As explained in a letter to the editor in The Wall Street Journal, a tax deductible bribe, the way the scam works is that someone at the trading firm violates t

As explained in a letter to the editor in The Wall Street Journal, a tax deductible bribe, the way the scam works is that someone at the trading firm violates the wall between the front and back offices. They place equal and opposite trades, and then prior to settlement, they assign their bribee the winning trade, and themselves the losing one, and the latter can be deducted against gains for the next few years. And of course, if she wasn't the Governor's wife, but you of course implicitly acknowledge that. For that matter, it was also said that that sort of trading back then was dangerously leveraged for thinly capitalized neophytes, you could lose a lot more money than what you put into your trade. I seem to remember independently of this, that at worst case you could end up taking delivery of what you wagered on. Now, my family with 3 boys bought a half-side of beef at a time right at that time, but....