Surf, I know you have been spending time with the man and to be completely honest I know very little about him. Please give me the short version of his story and style. Much appreciated.
hey samson, read "educational of a speculator" for a nice synopsis of dr. niederhoffer's ideas and style. what i find most intriguing are the numerous top traders/money managers who have arisen from his tutelage. monroe trout and tony crabel are just two of these trading stars. here's a brief bio: http://www.dailyspeculations.com/about_us1.html here is a transcript of a recent chat i had with him, this will provide you with a bit of insight into his trading philosophy. http://www.dailyspeculations.com/vic/goodboy_interview.html surfer
i like neiderhoffer. i;m a contrarian. it's part of the deal however, neiderhoffer (imo) failed like so many others failed. he thought his "understanding" of the markets was enough. it's not. never has been. never will. he broke the #1 rule of trading, which is to CONTROL risk. trading is first and foremost about risk management. everything else is secondary. i loved education of a speculator. i may disagree with some of his points, but in general i think he is a great thinker. the rule of ever changing cycles is always on my mind when trading.
He lost it all because of "Traders Dementia". It's a term I coined that defines the irrationality traders are inflicted with during a life threatening draw-down. In the middle of a huge loss, the fight/flight response kicks in and traders throw caution and their trading plans out the window. What I can tell by reading available public domain info is that he lost his mind after the loss in Asia and bet the farm in writing naked calls/puts trying to make the loss back. Although he comes across as having a large ego as do most geniuses, I do enjoy the guys anti-establishment irreverent wit.
I think allocating 5%-10% of an total investment portfolio to his fund would be sensible. At least you're going to get a different investment style for your money