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The Earthquake Trade

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That’s a lot of fucks, I thought while editing today’s story — a London trader’s unvarnished account of making millions on the 2011 Japanese earthquake. I figured that for decency’s sake I should delete a few, and after making what I thought was a comprehensive pass, I hit Apple-F to see how many remained. Twenty-nine. Whoops! It turns out that Scorsesian profanity is simply inextricable from Gary Stevenson’s depiction of his time at Citibank. Back then, shortly after the global financial crisis, widespread economic pain and growing inequality created lots of opportunities for traders to profit — a game that Gary participated in, excelled at, and became disgusted by. “The best trading, you do it with your nose,” he writes. “It smells like stupidity.”

—Nick Summers, features editor, New York

The Earthquake Trade I was an outsider in London finance. And when disaster struck in Japan, that was my biggest advantage.

Illustration: by Tim Bouckley
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