It was some astronomical number. Mind you he traded back in the day where my grandmother could make a killing. Times have changed in my opinion and competition is far more fierce than before. ozzy
"hundreds of millions" starting from how much and in how much time ? I have my "market wizard" book at home
Well that 5,000 was 15 million in 1988. He started with more than 5,000, that was just one client account. Hes supposed to of averaged 60%+ per year in the 90s. Thats the same sort of return he was making in the 1970s and 80s. Are the markets harder to trade now than they were in the 70s or 80s or 90s. Or are they like he says in the book, just the same? It seems to me that people are always saying that trading is alot harder and more competive than it was 10 or 20 years ago. But nearly every trader in market wizards was saying that back then.
I have no idea...I just heard it from a Refco guy that plays golf with him, I assumed he would know... He told me Ed Seykota was genius material....and I would enjoy talking to him... I surlely would! (but you know me and the "plain speak" problem that I have, he would get bored with me). Michael B.
Traders in 2005 say 2005 is way harder than 2003. Those trading in 2003 were saying it was way harder than 2001. That's the limit of my experience, but it probably extends right back to when trading first began.
"IT WAS the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." This is the opening paragraph of "A Tale of Two Cities" written by Charles Dickens some 150 years ago. This description would pretty much be true for just about any period. So it is with the markets. The overwhelming majority loses money - even in a raging bull market and even with the cheapest of commissions and the best of technology. As for the small percentage of winners, I personally know several who were making a living from stock-trading in dull markets and even pre-1975 when it cost $100 in commissions to buy or sell 100 shares.
Your exactly right! Everyone wants to "good old days" back. I can remember in 1998 to early 2000 people bitching that the markets had gotten/were so hard and they just wanted it to go back to the way it was. Trading is a business that cycles people in and out all the time. You have to flow with it or you will sink. Brandon