I don't have any idols, but I do feel I owe a massive intellecutual debt to a lot of the greats.
There are clearly many brilliant traders out there, but few have chosen to make their thoughts public. So I don't think attempts to rank traders are meaningful because those "lists of greats" are heavily biased towards those who have decided to make themselves known.
Anyway, here is my list of indebtedness:
Jim Rogers and Marc Faber - for teaching me to appreciate taking up truly unpopular contrarian views of the world. I've learnt a lot from their brand of global macro and developed a deep respect for the study of financial and economic history.
Warren Buffett - for teaching me how to think about businesses and industries. Forget all those books about him, just go straight to the source. His shareholder letters are masterclass lectures in business. One takeaway that many people overlook from Buffett I feel is the importance of understanding corporate accounting.
Victor Niederhoffer - anyone with an interest in statistical prediction owes him a mountain of debt. He pioneered his work back in the mid 1960s when the Chicago Efficent Markets school was in ascendancy. He kept pushing in the other direction when EMH was at it's peak in the 1970s. In addition, his willingness to fight back in his 60s after a spectacular blow up is one of the most incredible comebacks. He is a real Brooklyn fighter with a backbone of steel.
Jack Schwager - Jack's contribution is really his MW series of books, which is a real gift to all traders. It's a broad survey of styles, tricks and traps and methods. It really drove home to me how complex the market ecosystem is, that there are many angles at which smart people are attacking the market. Drobny's book is a more than worthy successor to the MW series.
Various autobiographies - Baruch, Levy, Livermore, Schwartz, Clews. While I learnt bits and pieces from each, the most important thing I learnt from reading these personal accounts over time is that there is truly nothing new under the sun. Markets are as old as the hills and the tricks, traps and machinations change form, but the essence stays the same in most cases. This is why I feel studying economic and financial history is important.
There are clearly many brilliant traders out there, but few have chosen to make their thoughts public. So I don't think attempts to rank traders are meaningful because those "lists of greats" are heavily biased towards those who have decided to make themselves known.
Anyway, here is my list of indebtedness:
Jim Rogers and Marc Faber - for teaching me to appreciate taking up truly unpopular contrarian views of the world. I've learnt a lot from their brand of global macro and developed a deep respect for the study of financial and economic history.
Warren Buffett - for teaching me how to think about businesses and industries. Forget all those books about him, just go straight to the source. His shareholder letters are masterclass lectures in business. One takeaway that many people overlook from Buffett I feel is the importance of understanding corporate accounting.
Victor Niederhoffer - anyone with an interest in statistical prediction owes him a mountain of debt. He pioneered his work back in the mid 1960s when the Chicago Efficent Markets school was in ascendancy. He kept pushing in the other direction when EMH was at it's peak in the 1970s. In addition, his willingness to fight back in his 60s after a spectacular blow up is one of the most incredible comebacks. He is a real Brooklyn fighter with a backbone of steel.
Jack Schwager - Jack's contribution is really his MW series of books, which is a real gift to all traders. It's a broad survey of styles, tricks and traps and methods. It really drove home to me how complex the market ecosystem is, that there are many angles at which smart people are attacking the market. Drobny's book is a more than worthy successor to the MW series.
Various autobiographies - Baruch, Levy, Livermore, Schwartz, Clews. While I learnt bits and pieces from each, the most important thing I learnt from reading these personal accounts over time is that there is truly nothing new under the sun. Markets are as old as the hills and the tricks, traps and machinations change form, but the essence stays the same in most cases. This is why I feel studying economic and financial history is important.