May

6

One day in 1979, I went down to Staten Island during the day to play Ruben Gonzalez a game of racketball. It was while I was pyramiding gold, and I had been able to pyramid 50,000 into 20 milion in 6 months. I had given instructions to my staff before hand that if I ever lost half, they should sell me out, plug their ears with cotton and not listen to me if I told them to disregard my previous instructions, having read The Iliad and learned from my hoodoo father in law, (who lived to 90 with one leg and a completely dissipated intestinal system (as he liked to boast and prove he could outdrink any man)) that people in Vegas always had a stop point for how much to lose, but never from how much to win.

We split the first two games, and then I called my office. It was a day like yesterday when all commodities were down 10% my office told me. (It all started after our first game). I had lost 15 million. They had followed my instructions but before they could get me fills, I had lost another 5 above the 10, (those were the days when silver traded limit down for a week, and the only way to get out was exchange for physical, etc).

I left the court and club without saying goodbye to Ruben after that second game (it's two out of three) after berating my staff for selling me out (that staff is still next to me 31 years later, as Pug Pearson's wife said about the diamond ring she's still wearing that her husband threw into a pot after taking it off her ring finger as collateral during a no limit poker game on the evening of her honeymoon).

Yesterday at 5 pm, for the first time in 31 years, I saw Ruben again. He has been playing pro racketball for 35 years, has won many world championships, and last year got to the quarterfinals of the nationals, and still plays in the open circuit. Ruben was hear to deliver some art that he had painted, and I loved the paintings I bought.

Ruben was the best sport in racketball aside from Hobo, and we hugged when we met. He said to me, "Vic, I haven't seen you in 30 years, since you walked out of that racketball court without saying goodbye to me. How come?"

I realized at that time that commodities today, May 5th, had had their worst day ever since 31 years ago when I had seen Ruben for the last time. What are the chances of that happening without attributing it to a commodities hoodoo?

But as Paul Harvey would say that's not the end of the story. Ruben challenged me to a game of racketball on the squash court down stairs. We played. ( I used a tennis racket and he used a racketball racket).

One– at the age of 90 + (older than the octogenarian sage who is equally sanctimonious)– I will not be overly hubristic to reveal the outcome of the game. I will say however, that I bought some more art from Ruben, (a very good thing), and he's going to deliver it when he finishes it.

I'll tell you a day in advance when he's due.

Vic (l), Ruben (r).

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