Author: James

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…

Matt Wage became a poster boy for the effective altruism movement after graduating from Princeton University in 2012, but what is he doing now? While at university, Wage started the Princeton chapter of the Giving What You Can organisation. He also helped his professor Peter Singer start The Life You Can Save, an organisation that researches which charities make the most impact per dollar donated. After winning the prize for best thesis in the philosophy department, he had the option to continue with his studies at postgraduate level at Oxford University but turned it down. Instead, he started working in…

Holding the top spot of Forbes’ list of highest-earning hedge fund managers and traders, Jim Simons is indeed a legendary trader. In 2005 he was added to Forbes’ Billionaires List and in 2022, he was ranked 48th on the Forbes’ list of American billionaires, with a net worth of $29 billion. How did Jim Simons get into trading? Jim Simons was born in 1938 in Brookline Massachusetts. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he studied mathematics, and received a bachelor’s degree in 1958. He then attended the University of California, Berkeley, earning a PhD in 1961. Jim…

Stock market bubbles have formed time and time again, but here are some interesting facts about the one considered the oldest. This well-known pattern of stock market bubbles has been repeated again and again over the last hundreds of years, and can be divided into 4 stages: 1. Stealth This is where the cautious money starts to invest. Future returns are not guaranteed and so this is a high-risk investment, usually by those with specialist knowledge and an insight into the market in question. The general population is unaware of the opportunity at this stage. As prices start to slowly…

Any fans of the 2015 film The Big Short will know the character of Michael Burry. But, is he based on a real person? Who is it? And what is he up to now? The Big Short, directed by Adam McKay, has a star-studded line-up including Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt. It is based on the non-fiction book written in 2010 by Michael Lewis, which describes the real estate market of the 2000s, in particular the financial crisis of 2007-2008. The film was released by Paramount Pictures in December 2015 to critical success, grossing $133 million…

Any fans of the 2015 film The Big Short will know the character of Jared Vennett. But, is he based on a real person? Who is it? And what is he up to now? The Big Short, directed by Adam McKay, has a star-studded line-up including Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt. It is based on the non-fiction book written in 2010 by Michael Lewis, which describes the real estate market of the 2000s, in particular the financial crisis of 2007-2008. The film was released by Paramount Pictures in December 2015 to critical success, grossing $133 million…

Any fans of the 2015 film The Big Short will know the character of Mark Baum. But, is he based on a real person? Who is it? And what is he up to now? The Big Short, directed by Adam McKay, has a star-studded line-up including Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt. It is based on the non-fiction book written in 2010 by Michael Lewis, which describes the real estate market of the 2000s, in particular the financial crisis of 2007-2008. The film was released by Paramount Pictures in December 2015 to critical success, grossing $133 million…

OK so I’ll admit it. Sometimes trading doesn’t go well for me. There are months where I am in a drawdown. Sometimes a big drawdown. Sometimes a stomach-churning, confidence-sapping, why-am-I-doing-this-again? drawdown. Even if I couldn’t see the negative P/L staring at me from the screen, I know I’m in drawdown because I can feel I’ve lost confidence in my strategy, I’m feeling negative and I find myself being more and more irritable with those around me. When this happens (and I’m pretty sure it’s going to keep happening from time to time), I know it’s time to activate the ‘How…

Trading has a tendency to become more and more complicated over time, with the vast array of strategies and techniques available. However, there is growing interest in the idea that trading can be simple, with an increased focus on straightforward methods that are easy to understand and implement. Proponents of simple trading argue that many traders overcomplicate their strategies, leading to confusion and poor decision-making. Instead, they suggest that traders should focus on a few key indicators (or even choose none at all) and use a more disciplined approach. By keeping things simple, traders can reduce the risk of emotional…