5 Traders Worth Studying

[jamarlin3]

I found this pretty interesting. Anyone have any thoughts on these guys?


http://detachedtrader.com/2006/02/d...-5-traders.html
The Detached Traders List of 5 Traders Worth Studying


"Example is the best precept" Aesop, Ancient Greek and Author


#1

Bruce Kovner, Hedge Fund Manager at Caxton Corporation
Estimated Net Worth: $2 Yards Plus
Primary Market: Currencies/FX
Summary: Harvard educated, former Taxi driver, used credit from mastercard to start trading
Personality Mention: Ultra secretive, mother committed suicide,Very creative and imaginative, politically conservative, Pro-Iraq war, from California
Best resource on Kovner: Market Wizards, pg.51; George Soros's Right-Wing Twin (New York Metro)


#2

Dan Zanger, Independent Trader, runs Chartpattern website
Estimated Net Worth: $20 Million
Primary market: Naz stocks
Summary: High school graduate, Former ski bum and swimming pool repairman, got addicted to markets from "Charting the Market" television show, took leveraged account up 29,233% in one year during tech bubble
Personality Mention: Little life outside of trading, trading extremist, trades from 88-foot yacht with international reach, Raised in California, likes wines and art
Best resource on Zanger: ChartPattern.com


#3

Kenneth C. Griffin, Hedge Fund Manager of Citadel Investment Group
Estimated Net Worth: $2 Yards Plus
Primary Market: Bond Arbitrage
Summary: Started trading stock options as freshman from Harvard dorm room, bond arb as sophomore, , was running millionion in college, Citadel big on quantitative trading methods, $12 yards plus under management
Personality Mention: held second wedding in Garden of Versailles, taste for expensive Art, Doesn't allow anyone to talk to his former traders, tough guy to work for, Plays PS2 video games, wife runs separate hedge fund-Aragon Global, plays in soccer leagues, brainy
Best resource on Griffin: Bloomberg Piece on Griffin

4

George Soros, Hedge Fund Manager (now passive) of Quantum Fund
Estimated New Worth: $11 Yards Plus
Primary Market: Currencies/FX
Summary: Holocaust survivor, studied at London School of Economics, traded with Jim Rogers #5 before big fallout, Soros and network of associates gunned down (slapped cable/sterling for yards (billions) in profits in a week. Soros offshore entity alone slapped a $10 yard cable short on. Laughed when Bank of England said they would defend cable by borrowing $15 yards.
Personality Mention: Insecure, divorced two times, emotionally detached, very ballsy-will go for the jugular if he sees something, morally and politically liberal, athiest, extremely dedicated to non-profit Open Society Institute, likes chess, checkers, and tennis.
Best resource on Soros: Soros: The Life and Times of A Messianic Billionaire by Michael T. Kaufman

5

Jim Rogers, Independent Investor, Author of Hot Commodities
Estimated Net Worth: $150 Million
Primary Market: Commodities
Summary: From Alabama, Educated at Yale and Oxford, founded Quantum Fund with Soros before 'the split' where rumors were thrown around. Fired from Morgan Stanley after the Soros split. Trades Anything and Everything with Macro outlook. World Traveler. Author of Hot Commodities , Adventure Capitalist,and Investment Biker
Personality Mention: twice divorced/ currently married, misanthrope,emotionally detached, blunt, hard to work with, very contrarian, questions everything, Very original, well studied independent thinker, very frugal, rode motorcycle around the world and later drove modified Mercedes around world for Guinness World Records.
Best resource: Market Wizards pg.283, Jim Rogers personal website

[faure]

I would like to add that Stanley Druckenmiller and Jesse levermore are two worthy of that list.

[lamode]

whats mean by "Yards Plus" ?

[jamarlin3]

In fx lingo, yards means billions. So I assume when he said 2 yards plus that would mean over 2 billion. I hope this helps.

[lamode]

Originally Posted by jamarlin3

In fx lingo, yards means billions. So I assume when he said 2 yards plus that would mean over 2 billion. I hope this helps.

ok. i get it now, so thats 2,000 millions

[crabbydog]

Zanger is now a tipster charging dollars to sign up at his web site.

He traded using classic patterns very aggressively in a range of Nasdaq tech stocks in the nasdaq bubble. He lost most of his gains to failed trades and taxes when the bull turned bear.

Whether he is worth following as a trader depends whether hs can now figure how to make money in non-bubble markets, and by trading alone, nit by huckstering a tipster site.

Being a great trader means winning and keeping your money.

I would dispute livermore. The livermore book is interesting reading, but gives no real information about how to trade, just a few ps and interesting insights into a world gone. Livermore may have made fortunes but he blew them all. He also killed himself when he ran out of chances. I would say all you can learn from livermore (maybe) is how not to do it, but as his book doesn't really tell you how to do it in the first place, even that is doubtful.

I don't think there is enough information about on Soros on how to do it or not to do it.

Most successful traders WERE successful and no longer are, or there isn't enough info to give you much insight.

[4X4X]

Hi,

Following are some more links to great traders and their stories/methods of trading, etc.


1. Top Traders' Stories
2. 10 Best Movies About Money
3. Best Trading Story Books

[sundawn]

Are there any female traders worth studying? Besides myself of course when I finally make the big bucks and write about it?

sundawn