Michele at A Small Victory pointed out that today’s the anniversary of the Challenger’s final, ill fated trip. Which reminded me of maybe the coarsest bit of black humor I’ve ever heard in my life.
I was working at the Commodity Exchange, standing in the Silver pit. Everyone was kind of stunned, murmering to each other, reading the report as it crossed the various Reuters machines’ screens, and one guy says, “What’s NASA stand for?” Before anyone can say anything, an answer rings out: “Need Another Seven Astronauts.” And a whole bunch of us–me included–couldn’t stifle the reflexive snort of laughter. And we all kicked back into money making mode.
It’s one of the things that are gonna get wheeled out when I die, and they put me on the elevator that’s going down. I thought–still do–that riff was one of the greatest bits of improv I’ve ever heard in my life.
Didn’t realize you were a trader. I’m an energy trader. Which reminds me, how many NASA astronauts can you fit in a station wagon?
Okay, I’ll bite. How many?
Hey, Beck?
What the fuck, exactly, do you “energy traders” trade? Output from generater plants?
I’m serious…I’ve never been able to grasp what the fuck that contract means in “shit I can hold in my hands” terms.
Two in the front, three in the back, and seven in the ash tray.
Yeah, output from power plants. Think of it like you would natural gas, only instead of pipelines, we have power lines. The one major difference–and it’s a doozy–is that power isn’t storable.
If you buy a firm monthly 50mw on-peak Cinergy hub contract, you basically get 50mw’s from 700-2200 mon-fri for the month, delievered to the cinergy control area. if you don’t sink it (i.e. use it to keep lights on) or sell it to someone else, you’re fucked. You get LD’d — liquidated damages — where the other side of the contract basically dictates the price at which he’ll take the contract to zero.
It’s the most volatile commodity in the world, and it’s illiquid as hell. And godamn it’s fun to trade.
I always tell anyone who asks that trading commodities is the greatest casino the Dollar Gods ever dreamed up, but that shit is in-fucking-credible!