Author: James

Many people believe that you have to be some sort of mathematics genius to succeed as a trader. The truth is that while some maths skills are important, an advanced level of mathematical knowledge is not a requirement for success. As a Mathematics graduate, I threw all my mathematical weight into the ring when I started trading my own account. It made perfect sense, and I believed my maths background would be a huge advantage in my trading. I soon realised that there were a whole range of other skills that were more important. While maths skills can be helpful…

Margin Call is a 2011 film written and directed by J. C. Chandor. It stars Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany, Zachary Quinto, Simon Baker, Penn Badgley, Demi Moore, Mary McDonnel and Stanley Tucci. The film’s subject is the 2007-2008 financial crisis and it charts the pivotal 24 hours at the start of the crisis, detailing events at a large Wall Street investment bank. It has long been assumed that the investment bank at the heart of the film’s story is Lehman Brothers, or it is at least heavily based on Lehman Brothers. However, the film’s director has stated that…

Are you a calm trader or is your mind a swirl of emotions? Try this quiz to see what kind of trader you are. (It’s just a bit of fun so don’t take it too seriously!) 1. You go to the mountains for a week’s break and there’s no wifi. Do you…? A: Walk around with your phone in the air, trying to get a signal to check on your positions. B. Close all positions before going, no wifi is scary! C. Set your stops before going and just enjoy the break. 2. You get stopped out for a loss.…

Many of you will know of W. D. Gann. He was a very successful trader during his life, and developed a unique trading style, which bears his name. He was born in 1878, in Texas, and died in 1955. Gann’s books and educational resources are still used today, throughout the trading world, and he has a large following. But even if you don’t use his exact methods, it is still worth looking at his Golden Rules in more detail to see if as traders in 2022, we can learn anything about successful trading in today’s markets. So, without further ado,…

William O’Neil is a successful stock trader and the founder of Investor’s Business Daily. He is also the writer of several books on stock trading, including How to Make Money in Stocks and 24 Essential Lessons for Investment Success. William O’Neil was born in 1933. In 1958 he started work as a stockbroker at Hayden, Stone & Company, where he developed an investment strategy that made use of early computers. In 1960 he attended Harvard’s Program for Management Development and developed his now-famous CANSLIM strategy for picking stocks. William O’Neil © IBD/Glenn Larkin He bought a seat on the NYSE…

Born in 1942, Marty Zweig was a stock investor, investment adviser and financial analyst, who became famous in the 1980s for his no-nonsense approach to stock investing. Here we look at his life in more detail. Did Marty Zweig predict the 1987 stock market crash? The 1987 stock market crash took place on 19 October 1987. 3 days previously, on 16 October, Marty Zweig appeared on the PBS television show Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser, in which he said the stock market was heading for a crash. Marty Zweig © Getty Images Did Marty Zweig own the most expensive…

Jesse Livermore is arguably the most successful stock trader of all time, if not the most famous. Edwin Lefevre’s 1923 book, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, was based on Livermore, and he also wrote his own book, How to Trade In Stocks, shortly before his death in 1940. What can we learn from Jesse Livermore as traders in 2023? Although he traded in the early 1900s, so much of Livermore’s wisdom is applicable to trading the markets today. Here are our favourite Jess Livermore quotes: 1. “There is nothing new in Wall Street. There can’t be because speculation is as…

Throughout his career, statistical mathematician Nassim Nicholas Taleb has been an option trader, risk analyst and hedge fund manager. He has written a number of books, including Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan. Here are 12 of my favourite Nassim Nicholas Taleb quotes on trading, and quotes that could be applied to trading. One of the themes that comes up again and again in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s work is the idea that many decision-makers in the financial industry do not risk their own money. Individual traders, however, often do. “When I trade, I don’t have an agency problem; I…

Ray Dalio is well-known in the trading and investing worlds, and is currently 32nd on the Forbes 400 list and 71th on the Forbes Billionaires list. His net worth at time of writing, in 2022, is $19.1 billion. He founded the asset management firm Bridgewater Associates in 1975, which currently has $150 billion invested in its portfolio. He has given more than $1 billion to his philanthropic projects. Who is Ray Dalio and what can we learn from his long career in trading and investing? Ray Dalio ©REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Dalio was born in 1949, in New York City, and grew…

This is the speech Matt Wage gave at Princeton University: “My name is Matt and I’m a recent Princeton grad, I graduated in 2012. I actually took this class, and when I took this class there was no lecture on how to choose a career, so I even went into Professor Singer’s office and asked “hey do you have any thoughts on how to choose a career?” So I’m glad to see Will’s here, making it easier on future versions of me. When I took the class, the part that really blew my mind, was the part about GiveWell. GiveWell…