Dear Visaria, I thought sincerely that we were past such attacks on each other. This response proves that you are in fact a knuckle dragging troglodyte. Or, you may have had a left temporal lobe brain lesion or other traumatic brain injury that could cause such incongruous behavior. How dare you speak in such an offensive, disrespectful, obscene manner. I attempted restraint and forgiveness, and you have the unmitigated effrontery to return a gift of kindness with another vulgar attack? If you speak in high school "locker room" dialogue again, I will do something that you will regret. Read Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher". You remind me of Roderick in the degree of insanity.
Pekelo, Someone before brought it to my attention by checking IP addresses and such, that I and my family are in Connecticut (where Victor resides). That is true. But the fact that my family is in Connecticut that does not make me someone that I am not. It is just a minor coincidence that Victor lives in the same state, but so does practically everyone else in the hedge fund world, right? You pointed out that Matador Fund had a difficult final year. That is correct. But you are likely also familiar that Matador returned nearly 50% per year for a few years prior to the difficult period right? So suppose you began investing a few years before the large drawdown, you would have still been positive, even after the closing of the fund. To assume that everyone lost significant monies in Matador supposes that every single investor invested at the top price before Matador's assets turned down and redeemed their shares at the lowest print. Even though companies like Yahoo! fell at one point from $250.00 to $8.00 and companies like Amazon and Priceline.com had similar trajectories (both are close to all time highs), most investors involved did very well. And still do... I would maintain the same would likely be true if you were an investor in Matador too. Very few people put all their investment into the Fund, in one lump sum... and the top price print. Most made out deliciously. And I aver that if Matador did not close down, then the fund would be at the top of all hedge funds today in 2011. It is highly improbable that Victor would have had another difficult period after the last one. Just as Apple, Priceline, Amazon, and other great companies did, Matador would indeed have risen to new highs, and rewarded investors handsomely. Alas, this is not the case, and this is a sad crisis indeed for the investment world as well as a personal disappointment for me.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/15/071015fa_fact_cassidy?currentPage=7 'Toward the end of 1996, another profitable year for him, Niederhoffer decided that he wanted to invest in Southeast Asia, which was widely seen as a growing market. He dispatched an old friend, Steven (Bo) Keeley, to the region. Keeley, a veterinarian who spent six months of the year living in the California desert without a telephone or electric power, had trekked in dozens of countries. On one trip, while paddling down the Amazon, he had contracted malaria, briefly gone blind, and been comatose for a week. Keeley believed that assessing a developing countryâs economic prospects involved not only meeting with the C.E.O.s of leading companies but studying the lengths of discarded cigarettesâthe theory being that the wealthier people are, the longer their buttsâand the state of the brothels. After a couple of months in Asia, he reported to Niederhoffer that the brothels in Bangkok had recently become much cleaner and safer, and that Thailand was an excellent place to invest.' LMAO
Actually, that is not what I pointed out. I pointed out the fact, that the 5 years performance chart of Matador putting next to the market chart looks like an S&P put seller HF chart. You keep protesting that Matador was simply just selling puts (maybe timing was also used), but that is what the chart shows us. And you know the saying about ducks... Anyhow, has Vic ever considered selling the story of his life for a movie deal?
Haha, another rather strange "methodology". He really does have a "modicum" of them. @thoreau, you can threaten me all you like, be racist, call me names whatever, i really don't care, we are both fortunate to live in free speech countries. It amuses me. These are my additional thoughts on Niederhoffer. He's a brilliant squash player (or was). Brilliant statistician, would beat me hands down any day. A humble man? No chance. If his ego became any bigger, his head would explode. A great trader/hedge fund manager? No.
es was trading around 1370 on the low at the end of august 07. I remember the thread from Pabst Prime which was not a Vic bashing thread at all. It was closed because it apparently made Baron nervous, there may be a google cache of the thread. Anyway, no one really gives a shit if he blew out, he won't be the first or last; its that his followers want us to worship at the altar of Vic that is so freakin annoying. How would the fund have done at es 1200, 950, 750?? Bill Miller who was rock steady for like 20 years almost blew out Legg Mason at the end, then the mother of all rallies after march 09. Good times!! http://www.fundstrategy.co.uk/features/focus/legg-mason-keeps-feet-on-ground/1007482.article
it seems to me that a very developed talented person would have a large ego but a large degree of self awareness and control of ones ego. A person with a really large ego would never allow themselves to blow up. They would even shut down their operations before they blew up. I realize this depends on the definition of ego, but it seems you are suggestion a sort of zen like trader. I believe that zen trader is mostly a misunderstanding of what happens in sports. What you really need is a trader who drops into the heavy concentration zone and executes flawlessly. The only people who can really do that under pressure are those who have plenty of experience at winning on previous levels of easier competition. Previous wins take self confidence and ego. Winning at every level takes mastery of ones self, not elimination of ones self. When putting or serving for a championship, pros are taught to execute their routine. I realize this is a bit disjointed but I have time constraints.
Why is it so difficult to do this simple operation: Matador 1st year P§L in $ + Matador 2nd year P§L in $ + ... + Matador Blow-up year P§L in $? Can you give us that number or is it too simple for you?