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Hope Fades As London 'Superstar' FX Trader Is Arrested
How the self-described 'mighty' have fallen. It was a month ago when we first heard of this mysterious British FX trader who dropped $300k in a Liverpudlian nightclub on a bottle of champagne that weighed more than the models he was 'dating' that night. The 'talented, charismatic, and likable' Alex Hope has been arrested by London's Financials Services Authority (FSA) in connection with an investigation into a suspected unauthorized FX trading scheme. As City A.M reports this morning, Hope's publicist confirms he is the 23 year old in question - though he 'obviously' denies all allegations. The schadenfreude on London's FX 'trading' desks (as opposed to bucket-shop retail-mauling FX 'brokerage' shops) is palpable from what we hear as 'it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy' echoes off the City's pub ceilings. As yet no charges have been filed - we await with baited breath for the sad truth to be outed.
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Fucking beautiful
What the hell is "unauthorized trading"? If it moves, trade it!
Ill gotten gains being spent on hookers and blow. Who'd have thunk it..
Hold on.....let me find my shocked face.
there is a sale at apmex this morning on canadian maples
"WHILE SUPPLIES LAST"
Alex Hope is a star trader who beams with confidence and creative energy. You can tell he's a successful superstar when hoards of greasy ZH day traders attack him with envy. I was seriously thinking of taking his FX trading master class this month, but sadly I'll have to wait till the end of the trial.
... Good One ...
Nobody at 23 in the financial world is a self-made person and "successful" - period. There was either a substantial inheritance, pure dumb luck, or criminality.
The only people at 23 who are self made are athletes, as it has been shown that peak physical ability of the human body is somewhere between ages 19-22.
Dang, dat Tyler shur kin talk purdy
Poor Alex. I hope someone smuggles in some Armand de Brignac and sluts for him. lol.
He's going to learn the true definition of "Big Swinging Dick"...prison rape, bitchez!
And of course the FSA is renowned for 'getting it right' isn't it, and looking after investors best interests, not.
How the fuck do you people slag off the SEC and then beam the first time you get any news or propaganda from some other 'regulator' about them having a go at some other guy who tried his luck? What a sad bunch of jealous fucks you really are. Licensing equals control, or perhaps you haven't got that yet. Perhaps you think it's a good thing that you cannot even find out or be offered anything now that isn't pre packaged through licensing into some sterile piece of crap that simply funnels your money into domestic government coffers in one form or another? All I see here is a bunch of down-and-out unemployed sad fucks with nothing better to do but gloat when anything unfortunate happens to anyone else with the wherewithal to actually do something to at least try to make a buck.
Go back to your fucking dole checks, I'm sure you earned it, and if you ever bother to get of your lazy idle arse and work for a living then maybe, just maybe you might be able to afford some champers yourself. That is of course, if you can get past the wall of 'regulation' that now stands before you, the benefits of which you're now experiencing every minute of every fucking day.
dont mind those brown smugs on the smuggled blow ...i had to get it in here somehow...
Interesting post. Bye the bye, the spelling is "bated" not baiting a fish with a hook. Milestones
Actually, for endurance atheletes that optimum age is much older. I competed professionally until I was almost 35 and won my last stage race as a CAT1 rider at 37.
25 for rugby, 28 for hockey, 32 for field events. been there done it
and 40 for golf!
and what's the age for chess?
:-)
Good news, there are no age limits for winning by creating ponzi schemes!
Quite a few talented and untalented musicians "make it big" before they're 23.
Same for powerlifting, the opposite of endurance, where old men are setting all the records.
Maybe that 19-22 is for skill focused athletics. There is skill in power or endurance sports, but it is often secondary.
the longer you roid up the more cumulative effect huh? Makes sense. Old dudes probably would do better at power lifting.
How about actors/musicians? Basically the entire entertainment/performing industry
Crazy, I am 32 and swear that I'm better(physically) than when I joined the Corps at 17(and already in decent shape), I am actually stronger and can run a lot longer, etc...genes, rest, food and proper maintenance might push that up, check MMA fighters and Kobe...just saying...
Crazy, I am 32 and swear that I'm better(physically) than when I joined the Corps at 17(and already in decent shape), I am actually stronger and can run a lot longer, etc...genes, rest, food and proper maintenance might push that up, check MMA fighters and Kobe...just saying...
When did your memory start failing?
Good one, MDB! Your material is so funny!
Make sure you also take the Learning Annex course: "Don't be riding 'round da hood with your stolen bling"
Ha ha ha ha!
I LOLed.
What?! No attack on libertarians? I'm disappointed.
AND the end of the sentence following conviction
Could it be you missed this time?
Say the guy had a publicity deal with "Scouse club" and the makers of the "GBP125K bottle of bubbly"; more publicity, more traffic, and more sales makes for success in this case. Sells papers too (eyeballs).
"As yet no charges have been filed" ... genius
look at this ass clown's website and tell me we couldn't have seen this coming
http://www.alexhopefx.com/
What exactly is an "unauthorized trading scheme"?
Is that British for "illegal"?
I didn't think the British had trading laws, or that anything could be unauthorized. Laissez faire and all that.
I believe it's British for 'Caught'.
May we therefore infer that there are actually "Authorized Trading Schemes" and if so how can I find one. Or may we infer that unauthorized trading schemes are those performed by persons not in the inner circle, as only those are authorized to run scams?
google HFT
"Authorized Trading Schemes" = those almost guaranteed to seperate you and your money. On a long enough timeline...
No....that's "City of London"....for "your system is better than ours"
What about it? Looks pretty good to me. You jealous of his self-esteem? It's not his fault he is the best. He just is. Ok?
well, it does look like a narcissistic litte boy in a suit and all the other cliché wallstreet accessoires
did we need another MDB clone_?
There is no clone. If you don't believe me, then search the usernames.
All clones say that. It's part of the cloning process.
noooooooooooope
introducing...
mini-Dee-Bee !
No no no, we pet our kitty, don't eat him
yuuuuuuuup
Too Late. Here is the cached version.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:_XvdWcLt0q0J:www.al...
Aaaaand...it's gone...
From his website, with helpful comments added in brackets:
London born and bred, Alex Hope, 22, is a self-taught trader who specialises in the Foreign Exchange Market. Despite his tender years, Alex is a name to watch out for in the city;... (they got that right!)
Alex knows and loves the FX market. Throughout his youth, his passions were football and…currencies! At the age of 11, Alex had a deep-rooted interest in the different currencies and relished trips across Europe where he could explore this interest first hand... (school trips abroad!)
After school, he spent just over 2 years in the sporting industry as a Football Coach for Charlton Athletic Community Scheme before moving into the hospitality sector. Although he was making a modest salary of £21k, he could not deny his interest in the financial field and set about teaching himself everything he could and should know about the economy. Whilst still living at home and holding down a full time job, Alex started to trade, opening his first account with just £500; in one day he’d more than doubled his money and turned the £500 into £1100 by trading gold... (What could possibly go wrong?)
As his confidence and knowledge grew, Alex knew this was the world for him and at 20 years old he headed for the city and soon found employment at The Forex Academy in early 2010 as a FX & Commodity Trader. In July this year, he stepped into the spotlight when his career was profiled in The Daily Telegraph, subsequently Alex went onto work at leading Trading and Commodities company, Zone Invest Group. For a career that started out trading on the local market stalls for pocket money, to a modest £21k salary in the hospitality industry, Alex has since followed his dream in the trading world and his basic salary has entered the six figure bracket... (very rare in the City you know!)
He's got database connection issues. How embarassing.
Completely unexpectedly the site has now been suspended, so we can't see what a dick head he is.
I'm not aware of any other FX trader with a publicist, he's probably trying to con idiots who think they can beat the banks at their own game using a home OPC and his "magic" software/methods.
"trades milions" so what. it's just the average trade.
Haha the dude's got a publicist Classic!
A trade that stands to put the entire enterprise in jeopardy of default.
On the other hand, authorized trades are ones that put the entire enterprise in jeopardy of default, but there was a prior arrangement with the government to bail out any losses in excess of those not covered by "vaporized" customer funds.
Hope who?
we dont know the details.. but i really think this is a non story!
1) this fx trader is probably a guy that traded his own account (either through a spread betting platform or a fx margin platform)
2) after he made some cash and some publicity openeed up his account or trades to other individuals, kind of running his account as a fund or fx prop desk, without knowing that if he wants to do that need FSA approvals. it isnt really a scam or a market manipulation... just some pedantic dross
"Unauthorized Trading" is probably one of:
A) Leveraging some loophole or regulation that the TBTF haven't discovered.
B) Leveraging some loophole or regulation that the TBTF already exploit and don't want the "muppets" to know about.
The Shitty of London is nothing but a gambling hall of assets stolen from britain's former colonies.
Well... It was fun while it lasted!
What is ya, ignorant? The bitches is in the limo!
I don't often agree with Huxley, but he is spot on on this one.
The United Kingdom has been a giant gambling house with no industry and no innovation for a while now.
Why do you hate the British so much ? They have been so busy re-inventing, and re-re-inventing, and re-re-re-innventing !
They were doing it all just for you !
I went to the British Museum of Science and Industry once. Great displays of steam engines and a little Sinclaire PC.
And NYC is different how? I was watching some show last night about all the urban renewal taking place in our former industrial powerhouse city--it's all about cleaning up shit and beautifying it so that high-end real-estate can be created. There is nothing else left!
That's not bad news since NYC is such a shithole it really needs a good clean up.
It just won't be the same without the urine smell.
Aside from maybe Brazil I think you'd be better off living in an ex-colony of Britain than an ex-colony of any other European country.
You'll notice that those countries which were and are able to leverage their enduring, British colonial legacies (railroads, civil service, schools, republican governance, the English language itself etc.) have a leg up on those aren't.
One former Brisish colony even became the most powerful country in the world for ~100 years and even now people are still trying to get in the door...
Another British colony gave us the donor of half of the genes within our current president.
I didn't know Obama was half Australian....
Someone here owes me a drink or two for junking back than :-)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/mystery-trader-revealedand-his-name-hope#c...
Banker corruption gone wild, bitchez!
Soooooo......put the toga party on hold then?
Farcism hittin' fever pitch.
I do sometimes feel the need to confirm whether or not I'm reading The Onion.
The Onion tries to make their stories more plausible than Alex Hope <insert stylized AH logo here>
There no longer is any difference between what one finds in The Onion and what one finds in the NY Times, Washington Post or WSJ. In all those publications, 'reality' is presented based upon the way the editors wish the readers to perceive events. Facts are no longer allowed if they contradict the theme, as illustrated by our president's recent attempts to claim credit for the expansion of drilling for oil when he had done nothing to encourage it.
What's after plaid?
Fraud seems to be the only way to make money in these manipulated markets. It's "God's work."
Dude.....you're like totally giving away our best stuff.
Mr. Potatohead! Mr. Potatohead fraud is not a secret.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNiiBrEHBWA
you put the apostrophe in the wrong place, he meant to say they were doing "gods' work"
Fraud is an authorized FX trading scheme, as lone as you're one of the approved traders.
Alex Dope.
No, real dope, on the real.
Some 22-23 year old kid made his bones in just a couple years with this market? Riiiiiight.
To be fair, he claims to have doubled £500 in one day when he was 19. That was four years ago in 2008 when you could get 200-300pip moves in something like the Euro. Going in aggressive as a beginner and risking 20% by following the downtrend to bag a net 500pips (in, say, two trades) could've doubled his money.
If you knew what you were doing between that time up until mid 2011, you could've made a significant return. Except I don't know anyone who has. This Hope person might have fizzled out and is just looking for some sort of social proofing now.
I just got back from a weekend in MIami.... went partying at the fointanbleau on Saturday night....probably the poshest club with the best girls in the whole world... welll not even P Diddy there would spend 300k on some champagne....
Was there a deposit on the bottle. Michigan pays well on bottle deposits.
Impossible! He was a man among FX trading children! He was self-taught. Who does not believe this modern day Horatio Alger story? /sarc
The entire thing was made up, no? Kabuki theater. A diversion while the real criminals skate. But unlike someone like Madoff who really did create a Ponzi scheme, I buy no part of this story. Thought the same thing a month ago.
They toss out some meat every couple of months to keep the proles happy.
Like the guy in the Hamptons that carried millions in a checking account leaving an ATM receipt there.
Just as long as you NEVER question where the hell all that "money" comes from, ie conjured.
pods
Its not easy even if your going illegal
Will I get a refund on my subscription to his training course?
WTF, I thought rich bankers CAN'T get in trouble? This guy must be doing something right.
Obviously he forgot to drop $300K off to the politicians
as should have Kim Dotcom
Unrelated but anyone watch Jon Stewart last night? He's a closet liberaterian.
Closet librarian more like :)
Stewart's not a libertarian; he's just a consistent liberal.
The two are easily mistaken when the parties in power swap places and most people scramble to change their position to the exact opposite of what they were arguing in the previous administration.
"I'm totally against illegal wars, torture, and non-transparent government . . . unless the president is a Democrat, then it's cool!"
This is by design and allows us to be divided and conquered. Wars in the middle east become unpopular... what to do, what to do... run an anti-war candidate, get him elected, quiet the dissent, rage on. People are so easily duped.
Quick someone lock the closet
Classic modus operandi of TBTF. Have the FSA lapdogs always investigate the small guys but never of course Barclays , RBS etc...
Too Small To Succeed
Too tiny to bail
He OBVIOUSLY never watched Goodfella's..
"Didn't I tell you not to attract attention?... "
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26x3_YXna1U
I'd +10 if I could
Bit Torrent his tell all before it is too late. They'll be coming for a bankster with handcuffs in their hands. They'll be coming for a bankster with handcuffs in their hands. They'll be coming for a bankster They'll be coming for a bankster They'll be coming for a bankster in your land.
But his name won't be Corzine.
WTF? "Hope's publicist"? Uh..
Likewise. Had to double-take on that one.
The real criminals are now looking for scapegoats among their own. Let me know when Jamie Dimon and Hank Paulson are arrested, until then it is the same as it ever was.
Thats how I see it, theyre starting to throw their own under the bus.
" their own" /sarc
I'll go one step further, as my conspiratorial mind likes to... but I don't even think this is real. The kid was likely a mark to create a story that could grab some attention. I mean it's all a little too perfect, no? The kid was likely identified as being just narcissistic enough to believe what his handlers were telling him. It all seems scripted.
I sure hope your right, a thought that satisfying is such a rarity at this point of the game. Nearly impossible to find justice brings happy thoughts indeed... "the wheels on the bus go round and round."
This must be an episode of Punk'd or the Onion News network is working overtime
This is what happens when your long term horizon is 90 days. I think it just goes with the territory.
23, 23 fucking years old.
I wouldn't trust him with a handgun, much less a trading desk. Assuming he went to college for an "education" in fincance and econ, he has been out of school for less than 3 years. Who would trust their money with someone so wet behind the ears?
This farce headed for a cliff with children behind the wheel; looting is more common than blow in the financial industry these days.
Who would trust their money with someone so wet behind the ears?
Would you trust someone with years of bankster experience? Jon Corzine had lots of experience. MF Global customers trusted him. Didn't work out so well, did it?
He must not have paid his Chase credit card bill.
Hasn't even made a dent in those student loans; can we extradite this pup?
This is the best news thus far this week. All we need now is charges to be filed, narcotics unearthed & a seedy kiss n tell from some washed up Daily Sport hag with FFFF tits & a growler like a yawning hippo.
I thought Goldman sucks made trading fraud legal.
I'd pay to to see them all drawn and quartered, and the pieces then keelhauled before being set on fire.
+1
I'd even pay with some gold :)
He must have forgotten to pay off the requisite folks in positions of power if they arrested him. The rule is you can be as greedy and nasty as you want as long as you grease the wheels above you. It's not as if they actually arrested him for breaking the law since laws for these people are not enforced as it is. Lesson learned me thinks.
Bet the banks were on the otherside of his trades, and were upset that he profited from the trades. Hence the "investigation".
Can someone pose the question to FSA on how many arrests were made in the LIBOR fixing scheme?
the probem was he didn't invite the regulators to the 300K bash. When you get out of jail call me!
Alex, Dude, like WTF.
Bated breath, perhaps? Just sayin . . .
Baited or bated?
Grammar and spelling count about as much as laws, rules & regulations: Only when convenient.
I give a pass to those whose English is a second language, or third. My personal all-time favorite was a post (not on ZH if I recall correctly) by a guy who claimed to have avoided an accident by "a hare's breath" rather than by a hair's breadth. Unless, of course, the hare had really bad breath.
This is what Bernanke and the crime ring on Wall Street are doing everyday and it is fine for them but not for individulas? Joke!
Oh Tempura! Oh Moreys!
TVIX good luck indicator $7.77 at the open.
And, one minute later the Dip in BTFD has been vaporized.
He prolly never had the benefit of DeNiro's Goodfellas lesson on keeping a low profile:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glSN4qvjt2E
Silly trader....only CEO's like Corzine, Blank-fiend, et al, are allowed to gamble with or steal OPM. Didn't he know that?
No sympathy here though...after MF Global, anyone that gets their money stolen by the lords of finance will get laughs of derision from me, not sympathy.
i'm sure he's a nice guy, but he deserves to get his ass handed to him simply because he spent 300k on a bottle of champagne. a silly trade by a 23 year old jerkoff.
Dude, you coulda had a Dell....
He was probably 'managing' other people's money without an FSA licence - that's all.
Only "authorized" business will be allowed.
What is "authorized" will be announced at the proper time by the authorities.
Non-regulators including all pesky speculatin' blogger types are in violation of the "authorized" activities rule.
The Secretary will move with all due speed to remove these financial terrorists from our civil society.
To report an evil speculatin' type dail 911 and say "TRIPWIRE"
Stay tuned for further developments.
Why give a hoot when you can loot? It ain't stealing until you get caught.....
23? Who the fuck is he? Rothschild's gigolo?
Should be "bated breath"
Alex, Alex, Alex, we barely knew ye. If you think that club bill was pricey, wait until you get lawyers.
http://vegasxau.blogspot.com
How vulgar when a member of the Upper Crust, a true financial leader, a math wizard, a City of London Superstar. is nabbed by the Hoi Poloi....disgusting....
Pretty sure Widowmaker called this one: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/fx-trader-spends-323483-liverpool-night-cl...
"Those that spend it like they stole it, did.
This faggot will be a headline again, most likely without his head."
I genuinely thought that this self-professed FX guru/genius, this time, was in fact the real deal, so I can't emphasize enough the magnitude of my disappointment.
He possessed all the right traces; a rent-a-desk subscription at Zone Trading, a one-term period studying sports science at Brunel University before dropping out and an all around flair for the money making game.
I wont even mention the fact that he is indeed wearing sunglasses in a night club. Textbook cunt material by any means.
Changing his name to Alex Pray.
big cheeks
Here's what happened. the kid knew he was going to busted, so he had his last supper and bigass party with customer money! A nice 300k going away party for himself. Hey, if MF Global can swipe customer money, why can't a 23 yr old?