Don't Drink and Trade

The ups and downs of the stock market can drive you to drink. But stock trading and drinking do not mix. An intoxicated oil futures broker made some $520 million worth of trades in the middle of the night during a binge drinking spree last year. He has "limited recollection" of the trading as he was in an "alcohol-induced blackout" at the time. The zombie trader managed to make the price of oil go up $1.65 a barrel in about two hours' time. The oil futures company that he worked for lost almost $10 million because of his trades. Notice that the last sentence is in the past-tense ("worked"). He has been fired and barred from the stock markets for five years. Actually, he got off easy with a $107,600 fine...he's lucky he didn't have to repay the whole $10 million.