Trading Reality Read Online Free PDF

I‘m talking to is fine, in fact I quite like him. But his bosses in Japan . . . They just won’t negotiate.’
    I swiftly procured a pint and handed it to him. He took a long gulp. Looking at us side by side, you could tell we were brothers. We had the same shape of nose and chin. But Richard was five years older than me and three inches taller, at a little over six feet four. He had my father’s blond hair and blue eyes, while I had the dark curly hair and almost black eyes of my Italian mother. I was often mistaken for an Italian, and Richard for a Norwegian. He was very good looking, and issued a charm that attracted men as well as women. Certainly a big brother to look up to.
    I introduced Greg.
    ‘So you have the misfortune to work with my brother?’ said Richard.
    ‘That’s me,’ Greg answered. ‘It’s tough, believe me. But for a tight-assed Brit, he isn’t so bad. And he gets me out of a hole now and then.’ He grinned at me.
    ‘Oh yes?’
    ‘Sure. My second week in London, I almost blew myself up. I was long a billion dollars of a government issue that the US Treasury suddenly decided to reopen during an auction. That means instead of creating a new bond issue to raise money, the government decided to sell eight billion dollars more of an old one,’ Greg explained for Richard’s benefit. ‘The issue I owned. Not surprisingly, my bonds tanked. Red ink everywhere.
    ‘Then this guy pops up, and offers to take up half my position. We sweated it out together over the next few weeks but in the end, we came out whole. So I’m still here, whipping and driving those bonds.’
    I was pleased that I had helped Greg out then, even though it had been a big risk to do so. In many places, Harrison Brothers among them, traders compete with each other for glory and bonuses. I suppose my theory is that the markets are difficult enough; you need every friend you can get. And Greg had certainly got me out of trouble a couple of times, too.
    ‘Greg is the second person to use Bondscape in anger,’ I said.
    ‘Really? What do you think of it?’ asked Richard with interest.
    ‘Oh, it’s great,’ said Greg. ‘All those cute little buildings, and everything. I could play on it all day. I have just one request.’
    ‘Oh yes?’
    ‘Yeah. Couldn’t you change it so that there is a nice white beach, some palm trees, maybe a babe or two? I’m sure it would be much more meaningful. You know, blonde means buy, brunette means sell. That kind of thing.’
    Richard laughed. ‘That would take quite a lot more research.’
    ‘I’d be happy to oblige.’ He stood back to let an old man order his half-pint of Guinness from the bar. ‘No, seriously, it worked well. I hope you’re not going to make this system generally available?’
    ‘I think it will be six months at least before we can put a real system on the market.’
    ‘Good.’
    Richard grinned. ‘Oh, it’s that good, is it?’
    Greg smiled and took a gulp of his beer. ‘What the hell is virtual reality anyway? I mean, Bondscape is virtual reality, right? What else can it do?’
    ‘You can use virtual reality for all sorts of things. Most of them are more lifelike than the bond markets.’
    ‘Like what?’
    ‘Like medicine. Surgeons can perform virtual operations, and patients recovering from injuries can try out a virtual world before facing the real one. Architects can design virtual buildings, or virtual kitchens and move around them to see what they’re really like to live and work in. Engineers can create virtual prototype engines, or cars, and then try to maintain them. And then there are all the military applications.’
    ‘What, guys wandering around a battlefield with those weird helmets on?’
    ‘No,’ Richard grinned. ‘That’s the whole point. You don’t need to go near a battlefield. You can create a virtual battlefield for soldiers to drive tanks around, and pilots to fly planes. It’s a lot easier. And, what’s more, it’s