Interview 1: Bob Bright

Bob Bright is the CEO of Bright Trading, LLC. Bob has a unique mathematical ability, He has always been able to quickly spot the “edge” in any type of game or business. His success began at an early age, playing poker in High School and the Army. He would make many times his monthly salary playing cards. Bob spent several years as an executive for Johns-Manville Corporation. In 1974 he quit his job, packed up his wife and 3 young children, and moved to Las Vegas to become a Professional Blackjack Card Counter. In the next 3-4 years he earned significant amounts from the casinos (worldwide), which resulted in him being “barred” from many venues. He then joined the Pacific Stock Exchange (1978) and began trading computer modeled option strategies, many of which he designed himself from his blackjack math models. In the mid-1980’s he joined the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to trade the S&P Futures and the Chicago Board Options Exchange to trade OEX and listed Options. He learned first hand the art of Arbitrage and made Millions during the 1980’s. Seeing that trading had gone “full circle” with more opportunities in equities trading than derivatives, he and long time friend and trader, Eddie Franco formed Bright Trading in 1992. Since then, Bright Trading has become one of the largest Professional Trading firms in the U.S. with several hundred traders in locations across the U.S. and Canada (and from remote and at-home trading stations).