried him to full term.
For many parents, such a devastating life event would understandably end attempts to further expand the family tree right there. Yet largely because my parents didn't want my sister, Judy, who had been born two years prior, to be an only child as my mother had been, they set aside their doubts and fears to try once again. Of course, life is never easy, and as they prepared for my arrival, my mother had the bad fortune of coming down with the chicken pox, which would complicate the delivery. Nevertheless, on March 10, 1961, and certainly through no effort of my own, I was brought into the world via a cesarean section in such a way that I was effectively isolated from ...
