As soon as Bill and I decided to start a family, I had begun to plan for a more stable financial future.
當我和比爾準備生兒育女時,我就開始為一個有較穩定經濟收入的未來做打算了。
Money means almost nothing to Bill Clinton. He is not opposed to making money or owning property; it has simply never been a priority.
比爾·克林頓對金錢沒什么概念。他不是討厭賺錢或投資,只是從沒把它視為急務。
I started looking for opportunities I could afford, and my friend Jim Blair was someone who knew the intricacies of the commodities market, and he was willing to share his expertise with me and my friend and later his wife, Diane Blair. I was willing to risk $1,000 and let Jim guide my trades.
我開始尋找機會。好友吉姆·布萊爾的先生正好是期貨專家,他愿意給我和我的朋友,也就是他后來的妻子黛安娜·布萊爾一些建議。我拿出一千美元,請吉姆加以指導進入商品市場交易。
The commodities market has more in common with Las Vegas than Wall Street. What investors buy and sell are promises (known as “futures”) to purchase or sell certain goods―wheat, coffee, cattle―at a fixed price. If the price is higher when those commodities are brought to market, the investor makes money. And on the other hand, if the market in hog-bellies or corn is glutted, then the price drops and the investor loses big.
商品交易市場與拉斯維加斯的共同點較之與華爾街的更多。投資者交易的是以固定價格買進或賣出某些特定商品——面粉、咖啡、牛——的承諾(稱做“期貨”)。假使之后價格走高,當初賣出期貨的人就賺錢。反之亦然。
Soon after I got pregnant with Chelsea in 1979, I lost my nerve for gambling. The gains I had made suddenly seemed like real money we could use for our child's higher education. I walked away from the table $100.000 ahead. Jim Blair and his compatriots stayed in the market longer and lost a good deal of the money they had made.
當我1979年懷了切爾西后,就沒勇氣再玩了。當初意外賺了一些錢,居然足夠讓切爾西接受完高等教育。我結清賬戶,提走十萬美金。吉姆等人還留在市場上,到頭來,當初賺的錢賠掉大半。
The large return on my investment was examined ad infinitum after Bill became President, although it never became the focus of a serious investigation. The conclusion was that, like many investors at the time, I’d been fortunate. Bill and I weren’t so lucky with another investment we made during the same period. Not only did we lose money on a piece of property called Whitewater Estates, the investment would spawn an investigation fifteen years later that endured throughout Bill’s Presidency.
自從比爾當了總統,我回報豐厚的投資經歷就成了各方話柄,只不過沒有正式進行調查。結論很簡單,就和當時的許多投資者一樣,是我好運。反觀當時比爾與我的另一項投資,實在是運氣很差。我們不但在投資白水地產上損失不少錢,十五年后,這項投資還導致司法機關對此案的調查,一直延續到比爾的總統任期結束。