About book The New Market Wizards: Conversations With America's Top Traders (1994)
I wish someone would do a series of interviews with a bunch of failures.I found these interviews enjoyable, and there were several good tips and lessons that came through. But lets face it, these people for the most part are trading huge lot sizes, lots so big that they will move the market with their trades, and the types of things they take into account don't have all that much to do with the kinds of things that a small trader faces. Some things carry over, but very much does not. Also, the book is kind of dated, and many if not most of these traders started trading in the pits. My guess is that trading in the pits is a very, very different activity than sitting alone in a study and staring at a computer screen.Here are two common threads that I find very interesting. First, almost every trader seems to agree that psychology is more important than the trading system a person uses. The important things are stuff like confidence in your system, discipline to trade it properly, not second guessing yourself, resisting greed and fear, etc... That's all well and good. And yet, every trader in the book has had Schwager agree not to reveal proprietary stuff about the systems that they trade, and often they refuse to answer specific questions because it will reveal secrets about the systems they trade. Anyone else see the tension in these two positions? Back to my original thought. It's OK to interview a bunch of really successful people and then say what they all have in common. There's a whole aisle of business books that do exactly that, with dreadful names like "The Top 10 Secrets of Highly Successful People". Guess what -- they work hard; they take risks; they have self-confidence; and blah blah blah. But what about the failures? How many budding entrepreneurs shared all of the same "secrets", and yet did not make a go of it? Why isn't anyone interviewing the failures? It seems to me that their stories would be at least as interesting and probably more educational. And if you could find a common thread in why people fuck up (other than that bad shit just happens to lots of people), that would be information that was really worth having.
Pretty good, but the book was mixed. Honestly there are a lot of styles that don't mesh well with mine, and a lot of interviews that probably confused me more than helped me.The clear standout is the interview with Stanley Druckenmiller. The guy's brilliant, and it's so hard to find interviews with him that any insight into what he thinks is greatly appreciated. Really wish the whole book was just picking Druckenmiller's brain.One that I was not expecting, but was really good, was Vic Sperandeo. He really made an impression on me. I might check out Sperandeo's book after this; I like the way that guy thinks.
Do You like book The New Market Wizards: Conversations With America's Top Traders (1994)?
Eh. The book's alright. Guess it's really more for traders - but must say that the author has gone through a quite a few of those old traders. The book is from 1992 (20 frikkin years ago). Also says a lot about how trading and investing has evolved.The best part? Stanley Druckenmiller's interview - this was before he became such a big deal. Good insight into his way of thinking.Also, the book gives a good insight into the 1991-92 recession - amazing how people are always stuck in the present and colour the distant future with shades of the bleak or joyous present.
—Tirath
I have the 2006 version of Market Wizards and it is an EXCELLENT book. My intentions are to get all his Market Wizard books and read them.There are a lot of things I learned from the 2006 copyrighted version, so I look forward to reading his prior versions.I love the style in which Schwager interviews each top trader, psychologist. One can gain much insight from those who go before you and how they came about their success, but also more importantly, the pitfalls.Schwager does a good job summarizing the common trades of all top traders, which are the traits I have learned to develop.
—Doris
