Turney Duff's Blog, page 6
December 31, 2015
WALL STREET YEAR END AWARDS
It was a perverse year on Wall Street. “The Big Short” movie and “Flash Boys” book reminded us of how evil some of the players in finance are – though, I’m not sure we’re any closer to knowing how big the bad apple population is on Wall Street.
Martin Shkreli put on his bad boy skinny jeans and set a new bar for Most Hated Man in America. So, congratulations, to all you other hate magnets – this one’s on Shkreli! Maybe you want to send him a fruit basket or a membership to the Dollar Shave Club. It’s your call.
December 19, 2015
After the Big Short…
Recently I was contacted by a journalist from the New York Times – he was writing a piece for the Fashion & Style section. Here it is…
December 14, 2015
The Big Short
My friends and I got to the theater 40 minutes before the film started and we were about 40th in line. By the time the doors opened, there were at least another 80 people behind us.
There was a definite buzz and anticipation for “The Big Short” and I have to say — I wasn’t disappointed.
“The Big Short” was four intertwining stories about investors who made massive bets against the housing market and banking system that led up to the financial crash of 2008. Yeah, we all know how that movie ended. But the film artistically captured the essence of how difficult and painful it can be while waiting to be right.
If I had to sum up the film in one word: Conviction.
December 11, 2015
The Insider Magazine interview…
I may be doing some more stuff with the Insider Magazine in 2016. Some fun stuff… We’ll see. Here’s a recent interview I did with them…
November 27, 2015
Wall Street Hot Spots
“You’re out next week?” my trading assistant asked during lunch. “Where are you going?”
“Nevis,” I said. “The Four Seasons.”
“Where’s that?”
“The Caribbean,” I said. “I think…”
The truth was I didn’t really know where Nevis was. But I wasn’t worried. A friend of mine who owned his own brokerage firm and was worth north of $50 million had recommended it to me. How bad could it be?
October 30, 2015
Living with a Seal…
On a freezing 5-degree day in December 2010, Jesse Itzler found himself waist high in a frozen lake in Connecticut.
“We’ve got five minutes till frostbite … GET OUT NOW!” his Navy Seal house guest yelled at him.
Jesse didn’t know what to think.
“Don’t touch your skin to the ice as you get out — it’ll stick,” Seal barked.
Jesse grabbed his sneakers and used them as gloves, climbed out of the hole in the ice, and crawled across the frozen lake with his bare feet sticking up. It took him two minutes to get to land. He had about three minutes left until frostbite. Jesse started to run up a snow-covered hill barefoot and managed to get about halfway to his house when he heard:
“Don’t worry, the snow will dry out your feet. We’ve got two minutes. RUN!”
October 13, 2015
Private Islands… Fantasy or Gilligan?
There are plenty of Wall Street guys who can drive their Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe over to Per Se for a nine-course meal and a bottle of Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey before heading out to their beach house in Montauk for the weekend. They’re rich and they know how to spend money.
But there are only a select few who take it to an extreme level and buy their own island.
It’s not as easy as snapping your well-manicured fingers and buying an island: You often need to clear the land, dredge the harbor for your yacht and set up electricity, Internet, cable and phone service. Plus, there are generators, solar power and propane to consider. And, of course, you’ll need a staff for your isle — or at the very least, a caretaker. Do it wrong, and you could end up with Gilligan’s Island.
Most of us would’ve folded already at the thought of all that work, but not these guys. Here are some islands of the rich and famous — who owns them, how much they paid and what they’re doing with them. From pirate adventures conjured up by magician David Copperfield to Shakira’s artist retreat and Leonardo DiCaprio’s eco-friendly luxury resort, here are some real-life fantasy islands.
September 29, 2015
September 24, 2015
Shoe Porn
The first year I pulled in nearly half a million dollars, I did what every hedge-fund trader who’s trying to climb the buy-side ladder would do: I hired two personal shoppers at Barneys.
I walked into Barneys wearing baggy shorts, a T-shirt and flip-flops. The salesman saw me wandering aimlessly and asked if I needed help. I told him I worked at a hedge fund and needed some new suits. Immediately, I was whisked to a private dressing room where I was cross-examined by two fashionistas.
Twenty-two grand later, I walked out of there with my arms full off shopping bags like Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman.” I got everything I needed — and then some. I had tried to tell them I didn’t need any new shoes, but resistance was futile. I bought SEVERAL pair.
