Reading "Dynamic Trading" by Taleb...am i supposed to understand any of it?

[destriero]

So I am guessing you are not a fan of his recommendation in black swan...90% in super safe low yield investments, 10% high risk stuff?

He should have done that at Paloma. I haven't read Black Swan. 10% in vol? Tilray?

 

[zghorner]

He should have done that at Paloma. I haven't read Black Swan. 10% in vol? Tilray?

Great idea. Save some of that 10% for AMD calls and biotech pennies to guarantee victory.

 

[Wheezooo]

The Back Swan event - one very good idea. And he never never lets us forget he was the one so smart as to think of it.

In all fairness, I refused to read the book for several years thinking he took credit for the idea. That would have been uncool. In the book he is fairly clear it was not his idea. He did give it a cool name and presented the idea to the layman, and I applaud him for it.
I still think unless you traded options it is difficult to comprehend the extent of what he is implying, but I think he addresses that as well.

 

[TommyR]

i liked it. here is a good site for experts:
https://eventuallyalmosteverywhere.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/the-levy-khintchine-formula/
note a levy prcoess is a 3-manifold but the solutions to the black sholes equation are a special type of sub-group.

 

[pollock]

great book for mkt-makers. made sense 15-20 years ago when exotics were big. safe to ignore this book now.

 

[SunTrader]

And then there was also Empirica Capital. Here and then gone.

 

[IndependentTrader]

He bled out at Paloma. He must be a zombie.

What's his net worth not including books?

 

[IndependentTrader]

EDIT: MEANT "DYNAMIC HEDGING" IN THE TITLE

ive only made it to page 70 and already feel as though i might actually have an extra chromosome...Do you all think its worth dredging through the rest of Dynamic Hedging or do you have anything else to recommend?

It might help you to know the following. The book was written when he was young, might have been his first book, and therefore the edgy language and examples in the book, even though mostly valid and largely relevant, are written to try to tell the reader that traders are smarter, live in a different world, and options traders dealing in uncertainties are extra smart, smarter than their managers, and he is the smartest of them all. Since then, he has matured in his writing tremendously, esp. fooled by randomness probably his best work and is a must read no matter who you are.

In terms of reading it cover to cover - not a good idea because it is written poorly in many places. Just jump around. Pick up a few pages/ideas here and there and read them for serendipitous discovery. It does have a couple of things that make you think a little bit differently about risk. It might clarify a thing or two. But I doubt you will pick up anything that will make or save money.

 

[destriero]

What's his net worth not including books?

His wife is worth $25MM.

 

[destriero]

And then there was also Empirica Capital. Here and then gone.

Made no money with Empirica... his #2 goes off on his own and shorts subprime and makes $600MM. Fiction has to make sense.