Attention Economy


Thursday, January 14, 2016

Was John Maynard Keynes a Lousy Currency Trader?

A fascinating piece in the NYT:
“Are there any lessons to be had from the trading records of a man who died 70 years ago? Just maybe. The first is the simplest: In financial markets, being brilliant isn’t enough. The best traders have to not only understand the fundamentals of the asset they are trading, but also have almost a sixth sense for how the timing and momentum within markets will evolve. You can lose a lot of money having the right idea at the wrong time. The second is that even skilled traders may need to be willing to incur major losses — which explains why hedge funds that face redemption requests from investors can face major problems even when their underlying investment thesis is right.”

Related:
John Maynard Keynes on Stock Markets and Liquidity:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/john-maynard-keynes-stock-market-past-week/
[Note: KEYNES was a pretty good stock market investor]