He said so in the previous paragraph: because he's named in the book. All of this is pure ego gravy for Dave Goodboy. We're dealing with a mediocrity whose sole claim to fame is who he knows Stop feeding the troll. Stop feeding the troll's ego.
Somebody who writes about funds and investments can create a lot of (fake) credibility by telling he knows a (or if possible many) famous trader(s). He can use this in networking to attract new business. If his hero gets attacked he should protect him, because in that way he protects his own financial interests. If the famous person goes down, the writer can lose a substantial part of his earnings too. It is all about money. The more people (famous quant's, famous PHD's) he knows and the more articles were he is mentioned in, the smaller the risk that 1 bad person can harm the writer's financial resources. Call it "capital and risk management". So this writer should know as many famous people as possible, as many math wizards and as many PHD's as possible just to protect is own financial resources. He should be integrated as much as possible in this community to gain maximal credibility. This can result in publications in specialized magazines, that are eager to write articles about him, for the simple reason that they have to fill every month X pages to get a salary end of the month. Every party in this story has his own interests to defend.
@kut2k2: There are threads where trolling should not be fed. I am for it. However, it seems to me OP started this thread for entertainment value. Who, other than Mr. Niederhoffer himself, cares what Mr. Niederhoffer thinks or doesn't think. Really. If Mr. Niederhoffer thinks trend following sucks good for him; if he thinks trend following is cool, good for him too. As for me, I am really enjoying the entertainment offered by Surf in this thread by way of his logical incongruities. Please don't take way this comedic relief by asking me not to "feed" him! edit: It is true that Surf's logical incongruities transcends this thread. However, in those other threads, I have intentionally refrained from 'feeding' him. So, please, let me have my fill here!