Dialing for Dollars. Steve Watson has never had a problem taking risks. He fondly recalls the childhood summer ritual of catching snakes with his cousin in the Ozark Mountains. When he was eleven, he and his cousin thought it would be "fun" to move up from capturing nonpoisonous snakes to the poisonous variety. | STEVE WATSON Dialing for Dollars Steve Watson has never had a problem taking risks. He fondly recalls the childhood summer ritual of catching snakes with his cousin in the Ozark Mountains. When he was eleven he and his cousin thought it would be fun to move up from capturing nonpoisonous snakes to the poisonous variety. They found two large water moccasins. After pinning each snake down with a long branch and grabbing it tightly just below the head they decided it would be a good idea to carry their quarry back to the family cabin approximately a mile downriver to proudly show their fathers what they had caught. After sloshing through the shallow river for about half a mile with the snakes wrapped around their arms and their hands tiring from the tight grip needed to keep the snakes heads immobile they had some second thoughts. Maybe this wasn t such a good idea they agreed. Finally unable to maintain their grips for much longer they hurled the snakes into the water and darted in the opposite direction. In comparison buying and shorting stocks must seem pretty tame. Watson has also been willing to take risks in his career. Two years after becoming a broker he faced the growing realization that he had chosen the wrong path toward fulfilling his goal to trade stocks so he quit and set off for New York. He did so without the comfort of any business contacts job leads or supportive resume. In fact there was absolutely no logical reason for Steve Watson to succeed in his quest other than his determination. Several years later he quit a secure job with a major fund to start his own hedge fund. He launched his new business without even enough money to rent office space. 54 When it comes to trading however Watson is willing to accept risk but not to take risks. You have to be willing to accept a certain level of risk Watson says or else you will never pull the trigger. But he believes in keeping the risk under firm control. His net long position is typically less than 50 .
