Author: James
Don’t wait until you are making a lot of money trading before you start living your dream life. Putting your life on hold until you make it as a trader is a trap you really want to avoid. Why, as a trader, you shouldn’t put your life on hold. Here are 3 reasons: 1. Putting your life on hold means you have invested your future happiness in your trading ability. So, every loss, every draw down, every bad decision, will hurt a lot more, because it will feel like you are not going to get to that place of future…
Boomerang was written by Michael Lewis, an American author and financial journalist. The original full title of the book was Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World, and it was written in 2011. What is Boomerang about? Boomerang is a non-fiction book which examines the effects of the global financial crisis of 2008 on several countries, including Iceland, Greece, and Ireland. Michael Lewis travelled to these countries and interviewed bankers, politicians, and other key players to get a clear insight into the causes and longer-term repercussions of the crisis. The book argues that the crisis was caused by a combination…
Flash Boys was written by Michael Lewis, an American author and financial journalist. The original full title of the book was Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt, and it was written in 2014. What is Flash Boys about? Flash Boys is a non-fiction book by Michael Lewis, published in 2014. The book investigates the phenomenon of high frequency trading (HFT) in the US financial markets, and explores the various impacts HFT has on the integrity of these markets. The book follows several individuals, including former Royal Bank of Canada trader, Brad Katsuyama. The book argues that HFT allows traders…
Michael Lewis is an American author and financial journalist, famous for books such as Moneyball and The Big Short. Who is he and what books has he written about trading? What is Michael Lewis’ background? Born in New Orleans on 15 October 1960, Michael Lewis went to Princeton University to study art history, and later gained a Master’s at the London School of Economics (LSE). From there he moved to the investment bank Salomon Brothers, where is worked as a bond salesman. It is here that he gained first-hand knowledge of the financial industry, the subject of some of his…
Liar’s Poker was written by Michael Lewis, an American author and financial journalist. The original full title of the book was Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street, and it was written in 1989. What is Liar’s Poker about? Liar’s Poker is an unflattering portrayal of Wall Street traders and salesmen in the 1980s. It is an insider’s view of the world of investment banking, and is a memoir of Michael Lewis’ time working as a bond salesman for Salomon Brothers in the 1980s. In the book, Michael Lewis critiques the culture of greed and excess that characterised…
The Big Short was written by Michael Lewis, an American author and financial journalist. The full title of the book is The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine and it was written in 2010. What is The Big Short about? The premise of The Big Short is a description of the build-up to the US housing bubble of the 2000s. Michael Lewis provides an in-depth account of the activities of the individuals who predicted it and ultimately made a lot of money betting that it would happen. These were based on real people, some of whom are fictionalised in the…
You’ve got into trading, you’ve got to grips with the ins and outs of placing a trade, you’ve got a handle on risk management, and you’ve made a trading plan that ticks all the boxes. You’ve read that trading psychology may be more important than all those things when it comes to making a success out of trading, but where to start? What is trading psychology? Trading psychology is essentially the idea that you are the most important piece of the successful trading puzzle. You can have all the other factors sorted, but if you are not looking after what…
Anyone who’s been interested in trading for long enough will have hear the term ‘fat finger’ trading, but what does it actually mean? And what are the most famous examples of fat finger trading mistakes? Fat finger’ trading is a term used in the financial industry to describe a situation where a trader accidentally enters the wrong trade, order, or trade size, due to a typing error or other unforced mistake. This can result in unintended consequences, such as large losses, or missing out on a profitable trade. The term ‘fat finger’ refers to the idea that the trader’s fingers…
The film Rogue Trader stars Ewan McGregor as Nick Leeson and Anna Friel as his wife Lisa, and it was directed by James Dearden. The film was based on Leeson’s book, Rogue Trader: How I Brought Down Barings Bank and Shook the Financial World, which was published in 1996. The film was released three years later. Is Rogue Trader Based on a Real Person? Yes, the 1999 film Rogue Trader is based on Nick Leeson, a real person. The film dramatises Nick Leeson’s fraudulent activities that led to the collapse of Barings Bank, and is based on Nick Leeson’s autobiography…
The Euro is now used by 19 countries throughout Europe, but what currencies did they use before? Timeline for the adoption of the Euro The European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is also known more casually as the eurozone, and consists of the 19 EU countries that have adopted the Euro as their currency. This club started with 11 countries in 1999, followed by Greece in 2001, Slovenia in 2007, Malta and Cyprus in 2008, Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011, Latvia in 2014 and Lithuania in 2015. From 1999 to 2002, the Euro was only used for cashless transactions.…