How come all these high profile blow ups are usually done by these high IQ, analytical, "financial engineering" types? Can it actually hurt you if you know too much about the market and think you can outsmart it? <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0375758259.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg"
When someone has been successful for many years, his ego will probably be bigger than the solar system. He'll think that he is invincible, and behaves like a God. There is only one way to do things --- HIS way. This is true for people at Wall Street or Academia. Unfortunately, the market is extremely creative and good at humbling mortals, and faked gods.
This is a very interesting book. They found the holy grail, leveraged it, and of course the market was irrational longer than they could stay solvent.
"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." Mark Twain
Just a good trader,then no, average intelligence (IQ>100) and emtional discipline is supposedly all that is required. However to pull 100s of million out of the markets consistently for decades. Probably most of those guys do have genius IQs. Livermore was clearly a genius...
indeed...most people can be good traders with some proper teachings and by good I mean making a nice living off of it. Those with that mental edge however, are raking in the money hand over fist....
I think intelligence is one of the most overrated human qualities. And that's especially true in trading. Perseverance and resilience are far more important as success factors - not only in trading but in most aspects of life. And by the way, I was not surprised that it was John Meriwether who was first on his feet again after the debacle of LTCM. He is a trader.
====Do you need to be a genius to be a good trader? === "Genius. It's a word. What does it really mean? If I win I'm a genius. If I don't, I'm not." -- Bobby Fischer