Quote from Hedge Fund Market Wizards
How did you develop your trading style?
My firm has always given me a lot of latitude, which allowed me to stretch my boundaries. While it was uncomfortable, it helped me learn how to make and lose money without being scared of doing either. I learned by trading a lot all the time. I traded more than anyone else at the firm. That is how I got my feel for stocks. I really felt them. I felt, Oh, something has changed. I donât know what it is, but something has changed. I really trusted that feeling. What was interesting to me early in my career was that I would get a thought about what would happen, and then be
surprised when it did happen. It always appeared on the screen to me. It always showed itself to me. A stock reveals itself to me when something changes.
How do you see it?
Itâs a sense Iâve developed, and I have learned to trust that sense. I think I have spent as much time in front of screens watching the nature of stocks as anyone else in the business. Because I have watched these same symbols for almost 15 years, they almost take on a life of their own.
Can you give me an example of what you mean by sense?
Iâll give you a great example. Tyco went from being one of the favorites on Wall Street to one of the Wall Street disasters in a very short order of time. I started buying at $34, and in a few days it went straight down to $18. My average price was around $23. I was long 750,000 shares and down about $5 million on the trade. I remember my boss coming over to my desk and asking, âJimmy, what are you doing?â I said, âDon, Iâll take care of it. I know what I am doing.â No one was talking, because everyone knew the size of my position. I took over the entire desk position on the stock.
Even though the stock was collapsing, I really believed, âThis is my opportunity.â I donât remember the exact price, but I said to myself if it went below that price, I would have to start liquidating. It literally traded right at that price and stopped going down. At that point, I had a sense that something had changed. I didnât sell a share until the price was $1.50 above my average price, which happened that same day. I sold one-third of my position that day, and the next day I sold the rest of the position about three or four dollars higher. Then it went straight down again. I ended up having the biggest month of my career.
The stock always seems to reveal itself to me, especially when I have a large position and Iâm watching it closely. What I have learned to recognize over my career is that I donât have to be early because I almost always see it. Maybe itâs my lack of discipline that gets me in early. I want to be in early just in case I donât see it, but yet Iâve always seen it when it changes. Itâs a feeling; itâs a sense. I think, Why did I go early again? Here is my signal. I donât get it every time for every stock, but I get it pretty often.
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Was that sense there from the beginning?
Yes, that sense was there early on.
Do you think it is innate?
Yes, part of it is innate; thereâs no question about it. My goal is to one day be able to match up my trades with my sense that itâs ready to happen right now and to only invest at those times. For me, mastery would be knowing that I donât have to be early, and all I have to do is wait for when I see it because I almost always see it.
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