Russell Sands was one of the original “turtles” trained by the famous commodity trader Richard Dennis. Dennis believed that commodity traders could be trained, as opposed to a colleague who believed great trading was an innate ablility. To settle a bet, Dennis placed ads in trade magazines and interviewed hundreds of candidates, eventually choosing 32 trainees. The new traders were named turtles, after the turtles Dennis saw being raised on a farm in Singapore.

   By the way, if that story line sounds familiar, you may have seen the movie Trading Places, starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd. And for my only movie review on this site, I give it two thumbs up. Very funny. (more…)