Stumbled on this ebook, which someone has put entirely online in PDF format:
http://optionboost.com/Market_Wizards.pdf
It's almost 30 years old and the traders interviewed are financial traders rather than betting exchange's, but I found inspiration in plenty of things they say about mental approach, dedication, starting out, making mistakes, etc.
Jack Schwager - Interviews With Top Traders
- marksmeets302
- Posts: 527
- Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 4:37 pm
The books have been a great inspiration for me as well, but once you're longer in the game you can't help thinking a lot of these market wizards made money just by sheer luck. Do take into consideration that many of them eventually went broke
I can definitely recommend reading more about Marty Schwartz, one of the original market wizards. His book Pitbull is somewhat of a classic.
And while he isn't featured as a market wizard, Larry Williams is a great one too.
I can definitely recommend reading more about Marty Schwartz, one of the original market wizards. His book Pitbull is somewhat of a classic.
And while he isn't featured as a market wizard, Larry Williams is a great one too.
page 101, the question/answer most hard hitting for me.
Relatively speaking, how important is the bias of the right market direction versus stock
selection as a contributing factor to your overall superior performance?
As I look back on the past twenty-one years, there is no set pattern of successful activity. In some
years, we did particularly well on the strength of a few well-chosen stocks. In other years, we did
exceptionally well because we were on the right side of the market. For example, in 1973-1974,
when the market went down enormously, we were up substantially, largely because we were net
short. There were other periods when the bulk of our money was made in bonds. I think there is a
message in the fact that there is no real pattern: Anyone who thinks he can formulate success in this
racket is deluding himself, because it changes too quickly. As soon as a formula is right for any
length of time, its own success carries the weight of its inevitable failure.
Relatively speaking, how important is the bias of the right market direction versus stock
selection as a contributing factor to your overall superior performance?
As I look back on the past twenty-one years, there is no set pattern of successful activity. In some
years, we did particularly well on the strength of a few well-chosen stocks. In other years, we did
exceptionally well because we were on the right side of the market. For example, in 1973-1974,
when the market went down enormously, we were up substantially, largely because we were net
short. There were other periods when the bulk of our money was made in bonds. I think there is a
message in the fact that there is no real pattern: Anyone who thinks he can formulate success in this
racket is deluding himself, because it changes too quickly. As soon as a formula is right for any
length of time, its own success carries the weight of its inevitable failure.
- northbound
- Posts: 737
- Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2017 11:22 pm
Good point. Perhaps there's a lesson in there about adaptability to changes. Or perhaps about boredom kicking in after being successful for a while, leading the trader to take more unnecessary risks and turning into a gamblermarksmeets302 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 08, 2017 4:49 pmThe books have been a great inspiration for me as well, but once you're longer in the game you can't help thinking a lot of these market wizards made money just by sheer luck. Do take into consideration that many of them eventually went broke