Remembering 9/11

Today, we remember the 9/11 tragedy. Many innocent lives were lost during this fateful day as a terrorist-controlled plane slammed hard into the towering World Trade Center.

But do you know that in spite of the tragedy, there were still some people who managed to rejoice on that fateful moment even if in their hearts they were deeply sorry with what had transpired on that day? No, they are not terrorists nor are they insane. So, guess who? They were traders who were then betting on the wrong side of the market.

I should know for I witnessed some colleagues jumping up and down for joy, cheering on the top of their lungs as they've seen the market suddenly went into their trading direction. Those colleagues of mine were shorting then the USD/JPY pair, and the yen during those periods were bearish versus the greenback.

For no apparent reason, there was a drastic turn of events and we saw the dollar falling on our Reuters chart. In a few moments, the TV screen flashed out a breaking news from Bloomberg that the World Trade Center was bombed. So, it was the reason for the dollar downfall. Such confirmation made those bear dollar traders leaped for joy and cheered the Japanese currency all the more.

On the other hand, I immediately lock in my position. As much as I would want to open up a sell dollar position versus the British pounds for some profit-taking; however, it was hard getting a good deal as spreads are pretty wide and wild! I just tuned in on Bloomberg and watched the mournful event as the plane crash footage was repeatedly being shown.

After an hour or so, our CEO called up an emergency meeting to discuss some market updates. There he revealed that there was a voluntary “gentleman’s agreement” among currency brokers not to profit from the event to help stabilize the value of the dollar. But "it's too late" as I said to myself. Since, I knew for sure that several fund managers, our firm included, had already taken huge positions. (True enough, after three days the value of the dollar had continued its preempted slide.)

After that announcement, he told everybody to go home already as the management decided to halt trading for that day. But before he called for the adjournment of the meeting, he led the closing prayer reciting "The Lord's Prayer", to our surprise, since he usually assigned it to his executive secretary. Perhaps, it is one way of showing that the management had sympathized with the terror victims. That was the common assumption. But it could have been a thanksgiving prayer too. We learned that our company partake a good slice in the big market opportunity that was transpired during that mournful day.