How many Houston-based billionaires did Brian Hunter try to screw in an attempt to not blow $6 billion out of his ass, have himself escorted from the Amaranth building and be placed on Nick Maounis’s permanent shit list? At least one that we know of but maybe more will come out of the woodwork. For now it’s John Arnold. The Centaurus founder could probably point to trades that made him a ton of money but you really can’t put a price on avoiding the humiliation that would’ve come from being taken for a ride by fish boy.
Traders familiar with Arnold’s style also credit a calm and disciplined manner that helps him stay eerily focused on the fundamentals of the market when other trades are creating distractions.That was on display most notably during the Amaranth debacle. Amaranth, a $9 billion commodities hedge fund in Greenwich, Conn., was betting that natural-gas prices would rise in the winter, according to a Senate report that shed light on what happened in September 2006.
But as the season wore on, meteorologists began predicting a mild winter, and prices turned downward. Amaranth trading prodigy Brian Hunter started bleeding money, facing $3 billion in margin calls at one point.As Hunter worked late on a Saturday in what would become a cataclysmic weekend for him, he e-mailed Arnold and tried to persuade him to buy Amaranth’s positions before the market opened on Monday. Arnold wrote back the next morning, explaining that he hadn’t been in the office for a couple of days, and coolly rebuffed Hunter.
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 5:55PM
fuck you.
-bh
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 5:56PM
this is so 2006. next.
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 5:58PM
@2 you're an idiot.
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 5:59PM
2 = brian hunter
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 6:02PM
3,4 sparkling wiggles. What do you bring to the table?
-2
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 6:04PM
reads like he is the next Bernard Maddoff
Posted by Black Gold , Nov 24, 2009 6:16PM
talk shit about texas no more...ya NY faggots
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 6:32PM
this is actually a story? BOOOOOORING.
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 6:32PM
Best gay face I've seen in a while.
-A.Lambert
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 6:49PM
Don't you know, Bess, that stories about 35 year old billionaire traders will make most of DB's disposable, two-bit, finance lackeys, who barely crack six figures, squirm in agonizing envy, loathing, and emasculation?
Thank you for making my day! :-D
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 6:52PM
My greatest trade: 9 '89 Fleer Benito Santiagos for 4 '89 Upper Deck Griffey Jrs.
Booya.
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 6:54PM
Hunter can blow me. And yes, @9, he looks sooooo gay. More-than-Shia gay.
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 7:27PM
@10 - according to my calculations, that is one figure more than you.
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 7:40PM
@8 why don't you ask for your money back? and/or get out there and make a story that doesn't bore you happen (2 days before thanksgiving).
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 7:44PM
#7 no one cares about your opinion
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 8:09PM
@13: According to my calculations, you're the dirty hobo Patrick Bateman killed in the first hour of the movie, so please STFU and go suck a glass dick.
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 8:31PM
@10, 16 - Wow, I guess that's two figures.
Posted by Investorcluzo , Nov 24, 2009 9:25PM
@5 - examine your motives, @sshat.
Posted by EnergyTrader , Nov 24, 2009 9:36PM
I am sorry but this is very old news. The story actually continues that Arnold did eventually quote Hunter a market in a the H/J which ended up being remarkably remarkably accurate. The reply I read was actually funny:
I was not in the office on Friday but I understand you were selling h/j [March/April]. The market is now loaded up on recent, bad purchases that they will probably try to be spitting out on Monday if there is a lower opening given that spread has been in free fall. In my opinion, fundamentally, that spread is still a long way from fundamental value."
Implying Hunters buys sucked, which they did.
I heard the quotes for size were:
h/j 07: 45/60 previous close of 1.15 on the close of 9/16
and
1.00/1.20 for 08 which had closed 2.20
on the 9/27 h/j 07 closed at .58
All in all, an old story but a great one.
P.S. nice fades John, truly one of the greatest traders alive.
Posted by EnergyTrader , Nov 24, 2009 9:38PM
Sorry for the typos that appear above, but I have had a few too many scotches tonight.
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 10:13PM
John Arnold is the best NYC , he is the best trader ever. Ya'll do not know about him but he is so much better then all of you and always will be
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 10:24PM
@19 so it's an old story but a great one, hence the reason for the post.
Posted by EnergyTrader , Nov 24, 2009 10:24PM
I am confused why you are comparing John Arnold to a city. You do understand that New York City is a geographic location. New York City can not trade NG. You can not compare NYC to a person, that would be like saying that my coffee table is a better table than this glass of scotch I am drinking, that makes no sense. This might be a hard idea to understand, if we could draw a venn diagram of things that are geographic locations and people NYC would fit into the geographic location circle and Arnold in the people circle, there is no overlap. Now.. if we were to say want to compare Arnold to you, yes that would be possible and yes John Arnold >>> You. If we were to compare You to a Retard, yes any Retard >>> You. Cheers mate.
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 10:26PM
@energytrader-- there was no implication in the post that it was breaking news, just an amusing aside.
Posted by guest , Nov 24, 2009 10:27PM
@ energy trader, I don't think 21 is under the impression JA is a city, I think, like you, he's just had too much to drink and is omitting words in his comment.
Posted by EnergyTrader , Nov 24, 2009 10:32PM
lol. I know. I am just bored. Last weeks episode of the mentalist really hasn't been holding my attention.
Posted by trojan , Nov 25, 2009 12:06AM
John Arnold has always been the new killing it
Posted by guest , Nov 25, 2009 9:41AM
mar/apr07 then went inverted and rolled off 15 under - for the chips
Posted by guest , Nov 25, 2009 10:21AM
JA was lucky because that dipshit Skilling let him have an $800 million swing from $400 up to $400 down on his book before the implosion. According to "The Smartest Guys in the Room", Skilling patted JA on the back and said, "You'll make it back next month..."
Posted by guest , Nov 25, 2009 10:27AM
John is a nice guy who doesn't have his head up his ass like 99% of the traders in the energy merchant business.
Posted by guest , Nov 25, 2009 10:32AM
30=one of JA's innumerable sexual conquests.
Posted by guest , Nov 25, 2009 10:33AM
@29 - was he lucky when he told kenny g "no thanks" and decided to turn his enron bonus into billions on his own?
Posted by guest , Nov 25, 2009 10:42AM
@29 - 2005 storms, storage, heat, precipitation - all luck?
Posted by guest , Nov 25, 2009 1:14PM
@29 not entirely accurate. Arnold was about to be fired for that +400 to -400 swing. It was Greg Whalley who went to bat for him and saved his job. Whalley was also behind the 8 mill retention bonus after ENE had imploded. Whalley got rewarded later by getting a sweet gig at Centaurus.
Posted by the real energy trader , Nov 27, 2009 10:48PM
John is the man....just met him at Maggi's place on Hildago. Those guys at Centaurus aren't really geniuses, just a bunch of regular guys with alot of information and industry experience. Also very fun guys to hang out with.
Posted by the real energy trader , Nov 27, 2009 10:50PM
John is the man....just met him at Maggi's place on Hildago. Those guys at Centaurus aren't really geniuses, just a bunch of regular guys with alot of information and industry experience. Also very fun guys to hang out with.