Yesterday it was suggested that one of the reasons John Paulson was able to make the leap from run of the mill rich guy/peasant by hedge fund manager standards to John motherfucking Paulson! was that he “became a grump.” In earlier times, he was known for his loft parties in SoHo, and as he approached the trillion dollar pay-days, began to do things like ream employees out for overusing the printer, and reprimand people for eating junk food, according to Greg Zuckerman’s new book, The Greatest Trade Ever.* A recently published study from the University of New South Wales says that “negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking paying greater attention to the external world” so, perhaps there’s a connection between between JP making people pay to replace their own inkjet cartridges and figuring out that maybe subprime wasn’t the can’t lose asset class everyone thought it was cracked up to be.
Today, a Swedish study notes that “men who bottle up their anger at being unfairly treated at work are up to five times more likely to suffer a heart attack, or even die from one.” And if you think being the just go with the flow guy who “lets thing pass without saying anything” would save you, think again. That tactic will get you killed to. So here’s what I’m thinking.

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