I think one real possibility could be that a large "client" determined what was going on and got their money returned. This triggered a cash crunch and the ensuing drama. Just how they forced this would be open to speculation.Quote from slacker:
Do you think Bolze thought he could continue the ponzi plan forever, or did he believe he would trade back to win at the end. In one interview his wife said he traded until just a few months ago.
Why work so hard building that house knowing everything was going to blow up within a year or two?
Did he fool himself? Or was he just evil?
Quote from nkhoi:
MarkB,
What do you think about Dennis? Was his stuff any good?
Are you f*ckin' kidding me? Ask the guys who would sell their name for $20MM to form a line and you wouldn't be able to fly out to the end of it in a day. Miserable? They'd be laughing their asses off on a beach in the Caymans.Quote from chrisdunn:
What's a "reasonable" figure to ruin your name? $20M, $50B???
You know these guys are miserable and won't be able to enjoy their money.
Quote from traderNik:
Are you f*ckin' kidding me? Ask the guys who would sell their name for $20MM to form a line and you wouldn't be able to fly out to the end of it in a day. Miserable? They'd be laughing their asses off on a beach in the Caymans.
Quote from Thunderdog:
I am fairly certain that anyone who believes Larry Williams legitimately won that single trading contest over 2 decades ago and who believes that he is an example of a good trader, is probably not a profitable trader himself. I simply cannot believe that successful traders can be quite so gullible. I do not refer to the percentage returns. Rather, I refer to the considerable controversy surrounding his and the broker's conduct at the time of the contest, his astonishingly pathetic efforts at money management at that very time (hint: these are not likely to be independent events), and the walking dead who attend his overpriced seminars.
In 1982, his book How to Prosper in the Coming Good Years was published. It forecast the largest bull market and surge of economic growth the United States has ever seen. The book was written at a time when the majority of pundits were calling for slowdown in economic growth and stock market, which is exactly the opposite of what Williams forecast.
In 1987, Williams won the World Cup Championship of Futures Trading, sponsored by Robbins Trading Company, trading $10,000 in real money to $1,147,000 in 12 months â a feat no one else has come close to matching. Williams ran his winnings to more than $2,000,000 by the end of September, dropped down to $750,000 after the October '87 crash, and traded back to the $1,147,000 mark by the end of the year.
While some claimed that Williams maintained two accounts during the competition â one for winning trades and one for losing trades â his contest account was closely scrutinized by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and National Futures Association (NFA) and this allegation was found not to be true.
Williams was the first to author books on seasonality in commodities and was the first to write on the Commitments of Trader Reports, of which he is generally considered the leading expert.
In 1997, at age 16, his daughter, actress Michelle Williams, won the same competition with exactly 1000 percent returns on her US$10,000 investment.[2] As of 2006, Larry Williams' 100-fold gain is the highest in that competition. [3]
The World Cup Championship event is regulated by both the National Futures Association (on whose board Williams has served) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
In 1998, he received Futures magazine's First Doctor of Futures Award. The following year, he received Omega Research's Lifetime Achievement Award.
He is credited with having developed different indicators including:
Williams %R
Ultimate Oscillator
Quote from MarkB:
and a great deal of money went into the local real estate market