Hedge Fund Market Wizards

[Robert Goren]

I was wondering if any one has read Jack Schwager's latest book Hedge Fund Market Wizards. I don't read as much as I use to, so I am pretty picky about what I read. I read only for entertainment these days. What caught my eye was an interview in it with Edward Throp. I know it is only $20, but I still feel like a fool when I get stuck. Any comments would be welcome.

[PaceAdvantage]

so i take it you didn't like it? I read one of his prior books and thought it was worthy

[Robert Goren]

so i take it you didn't like it? I read one of his prior books and thought it was worthy I haven't read it. I was looking for an opinion on it from someone I trust before I buy it. There was a review on a poker web site praising it. At one time I read everything that caught my eye. These days I am more picky. Thanks for your opinion on his prior book.

[RaceBookJoe]

Havent read this one, but did read both "Market Wizards" and " New Market Wizards". Thought they were both decent reads.

[JBmadera]

Just started it, will post something when I finish. Reviews look very positive.

[Saratoga_Mike]

I read one of the earlier editions (not even sure if it was the same author?--same title, but different managers interviewed) and thought it was boring.

[thaskalos]

I was wondering if any one has read Jack Schwager's latest book Hedge Fund Market Wizards. I don't read as much as I use to, so I am pretty picky about what I read. I read only for entertainment these days. What caught my eye was an interview in it with Edward Throp. I know it is only $20, but I still feel like a fool when I get stuck. Any comments would be welcome.

If anything...seeing Edward Thorp as one of the interviewees would be a further inducement to buy it...for me at least. Thorp is a brilliant man...IMO.

I also thought very highly of Schwager's other "Market Wizards" books...

[Tape Reader]

If anything...seeing Edward Thorp as one of the interviewees would be a further inducement to buy it...for me at least. Thorp is a brilliant man...IMO.

I also thought very highly of Schwager's other "Market Wizards" books...

Me too.

[maddog42]

Fortune's Formula by William Poundstone is very close to this subject matter and is a very good book. It revolves around Thorpe and some of the other hedge fund operators and the geniuses that worked for Bell Laboratories like Claude Shannon. It spends quite a lot of time looking at gambling and the Kelly Criterion. It touches on the Hedge fund Formula that Thorpe and others use. I had no idea that Thorpe was so incredibly wealthy until I read this book. The section about Shannon is worth the price of the book alone. It also talks about the Roulette Prediction device that Thorpe and he worked on.

[crestridge]

In his work, "The New Market Wizards", he profiles a gentleman named Charles Faulkner, who specializes in the psychology of trading; his wisdom alone is worth a "read".

Schwager asked a question, (page 430) "I'm afraid you've lost me. In your use of the word, what typifies the strategies of successful traders?

Faulkner: "An effective trading strategy will have the following characteristics: First, it will be automatic. Given a specific situation, the trader will know what to do without second-guessing himself. Second, a good strategy will be congruent--that is, it won't create any internal conflict. Third, the strategy will incorporate Away From motivation by including some specific risk control plans. Fourth, part of the strategy will involve imagining the trade from the perspective of already being in the position and considering what might be wrong with the trade before putting it on. Fifth, an effective trading strategy will provide specific evidence that will allow the trader to evaluate the merits of a trade."