How did he lose most of his money trading in the late 1980s when he incurred $172 million in capital losses? Does anyone know?
Based on his trading style, my guess is that he got whipsawed numerous times in the trendless T-bond market of the late 1980s.
How do you know it was "most" of his money? I just found a Forbes article mentioning 172 millions in losses indeed, but also 50 millions in profit per year for years. http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/1027/108.html