Timothy Sykes wrote, An American Hedge: his story from starting to trade, the rise of his fund, and fall of hist fund. These are my thoughts.
Thank-You Timothy Sykes. Thanks, for sharing your down-to-earth opportunistic & inspirational story as well as for giving me great insights into the mind of one trader.
In Tim’s book he reminded me, I am but one market participant, and every one of us plays by different rules. This was a great book, both for the witty written words he self published and also for what was written, between the lines. Reading Tim’s thoughts, learning from his experiences, and extrapolating/hypothesizing to what was really going on during his ups and downs yielded unexpected dividends for a young eccentric trader/investor like me.
With his book, Tim offered a fun glimpse into the mind of; a trader who has unknowingly mastered causality, and an entrepreneur who laughs in the face of the improbable.
Tim offers up his ‘tell-it-like-it-is’ and some ‘do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do’ advice, and illustrates through example why he believes discipline is the most important trait for a trader to possess. I do concur. But what I meant before, about reading between the lines, is that he illustrates (without explicitly writing about) the importance of understanding causality. It was great to read that Tim’s documented version of his thought process, more or less, show that the closer a trader adheres to the fickle whims of market causality, the closer the trader gets to unparalleled returns.
I was impressed to learn of Tim’s experiences, not only as a trader, but also as a social leverage wielding entrepreneur. He details the fun ride he had as a student who blatantly laughed in the face of the irrational games played on the capital markets, then immediately moved to exploit those same games by eventually taking on New York. He chronicles the rough, chicken and egg situation, new funds can find themselves in when raising capital. As a wannabe fund runner, I was glad to hear of all his reflections, even if our styles and viewpoint are often completely opposite, while at other times, identical.
It is with no surprise, that Tim writes a page turning story detailing his trades (both good and bad), his naivety, his cockiness, and his passionate inspiring stop-at-nothing drive towards different checkpoints. Any reader will undoubtedly also pick up a hint of heinz sight laden commentary, when it comes to his previous experience and of course lessons learned on the markets, networking, marketing, business management, and random stories. This was all, to be expected, and Tim delivered.
This wasn’t the type of book, I would typically read. But, I’m glad I did. I would recommend the book to anybody young, with at least a few years ‘on the street’ or anybody who is so obsessed with the capital markets and volatile trading stories they dream in dollar signs. The book is a must-read for anybody who may one day want to start their own fund. However, I am only speculating that his experiences will help anybody in the latter category. Any professional with more than 5 years in the business, will likely find Tim’s story, a light, amusing and even jaw-dropping read. Or, so I would guess.
Disclosure: Tim gave me a signed copy, and wanted to know what I thought. I was skeptical at first, that I would not learn anything. But, I’m glad I read it with an open mind.
Stay tuned for a review of Mohammed El-Erian’s, ‘When Markets Collide’.
If you would like your book reviewed, feel free to contact me.
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