Video: Trader, Paul Tudor Jones

[RCG Trader]

Quote from Gabfly1:

To accept that kind of volatility means one of two things. Either you are a man of steel, or you are trading a very, very small account. I may be wrong, and your dollar numbers are none of my business, but I think it is either the one or the other. To characteristically gain 50% one day and lose 40% the next, or thereabouts, on a meaningful amount of money is absolutely insane.

Not really, size is relative, you are thinking in absolute terms, a good trader needs to think in systemic terms. So losing a dollar when you have 10 should be no different than losing 1 million dollars when you have 10 million, or 1 billion dollars when you have 10 billion.

I do not look at my PNL until I have completed a trade. It is hard to do. But now that I know a big hitter like PTJ has the same issues, I know I can hold and manage my emotions that much better. Before that video, I would have pulled the plug well before 50%. Like I said, that video was 100% mental for me, and it was a game changer.

Before, I would look at a chart, and look and see, I am up 30%. I have no good reason to get out, other than I am up 30%. I would pull the plug, usually only to see price continue to go screaming in my direction. That is frustrating, to say the least. Now, it is all better!

 

[Gabfly1]

Quote from RCG Trader:

Not really, size is relative...

So is "meaningful." I was referring to an account size meaningful to the trader.

In any event, I trust you will forgive me if I don't accept your various performance claims at face.

 

[RCG Trader]

Quote from Gabfly1:

So is "meaningful." I was referring to an account size meaningful to the trader.

In any event, I trust you will forgive me if I don't accept your various performance claims at face.

That's good, I prefer it that way. I used to be zealous about what I released to the general public, but I realized that Richard Dennis was correct. No need to worry, I can publish my entire system online, and I have no fear. Most people will not have the mental make-up to follow it, even if they do, when it has losses, they will attempt to alter it, to it's detriment.

The word, "impossible", is also relative. It took me some time to understand that, but when I did................

 

[ammo]

pek that video was an hour long,they probably shot several different days and reduced it down to a big losing and a big winning day,RCG,when you say 30 .40 ,50 percent,i didn't see you mention it,but your talking about your monthly max loss number ,not your entire acct?

 

[volente_00]

Quote from Pekelo:

Anybody noticed that their biggest loser (6 mill) was bigger than their biggest winner (5 mill)??

Also, that winning day was at the end of the documentary, filmed months later. It looked like they wanted to finish on an upbeat, and they called the crew: "Hey we have a huge winning position on, come out and film it."

Did you miss the part about making them pay 100% multiple times between that losing trade ?

 

[RCG Trader]

Quote from ammo:

pek that video was an hour long,they probably shot several different days and reduced it down to a big losing and a big winning day,RCG,when you say 30 .40 ,50 percent,i didn't see you mention it,but your talking about your monthly max loss number ,not your entire acct?

A dump truck trade is all in, max margin.

A nibble trade for me is 6.25% of my account.

 

[ammo]

doesn't make sense for a seasoned trader,your only one trade away from broke,part of the seasoning was going broke a few times and learning how to avoid the same mistake in the future,am i missing something

 

[RCG Trader]

Quote from ammo:

doesn't make sense for a seasoned trader,your only one trade away from broke,part of the seasoning was going broke a few times and learning how to avoid the same mistake in the future,am i missing something

Not to glorify a Vic N. style of trading, but fortune favors the bold, and like any war, one must know when to be bold. Trades come on two flavors, trending and mean reverting. A trending market is one where the leg of price and time does not return to it's mean, on the challenge of the next high is the time to be bold.

And again, in spot, there is no blowing up. I read somewhere that Richard Dennis could not manage OPM because of the equity swings the turtle method produces.

A timid trader cannot win big because they worry about mean reversion during a trending phase when they should be backing up the truck.

 

[dc101]

I watched the video and didn't notice PTJ mention Gann at all. Segment talking about the crash of 1929 was just simple statistical correlation between that period and the present - not Gann. I also found some other PTJ interviews' transcripts online, no Gann again. Am I missing something?

 

[Gabfly1]

Quote from dc101:

I watched the video and didn't notice PTJ mention Gann at all. Segment talking about the crash of 1929 was just simple statistical correlation between that period and the present - not Gann. I also found some other PTJ interviews' transcripts online, no Gann again. Am I missing something?

I do believe you have a point. Upon reflection, I do not specifically recall any mention of Gann in the video, which I had not seen for some time. However, I do recall reference to Elliot. And, in fact, it was RCG Trader who made the Gann attribution to the video early on in this thread. I simply accepted his comment at face, assuming he had seen it more recently and had better recall, and because I automatically associate Elliot, Gann and Fibonacci numbers (as they relate to trading) as coming from the same chamber pot. After that, a couple of other posters repeated the Gann reference.

And so, until someone proves otherwise, by going through the video and noting the time of the alleged Gann reference, I do believe you have set us straight.