The job of a trader is a confluence of responsibilities, essentially limited to executing trades and IMing. Anyone who's ever interfaced with one of God's special creatures through AIM knows such an experience is a guided tour through copious spelling errors, homonym problems that suggest serious learning disabilities, response times that range from jackhammer to 3-hours-later-I'm-still-sitting-here and cockiness as far as the eye can see (*very* occasionally justified, most often not).
So while they're not particularly revealing, it's nice to read through some instant-message conversations between Brian Hunter, Matthew Donohoe, other Amaranth employees and a trader at another firm, who were all included in CFTC's complaint against Hunter y Amaranth, and see that the biggest hedge fund fuckup of all time's "experimental" grammar is no better than his actual trading. Next, we'll publish his IMs with thefish. Those are some quality exchanges not to be missed.
Feb. 24, 2006 (expiry day for the March 2006 New York Mercantile Exchange natural gas futures contract), between Hunter and a natural gas trader at another firm, from 1:31 p.m. (Eastern time) and 1:35 p.m.
Hunter: We have 4000 to sell MoC [market on close]
Hunter: shhhh
gloverb: come on
Hunter: y
gloverb: unless you are huge bearish
gloverb: position
gloverb: why the f would yo do that
Hunter: all from options yesterday
Hunter: so we ll see what the floor has
Hunter: bit of an experiment mainly
gloverb: what the f
gloverb: that is huge
Hunter: I think John [Arnold] and Sempra [Energy] are sellers too
A few minutes after the start of the closing range, “gloverb” asked Hunter, “arent you done”? Hunter replied, “no…have a lot more to sell…waiting until 2:20.”
•
On Feb. 24, in the middle of the closing range, Hunter IMed Donohoe to say “today came together quite nicely.” Later, immediately after the closing range at 2:30 p.m.:
Donohoe: h [March contract] will settle lower
Donohoe: and h/j wider
Donohoe: nice
Hunter: I am flexing here
Donohoe: looking preety bang on
Donohoe: we already mimicked
Dohohoe: lol
Donohoe: rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Hunter: hahahahaha
Donohoe: 2nd best…sept/oct last year still the best
Donohoe: oh yeag
•
April 26, 2006, between Hunter and Amaranth energy risk manager David Chasman, from 12:48 p.m. to 12:56 p.m.:
Hunter: FYI [John] Arnold is getting scary short into the [Energy Information Agency gas storage] number tomorrow
…
Chasman: what u think arnold has?
Hunter: we are rolling size into may
Hunter: and I am worrie that Anold has taken the other side of everything
Hunter: so either he runs it up to the close today and gets short tomorrow
Hunter: or has a HUGE view on the number tomorrow
…
Chasman: other side of everything meaning buying from everyone else selling – or buying from [you]
Hunter: no buying may and selling June…with me
Chasman: does he know what [you are] up [to] [with respect to] rolling off length?... sorry rolling off short
Hunter: probably
…
Hunter: I think it is more that he thinks its going to get [f…d] tomorrow
…
Hunter: me may try to help it by running the market up on the close
…
Chasman: kinda hard to do when selling – no?
Hunter: Arnold is the master of moving the close?
The Brian Hunter Instant Messages [FINalternatives]
Posted by AJ, Jul 26, 2007 1:03PM
Did Solengo drop their lawsuit or something? I see the attacks on poor Mr. Hunter have returned with a vengeance.