People on the Floor Really Do Hate Each Other

Peerless was at work yesterday and he saw 2 brokers getting into an argument.  The divergence of opinion reached its peak when one of the participants told the other fellow that he was "going to beat the living shit out of him."  Then, almost the exact same as NHL officials try to break up a fight after the 2 combatants run out of steam, several Exchange Employees stepped in and separated the warring factions.  Instead of going to the Penalty Box, the Broker who made the threat received a 2 day suspension (The floor equivalent of a 5 min major for fighting).  

Peerless reflected on this behavior after he went home for the day and realized he sees people performing all sorts of behavior that would keep an entire army of Human Resources Personnel busy arranging severance packages and defusing employee abuse lawsuits at normal companies. However, as mentioned before, the Floor is like Prison so disputes there are handled very much like a fight in the prison yard.

Basically, people fight because of the intense pressure of trying to trade as events rapidly unfold.  The fever pitch of the market causes high anxiety and people snap.  Peerless himself has on many an occasion yelled nasty things at another trader and can testify that it feels as if an evil spirit has taken over and the venom just spews out of his mouth.  Many of the brokers have rivalries with each other because this profession almost requires people to have a huge ego just to get in the door.  Therefore, it will be inevitable for people to just snap if they feel someone is getting the better of them.  

Here are some of the better fighting/argument stories Peerless has witnessed over his 10 years:

1.  Peerless watched 2 Brokers who were in fact Brothers beat up another trader in the street outside the exchange after a dispute boiled over into fisticuffs.  However, the 2 brothers failed to be disciplined by the Exchange because it just so happened they themselves were on the committee that handled Discipline.  They simply voted against themselves being sanctioned and got another person to vote with them (it was a 5 man committee).

2.  2 brokers who happened to be rather large individuals decided to hold Wrestlemania in the pit one day.  The reason, the first guy called the other "a big fat piece of shit" and the response was "At least I am not fucking my Clerk."

3.  In another recent event, Peerless' former boss had sadly suffered from a heart attack and decided to retire from trading.  He decided to come back to the floor to bid people farewell.  Another person who had never gotten along with the retiring individual nonetheless went up to him and tried to wish him well and mentioned he looked good considering what he had been through.  Peerless' Former Boss Replied "I had a heart attack, perhaps you should have one as well."

4.  Peerless has heard of similar stories but this event actually involved him.  He was going to Paris for a business trip and as he was leaving, someone gave Peerless a $100 bill and told him to take out flight insurance on himself because the other person was feeling lucky.

5.  Peerless and his first boss had a strong rivalry going on because Peerless left the company and the former Boss took it as a personal affront.  In fact, myself and the former boss used to taunt each other across the trading ring.  One time, Peerless got a rather large order and walked into the ring and flipped off his former Boss and called him "a fat blubbering piece of shit".  Other times, the former Boss would yell other pleasantries back at Peerless and would get a similar response in kind. At one point, Peerless wanted to make a Matrix Style Video where himself and the former Boss would fight each other Matrix style in the same way Neo fought Mr Smith in the movie.  

As a happy postscript, the 2 of us eventually reconciled after my father went to the hospital for a heart attack and the former boss was concerned.  On the same note after the boss also suffered a heart attack, Peerless was also very sad and concerned and checked on him to see if he was ok.  So now, talking about the former arguments is like recalling old war stories.  

Unfortunately, most of the times people where Peerless works are too bitter to reconcile with anyone and the hatred runs deep and rampant.  It totally wouldn't surprise me to hear people who have never worked in the trading profession being totally horrified that this behavior exists.  I won't try to justify why it happens but can only say it is part of what a person becomes when they choose to work in such an aggressive environment.

That being said, no one better get the idea of introducing yoga classes to the Floor as a method of stress management.