Fed Up is a photorealistic portrait of high finance – from an author who is literally at the top of the business, having run the macro units at Citadel and Balyasny. The book is a stream of consciousness account of Lancaster’s life in 2020, mixing technical observations of the economy and thoughts on trading with reflections on both the minor stresses of day to day life and the major stresses of running a large portfolio. Lancaster speaks plainly about what he sees in the markets, what he thinks distinguishes the great from the mediocre, and conveys deep battle-hardened wisdom.
The guys at the top are all trained assassins. No more time to be all coked up at Studio 54. They have trainers, psychologists, meditation coaches, anything to increase their edge. And they all have another trait in common. They’re paranoid about failure, paranoid it will all go away, and they don’t have enough.
Fed Up is brutally, uncomfortably, delightfully honest. Lancaster doesn’t try to hide away the less pleasant aspects of his life: marriage troubles, having to fire someone, waking up in the middle of the night with a “PnL dream”. This is what makes the book a must-read for anyone who aspires to be a “Master of the Universe” – it could indeed be a life of extravagance, intellectual stimulation, and agency, but it is a business that puts considerable strain on personal relationships.
I don’t suppose the book will be of much interest to people outside of the particular niche of hedge funds and prop trading – but if you want to understand the qualia of being a material risk taker, there is no better book. Fed Up is an unparalleled insight into the life – in all of its richness and tumult, the ups and the downs – of an industry-leader. I guess this is one consequence of COVID that we can be grateful for: many people who would not otherwise write books because they are too busy playing at the top of their game found time to share their wisdom.
In trading, as in everything, it’s important to be a man of your time: understanding what animates the circumstances you’re given and trying to stay a step ahead. Play the game as it presents itself. And play to win.