Who do you think is the all time best trader in the world?

SteveM said:
Methods (as discussed in his book 'Pit Bull'):
-caught the parabolic move in gold in the late 70s/80s, made a ton of money trading options on ASA (from his book).
-eventually migrated and traded the S&P 500 contract when it first came out, primarily scalping in and out during the day.
-said in a more recent interview that he moved to trading oil futures, in the late 2000s, and was now selling premium due to the size of his bankroll.
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I agree with you about Marty Schwartz but this kind of stuff is why their results are so disheartening.

Most of the "supertraders" made their money when money was literally being handed to anyone with a pulse - the options and futures market of 197x to ~198x. It's easy to stay a supertrader after you double your account over and over again in the easiest market to trade in the last 50 years.

I doubt we will see modern supertraders of the scale we have seen in the past. The markets are far more efficient than they were and its nearly impossible to achieve the scale of return these guys did because there aren't many "parabolic" moves anymore in highly leveraged instruments.

ensemble said:
Ed Thorp comes to mind.
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Ed Thorpe is exactly the same as Marty Schwartz. A pretty talented guy that found a MASSIVE edge in a super inefficient market and exploited the absolute shit out of it. We won't find any Ed Thorpes (nobodies who suddenly became someone by exploiting a non-trivial mathematical fault in pricing) anymore. He basically started the quant craze. Anyone capable of that is working for a hedge fund or BB.
 
Most of the trading crew at CRT, O'Connor, and Susquehanna. Clay Struvee from that group still trades. Jon Jacobson (Harvard and Highfield - now retired). Blair Hull - also retired.
Best tape reader Steve Cohan until tape reading became less valuable and yes he gets painted with insider trading, but his actual transgression was failure to supervise. Stan Finney in Dallas - also now gone. A couple of the guys who ran the book at Salomon Bros. equity side.
A lot of these guys when there was a decent tape and no bots.
 
gaussian said:
I agree with you about Marty Schwartz but this kind of stuff is why their results are so disheartening.

Most of the "supertraders" made their money when money was literally being handed to anyone with a pulse - the options and futures market of 197x to ~198x. It's easy to stay a supertrader after you double your account over and over again in the easiest market to trade in the last 50 years.

I doubt we will see modern supertraders of the scale we have seen in the past. The markets are far more efficient than they were and its nearly impossible to achieve the scale of return these guys did because there aren't many "parabolic" moves anymore in highly leveraged instruments.
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Guassian,

Sadly, I agree with you....making that type of money nowadays is probably only available during those brief days/weeks where markets are very panicky and the volatility explodes. Which means we've gotta milk it for all it's worth when those opportunities appear.
 
ETJ said:
Most of the trading crew at CRT, O'Connor, and Susquehanna. Clay Struvee from that group still trades. Jon Jacobson (Harvard and Highfield - now retired). Blair Hull - also retired.
Best tape reader Steve Cohan until tape reading became less valuable and yes he gets painted with insider trading, but his actual transgression was failure to supervise. Stan Finney in Dallas - also now gone. A couple of the guys who ran the book at Salomon Bros. equity side.
A lot of these guys when there was a decent tape and no bots.
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15 tick markets in straddles and 30 tick markets in Treasuries (CRT)? Capable... as in being there and handed the business.
 
SteveM said:
I'd say someone like Marty Schwartz
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What is really impressive about Marty Schwartz is his longevity & the way he has adapted. He made a fortune as a floor trader on the SP, in his 70's he reported his largest winning year by far trading options.

My favorite is Jim Rogers because he made his fortune while he was still somewhat young and left Wall Street to follow his passion - he toured Asia & Russia on his motorcycle, traveling to places few Americans have ever been - breaking several world records.

Making a a fortune is one thing - those that can switch gears and use it to live their dream are a different breed.
 
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The question is not answerable without a definition of best trader. Possibilities:

1. Most money in shortest time.
2. Biggest % in shortest time.
3. Longest carrier.
4. Long carrier, never blowing up with low DDs making excellent living.
5. One big trade that played off huge.
6. Recognizing an edge and trading the shit out of it. Stopping when edge is no more.
etc.etc.

It is possible we could name a different trader for each category.
 
Strange thinking.

If you want to be the best fighter, best dancer, best singer, best tennis player ...
you'd better know who is the
best fighter, best dancer, best singer, best tennis player ...

Best trader is unknown. because there are thousands of definitions of best trader.
Why do you want to be best trader in the world?
Why don't you want to achieve financial freedom through trading?

If traders are already earning tons of money, why would he share with you his formula, his way of trading, his methodology?
He might but that might be the watered down or censored version.
Or his way of trading wouldn't fit your personality, your belief
 
I have a few favorites and all of them could arguably be the best.

Ed Seykota (Helped a client turn 5k into 15million in 15 years, it was said the client regularly withdrew if not amount could have been higher)

Jesse Livermore (I know he went bust a few times and had problem controlling his emotions but anyone who could turn almost nothing to a billion adjusted for inflation has to be in consideration).

BNF and CIS (Both legendary Japanese traders. BNF turned 13k to 250mil in 8 years. CIS also has a pretty similar track record)
 
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