Billion Dollar Day – 24 hours in the life of an FX Trader – 1986 BBC2 Documentary

Here’s a little something to watch during a quiet, dull trading session. It was a BBC 2 documentary from 1986 about 24 hours in FX trading by following traders in the US, London & Hong-Kong. Clearly the technology and the styles have moved on – nevertheless it remains fascinating viewing for any FX trader. Its nice to hear the desk supervisor talk about how Richard, the Barclays trader, has learnt (the hard way) to divorce his ego from his trading and to quickly admit when he’s wrong, cut his trade and get-out. There’s a valuable lesson for us all there regardless of whether you work a £2000 or £200 million trading account.

It’s also nice to see them using the 10CC song “The Wall Street Shuffle” as the program accompaniment. Great lyrics from another good Manchester band. For those of you too young to remember or appreciate 10CC then you should check them out. “You need a Yen, to make your Mark, if you want to make money.” As wise now as it is was then (though I appreciate many of my readers will have no idea what a DeutscheMark ever was!)

Enjoy

Paul