The object of the game is to make money. He lost on direction, timing and vol. Worse, he stood to gain relatively small if he won. Marty should retire and buy Zeroes.
I think it's unfair to lump Marty in with Karen. They aren't in the same universe. And yeah, I agree it is possible that Marty is no longer a successful trader, but he his still living in a multi-million dollar oceanfront mansion a few blocks down the road from Mar-a-Lago, and he has documented track record of success: From the NY Times in 1984: "The person who made the most money in 1983 in trades reported to the United States Trading Championship - a whopping $1.4 million - was Martin Schwartz, whose futures account rose 175.3 percent. Mr. Schwartz, a 38-year-old former securities analyst who owns a seat on the American Stock Exchange, said, ''I can tell you how I became a winner - I learned how to lose.'' https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/18/business/investing-for-fun-and-profit.html Below is another article about him from the 80s:
Marty has posted twice on this forum in 2004. Not many believed it was him! https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/marty-schwartz.31549/page-7
"Addictiveness is the reason why so many players who make fortunes leave the game broke" He definitely addicted, he openly admits to it. If he no longer has an edge then he just Gambling and is no longer Trading. Hopefully he or his family can keep his size in check so he doesn't do too much damage in the future.
<< I generally limit myself to no mor than 150 contracts on a trade >> the equivalent of 1500 e-minis. Not bad...
25,000 short puts in oil, rolled down from 85 to 83 for a $4m loss. ITM would have cost $25m a point. From 46 min in
This whole time from reading Market Wizards, I thought Marty was just trading futures. He said he wanted to earn infinity as an argument against program trading trying to earn 50 bps above Treasuries. But this YouTube interview totally shattered my conception of Marty! He has been a premium seller. damn.