VN has a bevy of young lady fans also--- i think anyone who is unique and quasi-famous has groupies.
surf
Do you have groupies Dave?
FF, I could not find a specific question in your post... Not sure what to tell you.
VN has a bevy of young lady fans also--- i think anyone who is unique and quasi-famous has groupies.
surf
let's not quibble about numbers or definitions but I believe you are wrong about neiderhoffer. you have been spending too much time in FL.VN has a bevy of young lady fans also--- i think anyone who is unique and quasi-famous has groupies.
surf
I understand. I guess I don't have a specific question. I'm just trying to put the two side by side to see what we can learn from them. The best I can come up with, and I've alluded to this before, is that neither extreme approach to risk appears to be ideal. So it follows that there is a better perch somewhere along the continuum between the two polar opposites....FF, I could not find a specific question in your post... Not sure what to tell you.
I understand. I guess I don't have a specific question. I'm just trying to put the two side by side to see what we can learn from them. The best I can come up with, and I've alluded to this before, is that neither extreme approach to risk appears to be ideal. So it follows that there is a better perch somewhere along the continuum between the two polar opposites.
Do you have groupies Dave?
FF, I could not find a specific question in your post... Not sure what to tell you.
I was under the impression that he only bought OTM puts and calls, as reported by Gladwell. I only read Taleb's Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan, neither of which went into any specifics about his trading, so I really don't know. The article is dated so I suppose his trading has changed since then. I guess I'm mistaken.I'm not even sure if anyone knows exactly what these sides are. A lot of people misinterpret what they say. Taleb sells ATM premium as he explained, while I bet many think he only buys OTM puts.
Sam and EP, I've been critical of VN's trading in the past. And I'm not here to defend him. I'm genuinely wondering what draws an otherwise accomplished man by any measure to his own destruction like a moth to a flame. I had even raised the matter of moral hazard in the past, as it relates to managing money: the skewed risk profile that can be a veritable playground for the amoral. But he lost his own money as well, so I think the issue goes deeper. The man is not a fool. But he made mistakes that can be described as foolish, and more than once. We all have our vulnerabilities. His seems to be hubris. But why would an intelligent man refuse to show humility in the face of risk when he knows full well that it can destroy him?
On the other hand, consider Taleb. Despite his obvious intelligence and financial acumen, he can't bring himself to take a directional position in the market. His issue appears to be the exact opposite of VN's. And apart from his literary success, has his approach to risk served him well in the markets? Are the overall returns he generated sufficiently reflective of his intelligence and his grasp of all things quantitative? (I really don't know, but the shuttering of Empirica suggests otherwise. Please correct me if I'm wrong.)
That's why I think these two men are an interesting study in contrasts.
Both of their performance is significantly worse than their egos and marketing savvy would have you believe. Both have shut down multiple funds due to poor performance.