Niederhoffer's year end contest! ($2500 prize for 3 best 2011 trading ideas)

All ears. Pencil in hand.

Quote from thoreau777:

Dear EPrado,

The Matador Fund did not go down 100%. Please get your facts straight. Multitudes of investors still ended with a net credit after their investments at Matador depending on their involvement and duration. And the last painful performance in the last difficult period were indeed the result of collusion by certain market participants. A lawsuit ensued, and was won in court.

You are still missing the point. My involvement here on this website is to share my knowledge as I am mostly retired from active management of funds. I am merely hoping to spread my own knowledge in order that people can learn and employ a better methodology to trading. It is my way of "giving back". I urge you to visit www.dailyspeculations.com and educate yourself. Victor writes almost every day and loves to share his wisdom. If you cannot understand this, then I feel nothing but pity for you... and your parents.
 
Quote from Visaria:

Btw, is Niederhoffer still banging Laurel Kenner?

Actually, are you Ms Kenner?


Dear Visaria,

I thought sincerely that we were past such attacks on each other. This response proves that you are in fact a knuckle dragging troglodyte. Or, you may have had a left temporal lobe brain lesion or other traumatic brain injury that could cause such incongruous behavior. How dare you speak in such an offensive, disrespectful, obscene manner. I attempted restraint and forgiveness, and you have the unmitigated effrontery to return a gift of kindness with another vulgar attack? If you speak in high school "locker room" dialogue again, I will do something that you will regret. Read Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher". You remind me of Roderick in the degree of insanity.
 
Quote from Pekelo:

You do post from behind a proxy, and I don't see any good reason for that, unless you try to hide something. But let's move on and entertain/educate each other.

Pekelo,

Someone before brought it to my attention by checking IP addresses and such, that I and my family are in Connecticut (where Victor resides). That is true. But the fact that my family is in Connecticut that does not make me someone that I am not. It is just a minor coincidence that Victor lives in the same state, but so does practically everyone else in the hedge fund world, right?

You pointed out that Matador Fund had a difficult final year. That is correct. But you are likely also familiar that Matador returned nearly 50% per year for a few years prior to the difficult period right? So suppose you began investing a few years before the large drawdown, you would have still been positive, even after the closing of the fund.

To assume that everyone lost significant monies in Matador supposes that every single investor invested at the top price before Matador's assets turned down and redeemed their shares at the lowest print.

Even though companies like Yahoo! fell at one point from $250.00 to $8.00 and companies like Amazon and Priceline.com had similar trajectories (both are close to all time highs), most investors involved did very well. And still do...

I would maintain the same would likely be true if you were an investor in Matador too. Very few people put all their investment into the Fund, in one lump sum... and the top price print. Most made out deliciously. And I aver that if Matador did not close down, then the fund would be at the top of all hedge funds today in 2011. It is highly improbable that Victor would have had another difficult period after the last one. Just as Apple, Priceline, Amazon, and other great companies did, Matador would indeed have risen to new highs, and rewarded investors handsomely. Alas, this is not the case, and this is a sad crisis indeed for the investment world as well as a personal disappointment for me.
 
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/15/071015fa_fact_cassidy?currentPage=7

'Toward the end of 1996, another profitable year for him, Niederhoffer decided that he wanted to invest in Southeast Asia, which was widely seen as a growing market. He dispatched an old friend, Steven (Bo) Keeley, to the region. Keeley, a veterinarian who spent six months of the year living in the California desert without a telephone or electric power, had trekked in dozens of countries. On one trip, while paddling down the Amazon, he had contracted malaria, briefly gone blind, and been comatose for a week. Keeley believed that assessing a developing country’s economic prospects involved not only meeting with the C.E.O.s of leading companies but studying the lengths of discarded cigarettes—the theory being that the wealthier people are, the longer their butts—and the state of the brothels. After a couple of months in Asia, he reported to Niederhoffer that the brothels in Bangkok had recently become much cleaner and safer, and that Thailand was an excellent place to invest.'

LMAO
 
Quote from Ghost of Cutten:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/15/071015fa_fact_cassidy?currentPage=7

'Toward the end of 1996, another profitable year for him, Niederhoffer decided that he wanted to invest in Southeast Asia, which was widely seen as a growing market. He dispatched an old friend, Steven (Bo) Keeley, to the region. Keeley, a veterinarian who spent six months of the year living in the California desert without a telephone or electric power, had trekked in dozens of countries. On one trip, while paddling down the Amazon, he had contracted malaria, briefly gone blind, and been comatose for a week. Keeley believed that assessing a developing country�s economic prospects involved not only meeting with the C.E.O.s of leading companies but studying the lengths of discarded cigarettes�the theory being that the wealthier people are, the longer their butts�and the state of the brothels. After a couple of months in Asia, he reported to Niederhoffer that the brothels in Bangkok had recently become much cleaner and safer, and that Thailand was an excellent place to invest.'



LMAO

lol
 
Quote from thoreau777:

You pointed out that Matador Fund had a difficult final year.

Actually, that is not what I pointed out. I pointed out the fact, that the 5 years performance chart of Matador putting next to the market chart looks like an S&P put seller HF chart. You keep protesting that Matador was simply just selling puts (maybe timing was also used), but that is what the chart shows us. And you know the saying about ducks...

Anyhow, has Vic ever considered selling the story of his life for a movie deal?
 
Haha, another rather strange "methodology". He really does have a "modicum" of them.

@thoreau, you can threaten me all you like, be racist, call me names whatever, i really don't care, we are both fortunate to live in free speech countries. It amuses me.

These are my additional thoughts on Niederhoffer. He's a brilliant squash player (or was). Brilliant statistician, would beat me hands down any day.

A humble man? No chance. If his ego became any bigger, his head would explode. A great trader/hedge fund manager? No.
 
Quote from gaj:

matador = -70 or 75% (or around there). to me that counts as second blowup.

there is a high probability that 2008 / 2009 would have resulted in another blowup or two if matador had not already been impoded.

and citation for where the case was won, please? i saw it was sealed:
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10247380/4/embattled-refco-dusts-off-the-white-flag.html

and it is not in the law records as a completed case, so thestreet.com is likely correct.

discussing a sealed case is a definite no-no.


money and risk management. the most important skill a trader can learn.

EDIT: this thread is also worth a read, where baron was told by v.n. that "Matador is very much viable. Has much cash and positions in excess of all requirements. And has no need to liquidate positions"
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102468

es was trading around 1370 on the low at the end of august 07. I remember the thread from Pabst Prime which was not a Vic bashing thread at all. It was closed because it apparently made Baron nervous, there may be a google cache of the thread. Anyway, no one really gives a shit if he blew out, he won't be the first or last; its that his followers want us to worship at the altar of Vic that is so freakin annoying. How would the fund have done at es 1200, 950, 750?? Bill Miller who was rock steady for like 20 years almost blew out Legg Mason at the end, then the mother of all rallies after march 09. Good times!!

http://www.fundstrategy.co.uk/features/focus/legg-mason-keeps-feet-on-ground/1007482.article
 

Attachments

Quote from thoreau777:

Dear Proximo,

I confess that I am confused. I believe with all my heart that I have very little ego which can be measured. I maintain that anybody with a large ego will blow out their account. In fact, I argue that a person's ego is inversely proportional to their trading performance. In order to trade well, you must have actually... no ego whatsoever.

I am pleased that you brought up the subject of ego, which many people ignore. People always bring up the three key ingredients to a successful trading career. That is 1) Sufficient Capital, 2) A Trading "Edge", and 3) Money Management. To that I must add 4) Ego-less trading.

Anyone I have met in my decades of trading maintained their success only if they kept their ego out of the equation. The market is a dynamic and completely unpredictable beast. And only the ones who bet against the crowd will be long term winners.

I thank you for bringing up the topic of ego. I would argue
that it is the single most important ingredient for trading success. Without rule number 1, "Ego-less Trading Mind", you are doomed. If you have an ego that you bring to the markets, it is akin to giving a set of car keys and a bottle of whiskey to your Ferrari to your teenage bipolar 18 y.o. son who is going out on Prom night. Not a good idea...


it seems to me that a very developed talented person would have a large ego but a large degree of self awareness and control of ones ego.

A person with a really large ego would never allow themselves to blow up. They would even shut down their operations before they blew up.

I realize this depends on the definition of ego, but it seems you are suggestion a sort of zen like trader. I believe that zen trader is mostly a misunderstanding of what happens in sports. What you really need is a trader who drops into the heavy concentration zone and executes flawlessly. The only people who can really do that under pressure are those who have plenty of experience at winning on previous levels of easier competition.

Previous wins take self confidence and ego. Winning at every level takes mastery of ones self, not elimination of ones self.

When putting or serving for a championship, pros are taught to execute their routine.

I realize this is a bit disjointed but I have time constraints.
 
Quote from thoreau777:

You pointed out that Matador Fund had a difficult final year. That is correct. But you are likely also familiar that Matador returned nearly 50% per year for a few years prior to the difficult period right? So suppose you began investing a few years before the large drawdown, you would have still been positive, even after the closing of the fund.

Why is it so difficult to do this simple operation: Matador 1st year P§L in $ + Matador 2nd year P§L in $ + ... + Matador Blow-up year P§L in $? Can you give us that number or is it too simple for you?:D
 
Back
Top