What are the largest fortunes ever made by INDEPENDENT traders?

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The Israelis could not invade Iran, they simply do not have the number to do so.If that happened the Iranians would flood Israel with martyrs/suicide bombers etc.There are apparently upto 1 million muslims who are prepared to die as martys to beat the Zionists, if that situation were to arise according to some Intelligence agencys.
 
Quote from FrankSlaughtery:


re hobbies, a lot of traders only want to trade/read about trading/think about how to improve and don't have any other hobbies and that's one of the reasons they're so successful. if he (the guy who benefited from the fat finger) was out doing a hobby he might have missed that opportunity. [/B]

Do you think there is a fine line between giving your everything to a chosen profession/skill and addiction?
 
Quote from sculptor66:

Richard Dennis reached about 200 million USD in his personal account. Later he went on to manage OPM, as far as I know - with mixed success.

Where did you read it was his personal account ? I read he ended up with that , with his money management business. I don't think you can get there with trend following on a personal account. Trend following just doesn't provide the returns needed for that.
 
A good number of rags to riches guys had some pretty good rags to build on. it is easy to trade a $50,000 account with balls (I'm not saying it is easy to win just that it is easy to press your bets) if you have serious equity outside the account. It is tougher if you have only that fifty and not much else.

Quote from Bear Trader:

the biggest flaw in many of these tales is that - these guys who are said to have started with small amounts really had more equity than they are letting out.

I know a good number of people who started trading with around $50k but had over $2m in the bank. These guys could leverage big risk looking for the one big moves. And some did well.

The heroic story sounds better when they make out the started with only a small amount. It's all spin.
 
Quote from Swan Noir:

A good number of rags to riches guys had some pretty good rags to build on. it is easy to trade a $50,000 account with balls (I'm not saying it is easy to win just that it is easy to press your bets) if you have serious equity outside the account. It is tougher if you have only that fifty and not much else.

Agreed. Many on a site like this look to the guys who took $10k and turned it into $20mm, and they assume that said super-trader only had $10k to their name, like may be the case for the aspiring trader.

Assumptions like that are dangerous because the "super-trader" very well could have had a paid for house and 6 years living expenses in another account, which is totally separate from the $10k that they turned into a fortune.
 
Quote from clacy:

Agreed. Many on a site like this look to the guys who took $10k and turned it into $20mm, and they assume that said super-trader only had $10k to their name, like may be the case for the aspiring trader.

Assumptions like that are dangerous because the "super-trader" very well could have had a paid for house and 6 years living expenses in another account, which is totally separate from the $10k that they turned into a fortune.

Worse, they see that 1 guy who made 20MM and forget the 3,000 who lost their 10k
 
Quote from newwurldmn:

Worse, they see that 1 guy who made 20MM and forget the 3,000 who lost their 10k

Oh come on! I'm going to turn a few thousand into 80 million in two years, just as Bwollinsky is promising. 2 years! I guarantee I'll have 80 million starting with only $2000. :D :D
 
They also forget that just because you saw Mays and Mantle play center field (I did) and they made it look easy ... that it ain't easy for almost anyone else. I think it helps to know that the possibility is there; futures in particular provide more leverage than anyone can actually use and as you grow you can scale pretty quickly but just because it is possible it is insane to discount what it takes to get to medium numbers never mind big numbers.

Quote from newwurldmn:

Worse, they see that 1 guy who made 20MM and forget the 3,000 who lost their 10k
 
Quote from newwurldmn:

Worse, they see that 1 guy who made 20MM and forget the 3,000 who lost their 10k

This thread and many others are problematic that way, there is a guy on another thread getting all hot and bothered because someone made x return in x time. I use the example of John Paulson who made one of the largest returns ever in terms of absolute dollars. Had a terrible year last year. Everyone is like he's gots billions, drawdown is painful whether its 2 k or 2 billion. Most people want all the reward without the risk or hard work.
Like someone else said if 10 million people trade with 10 k then a few of them are bound to make it. No one except yourself will solve the riddle if you are lucky or skilled, risk management will keep you from blowing out, the boring truth!
 
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