Market wizards

What Hacker News says

1. sjbzbeiksSep 2026
   yeah I mean it just depends on time horizons, if you bought at 117k you are hurting now if you need the money ASAP.

   Also, I gotta say I do not think Bitcoin is a bubble or whatever (IMO a real value there), but really this sort of site makes it seem like it is a bubble with the sort of "blind to history" boosterism.

   Go read Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, or Market Wizards series, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, or any number of books about financial history and there are endless people saying 'it will never die and all the doubters are just wrong' before any big market crash.

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2. romesmokeAug 2025
   This summer I got my PhD in computer engineering. I have saved enough money to survive the next 6 months unemployed. I want to invest that time in serious preparation to become an algorithmic trader. If I manage to make consistent money, I'll stick. Else I'll apply to hedge funds/prop shops.

   Current reading list arranged by topic below. Any further suggestions/advice? Thanks!

   Culture: The Man Who Beat the Market, A Man for All Markets, Market Wizards, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

   Finance basics: CFA Prerequisites, Trading & Exchanges (Larry Harris), Wilmott, Hull

   Mathematics: Chris Bishop's books (ML/DL/probability), E. T. Jayne's book, David Mackay's Information theory book, Shreve's Stochastic Calculus books

   Algo trading: Robert Carver, Ernest Chan

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3. frogpersonSep 2024
   If you like stories like this about outsized successes of investors, checkout the Market Wizards books. They are a series of interviews with successful and often famous investors.
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4. cik2eDec 2021
   Trading is not investing, which this guy completely does not understand. He says that he still doesn't believe in diversification and that it's not the answer. The answer to what? If we're talking about building a long-term portfolio, it's the best answer we've come up with to-date. On the other hand, almost by definition, you don't diversify in trading. Yes, you can have a variety of open positions but each one is an individual bet and must be viewed as such. Selling off a diversified portfolio is not recommended in a market downturn but sticking to a bad trade is a recipe for disaster. The crucial lesson here is setting a stop-loss for every trade and abiding by it no matter what.

   Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders by Jack Schwager, considered a classic, focuses on the psychology of trading. At the end of the book, the author reflects on the one thing that all of his subjects had in common. Every one of them experienced a massive loss, sometimes several, early in their careers. And every one of them came back with the discipline to cut future losses at predetermined thresholds.

   From personal experience, it's also crucial to lock in profits. You need to set a reasonable sell-down schedule that won't leave you with the urge to claw your face apart if you miss the chance to sell. I recall reading that missed opportunities tend to haunt traders much more than losses. This was certainly true for me and part of the reason why I decided to get out of trading altogether. I ended up with a tidy profit but it still hurts to think about the life-changing amount that I missed out on. If I had followed a system and banked half or two thirds of the life-changing amount, I am pretty sure I would have had no regrets. That's because I never got hung up on taking an acceptable loss on a position that would have eventually turned a profit. Just like in poker, it's easy to absolve yourself of blame, when you are following a good strategy.

   But at the end of the day, one has to understand that trading is gambling. And you don't gamble with more than you can stand to lose. I've learned that gambling is not for me and so I no longer trade.

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5. hourislateFeb 2021
   I believe "Market Wizards - Jack D. Schwager" highlights this. When speaking with some of the best and most successful traders in the markets, he found that the one common thing between them was "Game Perspective". They understood human emotion and had this desire to be the best at the game. The money/wealth was not the focus but the reward. If I remember correctly (read the book a couple of decades ago), most did not even have much of a Financial background if any.

   I recently read a blog post by Martin Shkreli who wrote that he was really bad at trading and doesn't participate. It takes very unique individual to be successful at trading and he is not one of them. He used the analogy where you can think of trading like a professional sport. Could you get into the Octagon with a UFC Fighter and expect to win because that is what you're doing when you try to trade.

   My take away is if a person like Shkreli doesn't stand a chance, then how would I....

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6. srich36Mar 2020
   Market Wizards by Jack Schwager
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