For an assortment of reasons, there was no exact Turtle student number back when Dennis hired his crew. Even among Turtles it is debated today. My paperback version of “The Complete TurtleTrader” comes out in February and the subtitle has been changed to say 23 Turtles on the cover. That is the common number thrown around after all these years, but if I had my way I would have said “20+” instead of “23”. Call me anal or call me picky, but all aspiring writers should know that publishers often take steps that authors are not completely on board with! Oddly, the areas where publishers always get mucked up in are book titles and book cover design. Generally, they steer clear of what’s between the covers. I could definitely write a book on writing and publishing a book because some of the back story you could not make up.
Author: Michael Covel
Author of Trend Following and TurtleTrader.
Elizabeth Cheval on Correlation; Lessons from An Original Turtle
I had the opportunity to see this presentation from original Turtle Liz Cheval in person, but since most people were not there that day in Chicago I am sure her online presentation will prove just as educational.
Geetesh Bhardwaj: His Firm AIG Invests with CTAs
Trend following critic Geetesh Bhardwaj has provided interesting hypocrisy here (and for my new edition of “Trend Following”), but the email that came in below from a trend following CTA is a topper. As you read it keep in mind that Geetesh worked at AIG and has written a paper ripping trend following (while he worked at AIG):
Great stuff with Geetesh…Very entertaining reading. Here’s a bit of irony for you – we manage a significant amount of money for AIG and have done so for several years!
Not really a surprise.
How can you move forward immediately to Trend Following profits? My books and my Flagship Course and Systems are trusted options by clients in 70+ countries.
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Trend Following is for beginners, students and pros in all countries. This is not day trading 5-minute bars, prediction or analyzing fundamentals–it’s Trend Following.
Pardo Capital
Bob Pardo writes very good books on trading systems. He also trades as a trend follower. His annual compounded rate of return:
2003: +27.65%
2004: +4.84%
2005: -14.65%
2006: -15.13%
2007: +63.71%
2008: +114.62%
To those Madoff defenders on here who keep saying that no one could have known that 1% a month every month was a sign of trouble, take a look at Pardo. You don’t win every month and you don’t win every year. More from Pardo:
+19.08%; 11-2008
+114.62; YTD 2008
+937.41; Since Inception 06-1999
+27.92%; ARR Since Inception 06-1999
The Madoff Investor JEHT Foundation, created by Jeanne Levy-Church, Shocked to Lose their Endowment
From the New York Times today:
When Jeanne Levy-Church created the JEHT Foundation in 2002 to promote justice, equality, human dignity and tolerance, she tapped into investments run by Bernard L. Madoff. Those investments were initially made more than three decades ago by her father, Norman Levy, who entrusted his real estate fortune to Mr. Madoff. Financed solely by regular contributions from Ms. Levy-Church, the foundation gave away more than $75 million over the next few years. But on Monday, the young foundation announced that it would cease operations by the end of January – a victim of the same investments that made it a star in liberal philanthropic circles. “The returns had been steady and strong for all these years,” said Robert Crane, the foundation’s chief executive. “It was shocking.”
What was shocking? That the good thing that made no sense, the good thing that produced such easy money for so long, was finally exposed as a con? Think I am too harsh? Well, it is clear that some very wealthy people are currently all over the media with “I don’t know what happened” cries. It rings hollow.
Madoff Clients: Case Studies for Colleges Classes for Decades
From the AP today:
When local officials in Fairfield, Conn., heard of Madoff’s arrest “it set off every bell,” said Paul Hiller, the town’s chief fiscal officer. The town’s employees board and police and fire board — which cover 971 workers — had $41.9 million invested with Madoff, said Paul Hiller, Fairfield’s chief fiscal officer. Town officials immediately notified their investment fund to liquidate. “At that point, it was too late,” he said. “We obviously didn’t ask enough questions,” Hiller said.
Continuing:
New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, one of the wealthiest members of the Senate, entrusted his family’s charitable foundation to Madoff. Lautenberg’s attorney, Michael Griffinger, said they weren’t yet sure the extent of the foundation’s losses, but that the bulk of its investments had been handled by Madoff.
The bulk? Go figure. Easy come, easy go. Here is the full list of “innocents”…I mean suckers. Don’t like my harshness? Well, this is a gross episode that goes far beyond one man.
How can you move forward immediately to Trend Following profits? My books and my Flagship Course and Systems are trusted options by clients in 70+ countries.
Also jump in:
• Trend Following Podcast Guests
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Performance
• Research
• Markets to Trade
• Crisis Times
• Trading Technology
• About Us
Trend Following is for beginners, students and pros in all countries. This is not day trading 5-minute bars, prediction or analyzing fundamentals–it’s Trend Following.
Ramifications of Bernard Madoff Blowout
Consider a wire excerpt:
Now, the collateral damage is likely to add to the chaos that has already been ravaging hedge funds. Spooked by losses and forced to raise cash quickly as the financial crisis ballooned, investors have sought to pull out their money from hedge funds, causing serious pain, and even some forced closures. A growing list of large, well-known firms have sought to block redemption requests in an effort to stem a mass exodus of investors who now desperately want to get into cash. In a letter sent Friday, the Citadel Investment Group said it was halting redemptions at its two largest hedge funds through March 31. Confidence will only weaken further with the Madoff firm scandal, intensifying pain for the industry. “If you couple this with the deleveraging already, this means one thing: more redemptions,” said Campbell R. Harvey, a professor at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
So is this a bullish sign for U.S. stocks? Heavy sarcasm.