Normally a sober and prudent lot, these traders were becoming by small steps euphoric and delusional. Their minds were frequently troubled by racing thoughts, and their personal habits were changing: they were making do with less sleep—clubbing till 4 a.m.—and seemed to be horny all the time, more than usual at any rate, judging by their lewd comments and the increased amount of porn on their computer screens. More troubling still, they were becoming overconfident in their risk taking, placing bets of ever increasing size and with ever worsening risk-reward trade-offs. I was later to learn
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