Please understand that I did not say Merton accused Meriwether of sinking the ship. Rather, that he no longer had the same confidence in the model that Meriwether continued to have in the face of considerable financial adversity. The accounts of the firm's operations pointed to Meriwether's intimate involvement. I admit that my only knowledge of LTCM came from media sources at the time, and Lowenstein's book somewhat after the fact. It may or may not be a complete account of the goings on at LTCM, but it was the best source available to me. That it was well received by the financial press gives me...some comfort. I'll have to go with what I have. On the other hand, you seem rather quick to dismiss something you apparently have not even read. (If you have read it, then please forgive my misunderstanding of your wording.)
Yeah, fair enough on all that. You can summarize it, though. Its simple. The need to lose. Its what most independent traders are fulfilling. You can imagine that if most traders ('wannabes' and 'has beens' which make up this board) end up with a net loss, they need only have done the reverse. Why not? The need to lose is the answer .. to be the same amongst others .. to satisfy their real knowledge that they are losers. Think of all the bravado and 'gonna do it stuff' here .. you can read acres of it .. thats the the cover. They wouldn't be saying any of that if they were and are winners. Losing is a practiced need .. for losers winning is a stressful and occasional place to enter, if reached, and if ever there a place to gratefully leave and return to their comfort zone. Wheres the hope then? No law against trying.
Forgive me, but that is a particularly naive statement. Don't believe me? Tell your losing trader friends to "just do the reverse." Be sure to let me know how it goes.
The 'reverse' is generic for all the actions and habits that need to be reversed or corrected .. I leave you to tell your losing trader friends.
Generic perhaps, but not operational from a trading perspective. Trading relies on a certain amount of timing and trade management. Good timing and proper trade management is somewhat more elusive than merely the flip side, or mirror image, of poor timing and bad trade management on an a priori basis. I think your response is flippant and not very well thought out.