'An American Hedge Fund' Reviewed on DJ Newswire

Hydroblunt · Oct 2, 2007

Quote from TimothySykes:

The point I'm trying to make is that there hasn't been any detailed personal stories out there from people in finance, such as on this day I made $x because....and on this day I lost $x because.... I go into all of that because I think people need to be able to relate the person with their specific investments and strategies. I relate everything to baseball because it has a massive worldwide audience whereas hedge funds, traders, and financial speculators do not.

More...

Have you ever even read "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" or "Market Wizards"?

Timmay, stick to talking to people who have no clue, at least that way you can hide the fact that only have a fraction of the a clue.

TimothySykes · Oct 2, 2007

Quote from BrightPropGuy:

If that was really true, you would be a successful trader and never need to SPAM ET to sell your book/dvd.
More...

No because as you read in my book, I am too excitable, ego-driven, undisciplined to take advantage of these situations. So really I should've been teaching others all along because these same characteristics will help me show people the ropes while also helping them to avoid the mistakes I've made.

More importantly, this is not a scalable strategy, it can only yield a few hundred thousand dollars/year, even with precision and market volatility. This is why I'm not embarrassed to say it's going to be easier for me to teach 1,000 people to make $10,000 or more each than for me to devote the rest of my life to making $10mil.

BrightPropGuy · Oct 2, 2007

Quote from TimothySykes:

This is why I'm not embarrassed to say it's going to be easier for me to teach 1,000 people to make $10,000 or more each than for me to devote the rest of my life to making $10mil.
More...

Sorry, but you have not proven anything except that you are a failed fund manager.

Surdo · Oct 2, 2007

Deceive, Inveigle, obfuscate!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSqV3rWM4iQ

TimothySykes · Oct 2, 2007

Quote from BrightPropGuy:

Sorry, but you have not proven anything except that you are a failed fund manager.
More...

So my fund didn't do very well, get over it--life goes on. More importantly, let's start talking about some of these patterns that created my fortune, they still exist waiting for people to take advantage of them

BrightPropGuy · Oct 2, 2007

Quote from gaj:

"Sykes book Title misleading; for people on the sidelines."

...the title of timothy sykes' self-published book, _an american hedge fund: how i made $2 million as a stock operator and created a hedge fund_ offers great promise. any trader who has versed up on the classical trading books would instantly recognize the subtitle as a combination of two of the greatest trading books ever, nicolas darvas _how i made two million in the stock market_ and edwin lefevre's (auto)biography of jesse livermore, _reminiscences of a stock operator_. unfortunately, the only similarity between these classics and sykes' book is in the titles......
More...

"..unfortunately, the only similarity between these classics and sykes' book is in the titles.."

gaj, many agree with your comments...

TimothySykes · Oct 2, 2007

Quote from BrightPropGuy:

"..unfortunately, the only similarity between these classics and sykes' book is in the titles.."

gaj, many agree with your comments...
More...

Yeah right, there u go trying to twist the facts around. Some do agree, but the positive comments greatly outweigh the negatives (see the DJ Newswire Review), that is except on ET LOL

quantsteve · Oct 3, 2007

Quote from gaj:

disclaimer: my main way of trading is pretty similar to the author's manner: shorting big, potentially unsustainable runups in junky / hyped stocks for quick gains. i try and keep this out of the review.

the title of timothy sykes' self-published book, _an american hedge fund: how i made $2 million as a stock operator and created a hedge fund_ offers great promise. any trader who has versed up on the classical trading books would instantly recognize the subtitle as a combination of two of the greatest trading books ever, nicolas darvas _how i made two million in the stock market_ and edwin lefevre's (auto)biography of jesse livermore, _reminiscences of a stock operator_. unfortunately, the only similarity between these classics and sykes' book is in the titles.

the aforementioned classics brought much to the table; lefevre's books offered trading lessons never previously brought into print and darvas' book gave a simple, trend-following system on how to beat the market which helped many future traders. _american hedge fund_, unfortunately, serves up an appetizer and dessert and calls it a full course meal.

the central theme for sykes' book seems to be one of ego. most of his mistakes are admitted by the author because of his great ego, and many of his public actions appear to be caused by an insatiable appetite to become the next jim cramer. and while cramer had a 10+ year career as a serious hedge fund manager with significant funds under his control, sykes' fund ran (the author has stated the fund has now been closed) for a few years with a mere pittance of capital compared to others.

the author details the well-recited tale of turning his bar mitzvah money into a significant grub stake during the end of the nasdaq bubble, by capitalizing, along with others, on the momentum boom. to the author's credit, he learned that things had changed in 2000, and didn't give back much of the hard-earned gains from the runup. instead, he started focusing on shorting stocks, which led to his still-favorite successful trading method of being short "unsustainable" runups in smaller cap stocks.

but for those looking to start up a hedge fund, sykes doesn't get into too much detail on the real meat and bones behind creating a hedge fund. instead he spends most of his time complaining about SEC rules, touting his effort to get his name out to the public, and complaining about becoming highly leveraged in an illiquid pink sheet stock. this rookie mistake was compounded by continuing to deposit more money into the company. reading up on some of the published (and internet-accessible) material on the subject would have saved sykes hundreds of thousands of dollars, and us the dreariness of reading about it.

sykes keeps comparing his trading record to larger hedge funds, and then wondering why he doesn't have access to larger investors. anyone who would study sykes' record, even without access to the specific trades, would come up with one of two conclusions: either too much risk was taken on, or because the trading method is not scalable!

this story would have been much more interesting if sykes had delved more seriously into the hedge fund industry, but i suspect that he could only see it through the eyes of his tiny in-name-only hedge fund, which would not offer a clear view of the shenanigans of the industry.

who would enjoy this book? people who watch cnbc as a hobby or a social friend. voyeurs who like to imagine the successes of others being their own. and, sure, people who have never read a trading book before - or don't know what things were like in the late 1990s - can gain some information here. it is well-written, even when it strays from the main focus of a trading book. but with the proliferation of so many better trading books and with this one having such a misleading title, why spend the money to get this one?

i have no doubt that sykes, when he sticks to his basic setups, is a successful trader. that's not something many people can say. his story should have been one of many, a la _market wizards_ or _millionaire traders_, and not worthy of his own book. and until he removes his ego from of the equation and focuses on going beneath the superficial level, it will be difficult for people to take his actions seriously.
More...

Thanks gaj for review of the bad sykes book.

Much better book is: Inside The House Of Money: Top Hedge Fund Traders On Profiting In A Global Market
by Steve Drobny

TimothySykes · Oct 4, 2007

Quote from quantsteve:

Thanks gaj for review of the bad sykes book.

Much better book is: Inside The House Of Money: Top Hedge Fund Traders On Profiting In A Global Market
by Steve Drobny
More...

And just to taunt you guys a little more, my book just got compared yet again to Reminiscences of a stock Operator'. Better get used to it!

http://www.jackstevison.com/weblog/index.php/2007/10/04/an-american-hedge-fund/

TimothySykes · Oct 4, 2007

Ha, I love how you guys get offended when I post all my positive reviews. Better get used to it or maybe create your own blog to rip on me, then I might have a negative review from a blogger for once!