As is typical, after the fact, history is revised to match Marketsurfer's idea of reality. Too bad he can't do that with his own trades. FACT is, the guy blew up....period FACT is, Pabst broke the real story and Marketsurfer didn't like it. FACT is, those who agree tried to get personal as they often do when they can't deal with the FACTS There's some FACTS for you Marketsurfer Now I am done with this thread Congrats Pabst
I want to thank everyone who stood by me. It wasn't fun. Now i know how Bob Woodward felt. Special acknowledgement to RA for helping me keep sane. I've come to realize there's some truly great people on ET. I'm honored to be a part of your community.
I don't think I could have put it more succinctly. I'm just a low-tech, low-brow small-fry here. I've read both of VN's books when they came out and I'm as disappointed in myself for buying VN's second book as those voters who voted for GWB a second time. You'd have thought that I'd have learned from my first mistake. As I had said elsewhere before, there is no doubt that VN is far more intelligent than I can reasonably consider myself to be, and has made more money for himself than I will likely ever even see. However, his arrogance and need for attention point to a pathological ego. For a middle aged man to wear ostentatious pastels and assume other attention-grabbing affectations, revel in his own sense of superiority, and beat his chest as the greatest trader who ever lived even after having blown up spectacularly in the past, gives any reasonable person pause. I don't think that anyone who has a serious regard for his own money would entrust it with VN. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that it was principally a fund that had invested with him this time around. People raise the issue of schadenfreude. (Such a literate crowd we are, here at ET.) However, I think that this reference is somewhat misguided. It's zero-sum. If you see two people walking towards dog shit, one of them unassuming and the other loud, self-important and boisterous, which one are you going to root for? Since one of them must slip in the shit by definition, which one would you rather that it be? True, others are not as likely to fall quite as spectacularly face-first into the dropping, but then they didn't waltz nonchalantly right into it with their dancing shoes.
If it is the fact, I will trade like Vic too. Not bad at all compared to many hedge funds that survive but make no money. Thanks surf for bring a good point from risk reward perspective.
Oh, and here I thought that you were in your offices on 5th Avenue in New York. You know, the ones that you are quick to mention whenever the opportunity presents itself? [TRANSLATION: An ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure.] P.S. As the consummate (shameless) marketer that you are, shouldn't you be promoting VN blow-up dolls to capitalize on the moment? No doubt your fondness of VN leaves you with something of a conundrum.
There are some crazy factoids in that New Yorker article about Niederhoffer. He admits that he paid an associate to tour the brothels of South-east Asia, and then made a large investment with his clients' funds on the basis of the state of Thai whorehouses. I have nothing against unconventional approaches to the market, but this is ridiculous! In any case, shouldn't one be buying when the brothels are half-empty and doing terrible business, rather than when they are thriving and upgrading their facilities? On his website and in his book he repeatedly slated Ben Graham for being a philanderer and a bit of a cad when it came to his love life; yet it turns out Vic had a mistress while he was still married, had a child out of wedlock, and has been going to and fro between the two women since then. That can't be easy on his wife or kids. If you are going to criticise an investor for his private life, shouldn't you make sure your own house is in order first? Not to mention the alleged assurances he gave to Baron that everything was ok with his funds. Quite how he squares this behaviour with his libertarian principles is beyond me.