List of 5 Traders Worth Studying

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fxpeculator

Wanted to see what everyone thinks of these traders. Your favorites? I found the piece quite interesting. Does anyone know the real reason why Rogers and Soros split?

http://detachedtrader.com/2006/02/detached-traders-list-of-5-traders.html


The Detached Trader's List of 5 Traders Worth Studying

"Example is the best precept" Aesop, Ancient Greek and Author


#1

Bruce Kovner, Hedge Fund Manager at Caxton Corporation
Estimated Net Worth: $2 Yards Plus
Primary Market: Currencies/FX
Summary: Harvard educated, former Taxi driver, used credit from mastercard to start trading
Personality Mention: Ultra secretive, mother committed suicide,Very creative and imaginative, politically conservative, Pro-Iraq war, from California
Best resource on Kovner: Market Wizards, pg.51; George Soros's Right-Wing Twin (New York Metro)


#2

Dan Zanger, Independent Trader, runs Chartpattern website
Estimated Net Worth: $20 Million
Primary market: Naz stocks
Summary: High school graduate, Former ski bum and swimming pool repairman, got addicted to markets from "Charting the Market" television show, took leveraged account up 29,233% in one year during tech bubble
Personality Mention: Little life outside of trading, trading extremist, trades from 88-foot yacht with international satellite reach, Raised in California, likes wines and art
Best resource on Zanger: ChartPattern.com


#3

Kenneth C. Griffin, Hedge Fund Manager of Citadel Investment Group
Estimated Net Worth: $2 Yards Plus
Primary Market: Bond Arbitrage
Summary: Started trading stock options as freshman from Harvard dorm room, bond arb as sophomore, , was running millionion in college, Citadel big on quantitative trading methods, $12 yards plus under management
Personality Mention: held second wedding in Garden of Versailles, taste for expensive Art, Doesn't allow anyone to talk to his former traders, tough guy to work for, Plays PS2 video games, wife runs separate hedge fund-Aragon Global, plays in soccer leagues, brainy
Best resource on Griffin: Bloomberg Piece on Griffin

#4

George Soros, Hedge Fund Manager (now passive) of Quantum Fund
Estimated New Worth: $11 Yards Plus
Primary Market: Currencies/FX
Summary: Holocaust survivor, studied at London School of Economics, traded with Jim Rogers #5 before big fallout, Soros and network of associates gunned down (slapped cable/sterling for yards (billions) in profits in a week. Soros offshore entity alone slapped a $10 yard cable short on. Laughed when Bank of England said they would defend cable by borrowing $15 yards.
Personality Mention: Insecure, divorced two times, emotionally detached, very ballsy-will go for the jugular if he sees something, morally and politically liberal, athiest, extremely dedicated to non-profit Open Society Institute, likes chess, checkers, and tennis.
Best resource on Soros: Soros: The Life and Times of A Messianic Billionaire by Michael T. Kaufman

#5

Jim Rogers, Independent Investor, Author of Hot Commodities
Estimated Net Worth: $150 Million
Primary Market: Commodities
Summary: From Alabama, Educated at Yale and Oxford, founded Quantum Fund with Soros before 'the split' where rumors were thrown around. Fired from Morgan Stanley after the Soros split. Trades Anything and Everything with Macro outlook. World Traveler. Author of Hot Commodities , Adventure Capitalist, and Investment Biker
Personality Mention: twice divorced/ currently married, misanthrope,emotionally detached, blunt, hard to work with, very contrarian, questions everything, Very original, well studied independent thinker, very frugal, rode motorcycle around the world and later drove modified Mercedes around world for Guinness World Records.
Best resource: Market Wizards pg.283, Jim Rogers personal website
 
Quote from fxpeculator:

Wanted to see what everyone thinks of these traders. Your favorites? I found the piece quite interesting. Does anyone know the real reason why Rogers and Soros split?
More...

The best explanation I've found is provided by Soros in his "Alchemy of Finance." Quantum fund had been growing rapidly under Soros/Rogers, and Soros had been pressing R to take on headcount to better manage the workload.

As Soros described it, Rogers was a control freak and couldn't get along with anyone he (Rogers) hired. Finally, after a few years, Soros simply told Rogers that he (Soros) was going to restructure the fund and take on new talent.

Rogers turned hostile and went his separate way.

It seems to me Rogers still hopes/wants to get out from under the shadow of Soros. In R's travels around the world one might see a desire to be as worldly as Soros has always been. And of course Rogers always winces whenever introduced in connection with Soros. Seems as a general rule, R never mentions the "S" word.

Of course it can't help that Soros 'broke the Bank of England' long after Rogers left ...
 
I agree. I think he's a one time wonder.

It would be an insult to the other traders to even be mentioned with him.

Quote from rhymeswithorang:

No offense but Dan Zanger isn't remotely in that league, not even close. :confused:
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Quote from rhymeswithorang:

No offense but Dan Zanger isn't remotely in that league, not even close. :confused:

Agreed, not that Zanger didn't have his day, it was during the tech mania and he shined. However, what has he done since of note that has increased his credibilty as an outstanding trader. I don't want this to sound bad. The term that comes to mind for this type of success would be like the bands they term one hit wonders. And where are they now?

Now for another trader or two to consider for this list, how about Richard Driehaus, or Steve Cohen. Cohen would definitely make the list of someones top five or ten. How about a real old timer who died in the last several years. Phil Caray I believe is the name, managed money in a mutual fund with a compound return of about 12%. Doesn't sound like much, until one realizes he did it for 70 years plus if I'm not mistaken. Just going by memory here.

Enough from me.

Kelly
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Quote from glassinc:

Quote from rhymeswithorang:

No offense but Dan Zanger isn't remotely in that league, not even close. :confused:

Agreed, not that Zanger didn't have his day, it was during the tech mania and he shined. However, what has he done since of note that has increased his credibilty as an outstanding trader. I don't want this to sound bad. The term that comes to mind for this type of success would be like the bands they term one hit wonders. And where are they now?

Now for another trader or two to consider for this list, how about Richard Driehaus, or Steve Cohen. Cohen would definitely make the list of someones top five or ten. How about a real old timer who died in the last several years. Phil Caray I believe is the name, managed money in a mutual fund with a compound return of about 12%. Doesn't sound like much, until one realizes he did it for 70 years plus if I'm not mistaken. Just going by memory here.

Enough from me.

Kelly
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Agreed take Zanger out, put $$$MR.MARKET$$$ in. Seriously to the author, nice post. I've got one,the legendary TraderVic, Victor Sperandio. May not have gotten as lucky as those guys, but he really knows his stuff, and don't laugh but how about Cramer.
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Those of you criticizing Dan Zanger absolutely haven't understood the edge he has capitalized on.

Out of all the traders mentioned above, Zanger is the one offering the most precise strategies to make money with.

I'm trading a strategy very similar to his, and the results I've achieved so far with real money are nothing short of spectacular.
 
You're joking right. A guy who makes $20 million belongs in the pantheon of greatest traders? There are billionaire traders out there, BILLIONAIRE. Sure, $20 million in more money that I will likely ever see but that is chump change in the real world. And did you ever notice how the big money doesn't do interviews, or have websites, come on man, get real.
 
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