Planning Wealth

“A legendary S&P floor trader has written a powerful, brutally honest chronicle of his determined rise to the top of his profession. Touching and insightful, this riveting account is one of the best trading memoirs ever.”–—NELSON FREEBURG, PUBLISHER, FORMULA RESEARCH

“The Day Trader provides a rare look into the events that shaped the extraordinary character of one of the most unique people to ever put on a trading jacket . . . it comes as no surprise that Borsellino places himself at the center of the maelstrom surrounding electronic trading versus open outcry and provides a truly balanced, intelligent, and unemotional view of the momentous transformation occurring in the financial markets. It is imperative that anyone involved in trading the markets–—either traditionally or electronically–—read this story and benefit from the insights of one of the great traders of our lifetime.”–—MARIO ALBERICO, FORMER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, ELECTRONIC TRADING, CHICAGO MERCANTILE EXCHANGE

“The Day Trader is must reading for anyone in the market. Lewis Borsellino is an Italian American hero who climbed the mountain with guts and honor. The neighborhood kid will always remember where he came from.”–—DOMINIC DI FRISCO, PRESIDENT EMERITUS, JOINT CIVIC COMMITTEE OF ITALIAN AMERICANS

Amazon.com Review

The subtitle of The Day Trader, From the Pit to the PC, indicates the evolution of the trader from floor jockey to computer cowboy. But this is less an account of the trader’s changing arena than the story of Lewis Borsellino, a fist-shaking Italian American from Chicago’s West Side whose grit and determination helped him become one of the top traders in the Standard & Poor futures pit. “When the world around me goes nuts, I become more sane. The wilder the market gets, the more disciplined I become.” He credits this focus to his tough but compassionate Italian American father, a truck driver with a penchant for lightening the loads of his deliveries. “I do what I do so you don’t have to,” says the elder Borsellino, prior to getting busted by the feds for hijacking a million-dollar shipment of silver.

Shedding his father’s mobster ties, Borsellino quickly moves up the trading ranks, establishing a position–literally–on the second step of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. For 18 years, he doesn’t budge, sometimes using his fists to ward off aggressive traders, and gaining a “sixth sense” that helps him determine which way the market is headed. Although Borsellino provides a good deal of technical reasoning behind his many successes and failures, he repeatedly returns to this intangible quality, stressing its importance and describing how it’s made him millions.

The Day Trader concludes with some thoughts on the pit’s computerized future. Since writing the book, Borsellino has left the S&P to become a fund manager. He relies on computers now more than ever, but wonders how digital day traders without floor experience will get their sense of market flow, timing, and price patterns. Borsellino’s The Day Trader is a good place to start. –Rob McDonald