Martin Schwartz talks about losing $25m Feb 2018

[destriero]

But what's the margin you need to short 14000 puts on s&p500 ? millions, I guess

No way he was short 14K naked. $300MM haircut for retail.

 

[ZBZB]

No way he was short 14K naked. $300MM haircut for retail.

They may be credit spreads which cuts the margin a lot.

 

[destriero]

They may be credit spreads which cuts the margin a lot.

Would have to be.

 

[destriero]

The object of the game is to make money.

He lost on direction, timing and vol. Worse, he stood to gain relatively small if he won. Marty should retire and buy Zeroes.

 

[SteveM]

He should start a fund with Karen. TBH picking a delta figure isn’t going to matter. Either you’re a trader or you’re systematically underwriting disaster insurance. He seems to be the latter.

I think it's unfair to lump Marty in with Karen. They aren't in the same universe. And yeah, I agree it is possible that Marty is no longer a successful trader, but he his still living in a multi-million dollar oceanfront mansion a few blocks down the road from Mar-a-Lago, and he has documented track record of success:

From the NY Times in 1984:

"The person who made the most money in 1983 in trades reported to the United States Trading Championship - a whopping $1.4 million - was Martin Schwartz, whose futures account rose 175.3 percent. Mr. Schwartz, a 38-year-old former securities analyst who owns a seat on the American Stock Exchange, said, ''I can tell you how I became a winner - I learned how to lose.''

https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/18/business/investing-for-fun-and-profit.html

Below is another article about him from the 80s:

 

[ZBZB]

Marty has posted twice on this forum in 2004. Not many believed it was him!

https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/marty-schwartz.31549/page-7

 

[southall]

I think it's unfair to lump Marty in with Karen. They aren't in the same universe. And yeah, I agree it is possible that Marty is no longer a successful trader, but he his still living in a multi-million dollar oceanfront mansion a few blocks down the road from Mar-a-Lago, and he has documented track record of success:

From the NY Times in 1984:

"The person who made the most money in 1983 in trades reported to the United States Trading Championship - a whopping $1.4 million - was Martin Schwartz, whose futures account rose 175.3 percent.

"Addictiveness is the reason why so many players who make fortunes leave the game broke"

He definitely addicted, he openly admits to it. If he no longer has an edge then he just Gambling and is no longer Trading. Hopefully he or his family can keep his size in check so he doesn't do too much damage in the future.

 

[jordi742]

Marty has posted twice on this forum in 2004. Not many believed it was him!

https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/marty-schwartz.31549/page-7

<< I generally limit myself to no mor than 150 contracts on a trade >> the equivalent of 1500 e-minis. Not bad...

 

[ZBZB]

No way he was short 14K naked. $300MM haircut for retail.

25,000 short puts in oil, rolled down from 85 to 83 for a $4m loss. ITM would have cost $25m a point. From 46 min in

 

[trader99]

He should start a fund with Karen. TBH picking a delta figure isn’t going to matter. Either you’re a trader or you’re systematically underwriting disaster insurance. He seems to be the latter. He is obviously persistently short naked (hence Feb).

My buddy lost $7MM short naked calls in TSLA and left a debit with the BD. He’s an idiot. No excuse.

Marty shorts naked puts because he refuses to pay-up on the vol-line for the hedge.

Oscillator leads price... sure it does.

This whole time from reading Market Wizards, I thought Marty was just trading futures. He said he wanted to earn infinity as an argument against program trading trying to earn 50 bps above Treasuries. But this YouTube interview totally shattered my conception of Marty! He has been a premium seller. damn.