The Greatest Trades of All Time: Top Traders Making Big Profits from the Crash of 1929 to Today

Acknowledgments xiii

About the Author xv

Introduction xvii

Chapter 1 J. Kyle Bass: Timing is Everything 1

The Back Story 1

A Few Definitions 2

Bass Asks Why 4

Learning from the Past 6

Shorting Subprime Loans 7

The Best Position 8

The Effects of Abuse 11

Who Was Watching? 13

Re-creating Bass’s Trading Strategies 17

Bass’s Top Traits 17

Chapter 2 James Chanos: The Real King of Enron 21

Enter Enron 21

Really Looking at Enron 23

The Best Position 26

Recreating Chanos’s Trading Strategies 28

A More Recent Example 28

Chanos’s Top Traits 30

Chapter 3 Paul Tudor Jones II: Legendary Global Macro Trader 31

Following a Genius 31

The Path of Greatness 32

Starting Out 33

Knowing All the Markets 35

Global Macro Trading 36

Elliot Wave Theory 38

More Keys to Jones’s Success 40

Success beyond Trading 43

Recreating Jones’s Trading Strategies 43

Jones’s Top Traits 44

Chapter 4 John Templeton: Legendary Mutual Fund Manager 47

What Made Templeton Famous 47

Templeton’s Life before Investing 49

Educational Aspirations 50

The Married Life 52

Templeton’s Big Move 53

Back to New York 54

Looking to the Future, and the Templeton Growth Fund 55

Templeton’s Second Marriage and Fund 56

The Bahamas 57

Recreating Templeton’s Trading Strategies 58

Templeton’s Top Traits 59

Chapter 5 Jesse Livermore: Legendary Speculator 61

Livermore’s History 61

At Home in New York 63

Fame and Fortune 63

The Panic of 1907 64

The Crash of 1929 65

Livermore’s Tragic End 66

An Example of Livermore’s Influence Today 68

Recreating Livermore’s Trading Strategies 69

Livermore’s Top Traits 69

Chapter 6 John Paulson: The Greatest Trade of All Time 73

Paulson’s Early Career 73

Paulson & Co. 74

The Greatest Trade 74

Recreating Paulson’s Trading Strategies 79

Paulson’s Top Traits 81

Chapter 7 George Soros: From Humble Beginnings to World Trader 83

Soros’s Famous Trades 84

The Hardships of a Trading Genius 87

Going to School in London 88

Work in New York 90

Joining the Big Leagues 91

Finding Himself 93

Crashing from Success 95

A New Protégé 97

Onto the World Stage 98

The Backlash 100

A Conflicted Mind 101

A New Era 101

Recreating Soros’s Trading Strategies 102

Soros’s Top Traits 103

Chapter 8 David Einhorn: A Company’s Worst Nightmare 105

Allied is Not an Ally 105

Lucky Lehman 108

The Great Beyond 110

Recreating Einhorn’s Trading Strategies 111

Einhorn’s Top Traits 112

Chapter 9 Martin Schwartz: From Amateur to Superstar 115

Start Small, Go Big 115

Trading Like a Rock Star 117

Winding Down 118

Recreating Schwartz’s Trading Strategies 120

Schwartz’s Top Traits 121

Chapter 10 John Arnold: Master of Energy 123

Success at Enron 123

Centaurus Energy 124

The Explosion 126

Recreating Arnold’s Trading Strategies 127

Crude Oil 127

Natural Gas 128

Arnold’s Top Traits 130

Chapter 11 More Great Trades: Phillip Falcone, David Tepper, Andrew Hall, Greg Lippmann 131

Phillip Falcone 131

Recreating Falcone’s Trading Strategies 134

David Tepper 135

Recreating Tepper’s Trading Strategies 136

Andrew Hall 138

Recreating Hall’s Trading Strategies 139

Greg Lippmann 141

Recreating Lippmann’s Trading Strategies 143

In Summary 144

Notes 147

Glossary 149

References 151

Helpful Web Sites 157

Index 161