{"id":2964,"date":"2020-07-20T16:08:20","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T14:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/"},"modified":"2023-05-23T14:58:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T12:58:12","slug":"the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career","status":"publish","type":"stories-insight","link":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fabric of a 30-Year Career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cIt was a highly engaging career and I loved every minute of it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 30, 2020, Walter Brown executed his last trade, retiring after\nnearly 30 years of dedicated service to the Group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice President,\nHedging Operations for LDC\u2019s Cotton Platform, Walter\nstarted his career in the Group at Allenberg Cotton Co., joining on October 1,\n1990 as an Options Trader.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the early stages of my career, Joe Nicosia was heading up the cotton platform at Allenberg and was known throughout the industry as one of the foremost experts in futures trading for agricultural commodities. After the Commodities Futures Trading Commission<\/a> reinstated commodity options trading in 1985, Joe recruited me to join Allenberg\u2019s options trading team, which was originally very small – just four of us with the freedom to trade 25 different commodities – whichever looked best at the time,\u201d said Walter. \u201cIt was a pure trading job. Every morning a printout came out with a profit and loss statement from the day before,\u201d explained Brown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1998, Walter moved to the hedge desk where he managed cotton\nfutures while overseeing the Group\u2019s proprietary positions and spreads. By 2008\nthe Group\u2019s footprint in cotton had grown manifold and became global.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I first started in the Group, all our trading was focused\non American-grown cotton, but by 2008 we had expanded around the globe to India,\nBrazil, Africa, China – the business just exploded,\u201d said Walter. \u201cAnd it\u2019s\nstill growing today – we added Mexico to our global origin portfolio only last\nyear.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on how the industry changed over his 30-year career, Walter\npoints to the huge shift that was the move from pit trading to electronic\ntrading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom the start of my career in 1981 until around 2008, all cotton was pit-traded. You would spend all day on the phone giving trading orders to brokers on the floor. Everyone stood in the pit yelling \u2018buy this\u2019 and \u2018sell that\u2019. That was how business was done,\u201d he remembers. \u201cThen in 2007 the Intercontinental Exchange<\/a> acquired the New York Cotton Exchange and transitioned the market to an electronic trading environment. My job went from interacting with people all day, to spending all day working behind a computer screen. There was no more identifying who was buying or who was selling. Electronic trading took the emotion out of the business, but while I was uncertain about the change at first, it did level the playing field.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while trading methods may have changed over the years,\nWalter\u2019s rigor and meticulous approach remained the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver his distinguished career, Walter proved himself as a diligent and astute trader, a great manager and a major contributor to the growth and success of LDC\u2019s cotton business<\/a>,\u201d said Joe Nicosia, Head of the Cotton Platform. \u201cThose who had the pleasure of working closely with Walter will describe him as an outstanding professional, well respected by all in the industry, and someone who genuinely cares about the Cotton Platform, enjoying others\u2019 successes more than his own. Customers, suppliers and employees alike were always eager to hear his opinions on the market – when Walter talked, people listened.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Asked what advice he would give to new traders, Walter\ndoesn\u2019t hesitate: \u201cI have always tried to share what\nI\u2019ve learned over the years with those who are just starting out. Not just specifics\non cotton, but the value of patience, and the importance of listening more and\ntalking less. But my biggest piece of advice is this: You cannot be an expert\non everything. Figure out what interests you the most. Carve out your niche and\nwork at it to become the very best you can be in that area. Close enough is\ngreat if you are mowing the grass, but it\u2019s not good enough if you want to be a\nleader in your industry,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking fondly back over his time and legacy\nat LDC, Walter says he is most proud of the growth of the Cotton Platform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel lucky to have been part of\na team that expanded this business into a worldwide operation. It was an amazing\nrun of profitability \u2013 the result of intense but incredibly rewarding work by a\ngreat team that is on call for business 24\/7 around the world, to deliver for\ncustomers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walter continued, \u201cIt was a highly engaging career and I\nloved every minute of it. I told myself decades ago that I did not ever want to\nlook back and question whether I took full advantage of the opportunities\npresented to me. For so many years I have given it my all, and I am proud of\nwhat I have accomplished. Now it\u2019s time to pass the torch to the next\ngeneration of leaders, and I am confident that LDC is the right place for them\nto experience the same chances for an exciting and successful career that I\nhad.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked what he plans to do with all his newly found free\ntime, Walter said, \u201cI am looking forward to catching up on the other things in\nlife that were a rare occurrence in a busy career \u2013 especially dinner and a movie\nwith my wife on any night of the week!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From everyone at LDC \u2013 enjoy the break Walter, you have\nearned it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt was a highly engaging career and I loved every minute of it.\u201d On June 30, 2020, Walter Brown executed his last trade, retiring after nearly 30 years of dedicated service to the Group. Vice President, Hedging Operations for LDC\u2019s Cotton Platform, Walter started his career in the Group at Allenberg Cotton Co., joining on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4380,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2964","stories-insight","type-stories-insight","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-people"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Fabric of a 30-Year Career || Louis Dreyfus Company<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Looking back on Walter Brown's long career with LDC, as he executes his last cotton trade and retires after nearly 30 years of dedicated service to the Group.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Fabric of a 30-Year Career\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Looking back on Walter Brown's long career with LDC, as he executes his last cotton trade and retires after nearly 30 years of dedicated service to the Group.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Australia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-23T12:58:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/Walter-14_cropped-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"677\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/en\\\/stories-insights\\\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/en\\\/stories-insights\\\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Fabric of a 30-Year Career || Louis Dreyfus Company\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/en\\\/stories-insights\\\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/en\\\/stories-insights\\\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/18\\\/Walter-14_cropped-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-20T14:08:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-23T12:58:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"Looking back on Walter Brown's long career with LDC, as he executes his last cotton trade and retires after nearly 30 years of dedicated service to the Group.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/en\\\/stories-insights\\\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/en\\\/stories-insights\\\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/en\\\/stories-insights\\\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/18\\\/Walter-14_cropped-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/18\\\/Walter-14_cropped-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":677,\"caption\":\"Walter Brown main image 2 Cotton Trader Memphis office\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/en\\\/stories-insights\\\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stories & Insights\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/en\\\/stories-insights\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Fabric of a 30-Year Career\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/\",\"name\":\"Australia\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ldc.com\\\/au\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Fabric of a 30-Year Career || Louis Dreyfus Company","description":"Looking back on Walter Brown's long career with LDC, as he executes his last cotton trade and retires after nearly 30 years of dedicated service to the Group.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Fabric of a 30-Year Career","og_description":"Looking back on Walter Brown's long career with LDC, as he executes his last cotton trade and retires after nearly 30 years of dedicated service to the Group.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/","og_site_name":"Australia","article_modified_time":"2023-05-23T12:58:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":677,"url":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/Walter-14_cropped-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/","name":"The Fabric of a 30-Year Career || Louis Dreyfus Company","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/Walter-14_cropped-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2020-07-20T14:08:20+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-23T12:58:12+00:00","description":"Looking back on Walter Brown's long career with LDC, as he executes his last cotton trade and retires after nearly 30 years of dedicated service to the Group.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/Walter-14_cropped-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/Walter-14_cropped-scaled.jpg","width":1024,"height":677,"caption":"Walter Brown main image 2 Cotton Trader Memphis office"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/the-fabric-of-a-30-year-career\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stories & Insights","item":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/en\/stories-insights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Fabric of a 30-Year Career"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/","name":"Australia","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"lang":"en","translations":{"en":2964},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories-insight\/2964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories-insight"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/stories-insight"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2964"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories-insight\/2964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4387,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories-insight\/2964\/revisions\/4387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}