The Education of a Speculator

I first read this book in 1998 and have returned to absorb its contents twice per year since then. It is a work of science and a tribute to an obviously admired and loved man, Mr. Niederhoffer's father. First the science - Dr. Niederhoffer provides ample avenues of exploration for the inquiring mind (some that lead to nowhere and some that have provided this reviewer with significant, statistically relvant opportunities). The book enumerates on a variety of studies....I encourage all readers to update Dr. Niederhoffers work with data up to the present day and apply it (perhaps with one's own bells and whistles attached), always taking note of - and quantifying the contents of Chapters 8 & 9. As to the parts of the book that deal with Artie Niederhoffer (Mr. Niederhoffer's father), well, they will mean different things to different people but hopefully we can all pass on to our own children just a small fraction of Artie's wisdom. A genuinely cathartic book for this humble speculator.

An autobiography of this big-time currency trader of Soros fame. His book is full of important trading lessons and amusing stories of his life, gambling at the race track, squash, and playing other games like chess. He got crushed on the wrong side of SPX futures the day before the big 500 point market crash. Lost all the money in his hedge-fund, but I'm sure he'll be back on top someday. It's pretty interesting though to see how much risk this trader took on.

This is one of my favourite books and I am astonished by so many negative comments. As in his trading career Niederhoffer always goes against the crowd. Anyone seeking "rules" for investment will not find them here but they might just learn why no such rules can exist. Drawing together strands from nature, sport, board games, gambling and the greatest game of all - life - Niederhoffer weaves a beautiful tapestry. This book is one of the most insightful and thought-provoking I have ever read and I constantly return to its wisdom. It's obviously not to everyone's taste but there is more knowledge here than in a shelf of get-rich-quick books.

This gem of a book is very honest and strips away the cherished beliefs of "systems" traders and outright gamblers. It candidly and powerfully proves that winning trades are based on intelligence and resilient, tough, competitive psychology. It is no accident that Victor is also a formidable athlete. The book is a rich tapestry, full of great one-liners about stock trends, such as "you can't catch a falling knife." Readers who can't find a "get rich quick" method here have precisely missed Victor's point! Fools will continue to be fools. The intelligent reader will be greatly enriched by Victor's unique perspective on the markets.

How Niederhoffer has managed to write an EXTREMELY entertaining, yet thought-provoking book on his life and times, while continuing to manage his trading business is beyond me. While the book isn't an instant step-by-step guide to getting rich in the markets, it does serve the author's stated intent of chronicling the experiences leading up to his successful career, exploring the relationships between music, games, science, sex, and other phenomena upon speculation, and presenting a way of thinking that may carry over into the reader's trading practices if they pay enough attention. I only hope everyone that reads the book does NOT pay enough attention