The Complete TurtleTrader
Page 27
[Jim] Massey … was John Gutfreund’s (the then CEO) hatchet man, an American corporate Odd Job. It didn’t require a triple jump of the imagination to picture him decapitating insolent trainees with a razor-edged bowler hat. He had what some people might consider an image problem: he never smiled … Trainees feared Massey. He seemed to prefer it that way.”1
At lunch, Massey did not say a word. After a half hour the conversation was speeding downhill. Astute enough to see my sink-or swim-predicament, I said: “Have I said anything so far that makes you think I am full of shit?”
That got his attention. “Yes, you said you wanted to be the best. You don’t want to be the best; you just want to win.” Massey, like any good coach, was offering the reminder that winners play harder than anyone else.
As fate would have it, I didn’t get hired at Salomon Brothers, but right after meeting Massey, the word ‘Turtle’ crossed my desk for the first time. Shortly thereafter, in 1996, long before YouTube.com, Google, and millions of blogs, I was there at the start of TurtleTrader .com—a controversial website designed to teach trend following and Turtle trading. It ended up becoming one of the most popular financial websites in the world and was ultimately the start of this book.
One of my goals has always been to make people think twice. That attitude has made me a target, but I was a baseball catcher so I am used to taking the shots. I often face intense reactions because I represent the other side that’s never considered. Ten years of digging and reporting have produced my fair share of critics, some legit, some off the wall. I am a messenger and people love to shoot messengers.
At the end of the day, this was not the career direction I’d originally planned as a freshly minted graduate. However, sitting at the nexus of access and insight from some of the best trading minds on the planet has become my singular passion—for now.
For more information: www.turtletrader.com and www.michael covel.com.
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PRAISE FOR The Complete TurtleTrader
* * *
“Regarding your new book [The Complete Turtle Trader], I can say that after hearing the turtle story many times from many of the people that are part of the story and after reading many articles about such story, this is by far the most entertaining, inspiring, extensive, and honest story of the turtles I have ever read.”
— Dr. Francisco J. Vaca Vaca Capital Management LLC Turtle Paul Rabar is a principal with Vaca Capital Management LLC
“The Complete Turtle Trader, Michael Covel’s engaging and well-written account of the Turtles, covers not only the experiment, but a second generation of Turtles who were inspired by the Dennis/Eckhardt vision. One of the most interesting segments of the book covers Salem Abraham, who by chance met one of the original Turtles, took a 180 degree life turn, and began his own highly successful fund. It’s a powerful illustration that, though markets have changed since the 1980s, the dynamics of success have not. Covel’s book reads more like a piece of financial journalism than I expected, and I mean that as a compliment. It is this well-rounded perspective that makes The Complete TurtleTrader complete and a definitive contribution to the trading literature. He has clearly researched his topic and sources his quotes. He also casts a critical eye on his subjects, investigating why some Turtles found long-term success and why others didn’t. A very enlightening portion of the book concerns Richard Dennis himself, the ending of the Turtle experiment, and the master’s departure from his own trading rules and principles.”
— Brett Steenbarger, Author
“I did enjoy the book…I hope it’s doing well for you.”
— Tom Shanks
“The book was wonderful…”
— Michael Shannon
“Liked it. Congratulations on a job well done.”
—Jeff Gordon
“Book is very good…thank you for going for the truth and objectivity.”
— Lucy Wyatt Mattinen
“Nice book.”
— Russell Sands
“All in all, not bad. I wish it had never been done and I wish I were not in it, but I know that you were definitely going to do it, so I figured I would try to get the truth out as much as possible. By and large, it worked that way.”
—Jim DiMaria
Copyright
Turtle Trader® and the turtle shell logo are registered trademarks of Marylebone Holdings, Ltd. Used with permission.
THE COMPLETE TURTLE TRADER. Copyright © 2007 by Michael W. Covel.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST COLLINS TRADE PAPERBACK EDITION PUBLISHED IN 2008.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Covel, Michael.
The complete turtletrader: the legend, the lessons, the results / Michael Covel.— 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-06-124171-0
1. Dennis, Richard (Richard J.), 1949- 2. Commodity trading advisors—United States. 3. Commodity exchanges — United States 4. Speculation—United States 5. Investment analysis—United States. I. Title.
HG6046.5.C68 2007
332.64’40973-dc22
2007023860
09 10 11 12 13 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
EPub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2010 ISBN: 978-0-061-74061-9
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