Money Still Rocks! Interview With Eric Bolling Part 2

Eric Bolling, a former commodity trader, came on the Benzinga podcast to talk about his new show, Money Rocks, which premieres Monday, June 21st at 8 PM EST on Fox Business Network.

This interview is also available as an episode of the Benzinga Podcast.

You can also download the mp3 directly, or subscribe to the Benzinga Podcast in iTunes.

Q: Prior to Fast Money, were you doing any TV work on CNBC?

A: Just for them. CNBC would come down to the trading floor and say what's going on in oil? I'd do an oil hit here or there, drilling policy, White House policy. What's going on in gold? So I'm doing that and they say we're thinking about putting together a brand new TV show about traders, about Wall Street, would you be interested? I said sure, let's do it. I go in, I interview, they say "you're in, let's figure out what the rest of this show is gonna look like." We bring in 300 different traders to try out for the three remaining trader seats. We ended up picking Adami, Tim Strazzini, and Jeff Macke, and myself, we were the four original panelists. Then we went through the host. Melissa Francis was the first one who tried out, they weren't thrilled. Then it was Erin Burnett, they loved her, but she couldn't deal with the time commitment. And then Dylan [Ratigan] came along, and it was boom, this is it. This is the right show. We got an aggressive, kind of arrogant, four guys from the trading floor, it was like a locker room.

Q: And it was very successful, people loved it, and were addicted.

A: It was, it was. I think they blew it, but at first it was very successful, something new, something no one had ever seen before. It was five guys, we ribbed each other a lot. They changed the structure and I think they dropped the ball.

Q: Do you know why that show was able to hold its talent?

I don't know. They lost Bolling? I don't know. You know, maybe it was because it was very heavy, kind of trader-esque, in the market. he financial downturn kind of turned people off. Don't forget that when we started in '05 everybody was trading, everybody. The guy down the street was trading.

Q: You obviously know some of the best traders in the industry. Is there anything that separates them from the competition. Also, will you have some those great traders you know personally on your show Money Rocks?

Frankly I'd love to have some of the big dogs who've done well and some who've lost a bit of money. We'll get inside their head, find out what makes them tick, find out what they did well. I will tell you that the most successful traders that I know have one thing in common. It's not that they're brilliant, they're geniuses, they can see markets go higher. The ones that really make the money are the ones that can cut a loss, the ones who can admit they're wrong in a trade and get out. And that's really the trick to all of it. Anyone can let a profit run. There aren't very many people who can say, "I thought gold was going down, and it's going up, and I'll cut." Most people will say, "Just a little higher, just a little higher" and they'll let a loss run. And then when they have a profit, they feel so good about a profit they take it fast. It should be the opposite. Cut your losses really fast and let your profits go, be aggresive.

Q: Regarding commodities, are you bullish or bearish on crude and natural gas?

I think gold is going to go up no matter what. With what's going on with our fiscal policy, we're spending more than we have; we have a $13 trillion debt. There's no end in sight for deficit spending, and the only way to do that is to print money. You devalue the dollar, and when the dollar goes down, gold goes up. Whether oil goes up with it remains to be seen, it depends if the economy turns around or not. So I'm a gold bull, I'm slightly bullish to neutral on the rest of the commodities. I think we're gonna be stuck in a trading range in equities and real estate for years.

Q: For years? The equities traders probably don't want to hear that.

A good trader makes money in up markets, makes money in down markets. I'm not saying it's a tight trading range. It can be a very wide band. It just doesn't feel we're going to 20,000 any time soon or back to 5,000 any time soon.

Q: Speaking of your gold call, a while ago, there was a bet you made with Jim Cramer while you were on Fast Money. Can you update the listeners about that?

I had been bullish on gold and oil, and this was back in 2005. For a while I was on Fast Money as their commodities guy and I was bullish. I heard Jim Cramer was coming on Fast Money. It's kind of like O'Reilly coming on Money Rocks. Cramer was the big dog and he was the man. He was coming on to take my theory apart. It somehow got down through the grapevine to me, and I'm just like, "Really? He's going to take me apart on TV? I'm brand new on TV, he's been doing this forever. He's going to rip apart my gold and oil call?" I had no idea how to handle this, I'm not a TV pro. Showtime comes, cameras are on, Cramer comes on, he's like "You're wrong Bolling, oil and gold are going to go down, there's no reason for them to go up, blah blah blah." Something happened, I just clicked, it was like one of those trader moments on the trading floor or the locker room, I go "Really? You want to bet?" And he gave me a look like uh-oh, now what. I go, "I'll tell you what Jim, $50,000, mine against yours, loser pays the opposite charity of their choice. I get gold and oil. What's your favorite sector? Remember this is 2005. He says financials." To make a long story short, I leave and come over to Fox. Financials get obliterated, just plowed; they've just fallen apart and they're still down. Some of the stocks that he had in his financials are bankrupt. This is prior to Lehman. And gold, today is a brand new high, $1261 as we speak. Oil is as high as $147. So whatever, it was the right time for me, it was just one of those reactionary--put someone in a corner, and we can't out with it.

Q: The bet hasn't been finalized, money hasn't been exchanged I'm assuming.

Not yet. I'm more than willing to donate his 50 grand to charity if he decides to make good on it.

Q: A few quick fun questions. What time do you wake up in the morning?

I'm up throughout the night. Not literally I'm up all night. I'm usually Twittering or Facebooking through the night. I'm usually up for good at around 5 o'clock. Sleep is overrated.

Q: What do like to eat for breakfast before hitting the floor on the NYMEX?

I usually didn't. I still don't to this day. A lot of coffee, maybe an occasional muffin but rarely. You really have to be sharp. You can't go and have a big egg sandwich and go stand in a pit and bump up against other people and push and shove for your spot.

Q: You said you got your start with your girlfriend's father who worked on the floor. Did you have capital from your sports days or how did that work out?

No. I worked for a couple brokerages for a few years. It was '86 when I started. In 1991 I had saved a few bucks, and 1991 was when the Gulf War started. It just so happened that I put myself into the ring on my own, just before the Gulf War. So I was really trading the Gulf War as a brand new rookie, which is really a trial by fire. It turned out to be one of the best training programs anyone could ask for, because the first Gulf War was the first time oil was above 20, 30, and 40 dollars a barrel. It was big big news in oil then.

Q: We want to remind listeners that Money Rocks appears on Fox Business Mondays through Fridays. Eric Bolling is hosting. He'll have the greatest guests, tons of contacts from his years in this business. Richard Branson is the first guest on Monday. We have one final question. We ask every guest this. Benzinga is a young company, we're one of the fastest growing financial sites in the past year. What advice could you offer a young company such as us?

Stay fresh and stay lean. You're doing everything right, Jason. I see you on Twitter, I see you on Facebook. I see you out there really hitting the social networking sites. That's it, that's where you want to be. You're hitting the right demographics. There's a lot of young guys out there, a lot of young girls who want to trade, want to know what's going on. If you're tapped into that you're in the right place at the right time.

Q: We appreciate the advice, and we want to thank you Eric. We wish you much luck in the show. We know it will be successful, and hope to talk to you for future updates. We can't wait to watch Money Rocks at 8 PM.

Don't forget the 11 PM repeat!

11 PM repeat for you guys who stay up late. I'll be sleeping by then but, 8 and 11 , Monday through Friday, on Fox Business. You can check your local listings to see what channel it's on.