I see a nice batch of posters who cite Dan Zanger is being a great and successful trader. (The World Record Holder, LOL) Dan Zanger should not be praised and be included within the trading elite as his alpha is challenging to measure. Zanger made his stake in a bull market. Zanger used maximum leverage increasing his return. With the bull market and leverage variables and his inability to repeat past success in a bear or range trading market, I would not put an undeserved premium on Dan Zanger. No disprect to him, but the best traders are able to generate alpha consistently which Zanger has and is not able to do.
I agree, he is probably just a statis- tical fluke..leveraging in the right stocks at the right moment(bull market) What about his Alpha ? His results after that performance are not worth mentioning. Excellent traders do well in all market environnements; bull,bear range mar- kets. Makes me think of that other "great" trader Larry Williams ; made 110 times his initial stake in 1987 and his daughter did 10 times the initial stake BUT what about all the other years of his track record, I would like to see that. If you only show your best years and don't talk about the other years, then that's not representative for your average abilities.
Alpha (Coefficient) Definition: The calculation of a (alpha in Greek) in the formula for the slope of a line: a + bx = y. If b (beta in Greek) is set at zero, thereby eliminating market price volatility, alpha will measure the investment return for a particular security when compared to the baseline of the S&P Index. Alpha measurements that are positive (e.g., plus 10) mean that the particular stock will yield dividend returns 10 percent greater than the average of the S&P. An alpha of zero is equal to the S&P dividend return; and alpha of minus 5 is 5 percent lower that the S&P. Thus, alpha measures investment return and beta measures price volatility of individual stocks versus a commonly accepted baseline. (Source: The Complete Words of Wall Street) http://www.chartpattern.com/about_dan.html Hello stock fans my name is Daniel J. Zanger and I'm a technical stock analyst and I focus on the most explosive stocks in the stock market today. I do an evening newsletter four times a week for active traders and proactive investors focusing on these stocks for long positions and when appropriate, for shorting. I'm also the world record holder for the largest percent change for a personal portfolio for a 12 month period of time and an 18 month period of time in the history of the stock market. So far I've had the first twelve months of this incredible record audited by a firm that specializes in auditing professional money managers. For one year the record is 29,233% using margin on high flying Internet stocks during the market bubble from 1998 through 2000. Read the audit "Effron" using the link at the bottom of this page. I have been featured in FORTUNE MAGAZINE (see link above) and appeared on a segment of EXTRA TV. I was also the weekly host of my own half-hour show on the Business Channel in LA. and I currently have a one hour radio show on KFNN.com on Friday evening at 6 pm EST called Money Matters. I've also been featured in numerous leading trade magazines such as those on the scroll at the top of the home page of this web site. Over the last fifteen years, I've spent over 10,000 hours studying every type of chart pattern formation imaginable. From Cup and Handle patterns to Falling Wedges, Ascending Triangles, Bull and Bear Flags and too many others to list here now. And lucky for us these patterns repeat over and over and over again! I combine these patterns with stocks that have unusually higher rates of growth and low number of shares that float. For the average stock I list, growth rates must be up at least 40% for both earnings and revenues growth for their most recent quarters and most stocks that I list have growth rates up 80, 90, 100 and sometimes up 200% and more. It's these high growth rates combined with stocks that have low number of shares that float that make them so explosive. By registering today, you'll get three weeks of my newsletter "The Zanger Report" (See Sample Report) free. My letter comes out Sunday through Wednesday evening and it's packed with numerous stocks charts and their patterns. I'll give you the ins-and-outs of the Stock Market, what stocks to keep your eye on with their buy and sell points as a result of their chart patterns or trend lines.
The bottomline is that Zanger made it big and managed to hold on to a chunk of it... that's good enough in my book...
The fact that he was an average joe and made $40 Million using a retail setup is all the more impressive. He himself says he was the right guy at the right place at the right time. It pretty much proves you don't have to be some financial high priest to make $ in this biz.
Very very few people have done what DZ has.........like already mentioned above, made 40m and managed to hold on to a chunk of it. I bet if he starts a hedge fund, he will have even wall streeters lined up while banging his door.
"Over the last fifteen years, I've spent over 10,000 hours studying every type of chart pattern formation imaginable. From Cup and Handle patterns to Falling Wedges, Ascending Triangles, Bull and Bear Flags and too many others to list here now. And lucky for us these patterns repeat over and over and over again! " This is exactly what Mark Wienstien did, for years on he ate, slept, breath, thought, tested, retested, sniffed and comprehended markets in all shapes sizes and forms. Then he is credited with pulling 300 odd winner trades in a row in some contest. Hard word pays! Mark Wienstien is one of the respected names in trading business.
Yeah, he studied 15 years and then made big money, like he himself said being the right guy at the right moment at the right place, in a bull market and after that he can't even make 10 % a year. If that doesn't sound more luck than skill to you..right Not that I am jealous in any way, I prefer to make consistent returns year in and out, that beats most in the LONG run
Forget consistency. What a joke. If I could clear 40 mil in a year, and never ever trade again, I would do it in a heartbeat. You can have all the "alpha" you want. I'll take my money and leave.
"Forget consistency" Well, CONSISTENCY can only be the result of SKILL. Making 30000 % in a year or 2,is for 99 % LUCK and 1 % skill Why you don't start playing the lotery instead of trading..if you don't get that then you are probably one of the traders who don't have a consistent edge and hope they get LUCKY some day. The comfort my stable edge is giving me is priceless, I know the money I make is the reward of my effort, nothing beats that, you are dreaming of the big money, me on the contrary trade to win. I'm never gonna leave trading because I love the GAME, you love the money apparently