Alessio Rastani, 34, an independent London-based stock market-forex trader and professional speaker, became a worldwide phenomenon immediately following his appearance on BBC News. Unlike many fellow traders, he is not FSA-registered and does not have an academic background in economics or mathematics. “My parents wanted me to study dentistry” Alessio explains. “However, I quit dentistry soon after. I absolutely hated it. Then I moved into law and graduated at University of Wales. However, once I graduated, I did not want to work full time as a lawyer. Around the same time I started trading on the stock market. Those were the years of the dot-com bubble and I lost a lot of money gambling on stocks. Then I asked myself a simple question: why did I lose so much money?”. Mr Rastani understood he needed to learn the basics and spent time working with senior traders to gain experience. “I wanted to be a trader; however, I never dreamt about working for a leading investment bank because I wanted to run my own desk and retain independence”.
Italoeuropeo contacted Mr Rastani to gather his thoughts on the current financial crisis.
Q: Last September you were invited by BBC News to comment on the Eurozone crisis. Did you expect to become such a “hit”?
A: I absolutely did not expect to gain so much attention. I thought: who’s going watch an unknown trader on BBC at 11am? As I finished the interview I was about to call the BBC to request a copy of the recording. By the time I arrived home the video was already on YouTube and Facebook. It was everywhere. It went viral. I didn’t expect it. That was the first time ever I went live on BBC. A few days earlier I did a piece on BBC radio and the producers liked the idea to have me on live TV.
Q: Why did accept BBC’s offer to go live on TV? What message did you want to convey to the public?
Q: In your controversial BBC interview you claimed that “governments don’t rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world”.
All interview here: Interview Alessio Rastani, the trader who stormed the world
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