The Melancholy Korean

"Where's the floor in Citi, captain?"

"Jesus, Mell. Ugly, isn't it?"

"You can sure pick 'em."

(silence)

"Maybe I should go into farming, Mell. This business is killing..."

"You gonna top tick the wheat market, now? Congratulations. You just called the top in commodities."

"Maybe I'll drive a truck."

"Sitting on your ass and staring at a computer all day hardly qualifies you to drive a truck, captain. That's real work you're talking about."

"The market is starting to scare me, Mell. Have you heard of the Automatic Earth? Let me read this to you. It's frightening stuff. The guy says "I find it interesting to see people starting to understand that we are entering the mother of all deflations, and all the talk of inflation is not worth the paper it’s printed on. As US home prices plunge, homes become more expensive to buy. Think about that one."

(silence)

"I don't get it, captain. Of course, I studied ancient Greek in college. Something useful, unlike economics."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I had to ask Mumbai to explain how that would work."

"What'd he say?"

"Honestly, Mell, I didn't really understand. You know, trading isn't about any of that."

"That's for sure. As Mr. Black Swan says, frying an egg is harder than buying or selling stocks.  And captain, lemme tell you, I know that one from experience."