Is 'Independent Trader' in Viral Video a Jerk, a Hoax, or Both?

 “I go to bed every night and I dream of another recession.”

So declared Alessio Rastani, an “independent trader” interviewed by BBC News Monday in a video that’s gone viral (669,144 hits on YouTube as of Tuesday night). He scoffed at the European leaders’ rescue plan, predicted the Eurozone market would crash, and said he looked forward to profitably trading on such an event. “For most traders, we don’t really care that much how they’re going to fix the economy … our job is to make money from it.”

Blogosphere reactions have ranged from “what a jerk” to “well, at least he’s candid” to “that guy’s smart” to “this has to be a hoax.” That last interpretation was fueled by the fact that the BBC had been conned once before not too long ago. Some suggested he might be a member of the “Yes Men,” a “culture jamming” group (don’t be embarrassed, we had to look that one up ourselves; think countercultural pranksters), but the group denied this.

Reuter blogger Felix Salmon argued it’s possible that Rastani could be both what he says he is and a subversive joker; Salmon notes there is “a strong nihilistic and even anti-capitalist strain” in the thinking of independent traders.

All we’d add is that in some parts of the interview Rastani sounded like a cultish self-help guru narrating an infomercial. More than once he told viewers that profiting from a market crash is something “anybody” can do. “It isn’t just for some people in the elite.” And those bits gave us the creeps more than his Big Short-style misanthropy.

FT Alphaville, New York Times Dealbook, Forbes