This book is comprised of a series of edited interviews with George Soros, and is broken up into 3 parts. The first part is about his investing. He talks about his family history, investment philosophies and theories, his early times as an analyst on Wall Street, and the Quantum Fund. He talk about how his theories were related to some of his real trades, specifically the Japanese stock market, the Mexican market, and the British Pound.
The second section deals with his views on (and participation in) politics. He talks about philanthropy, the geopolitics of Europe, diplomacy, and open societies. The third section of the book deals with philosophy and talks about some of his personal writings.
This book was fun for me to read since it was about hedge funds back when hedge funds were pure – before they were contaminated by Wall Street. Since this book is about Soros the person, and not Soros the investor, a significant portion of the book is devoted to politics and philosophy, and not investing. Although these topics are not out of place, most people will be less interested in this stuff since they are more interested in his investments.
Since Soros talks about his theories (specifically his theory of reflexivity), this book could be considered a more philosophical version of Alchemy of Finance. Hence, this book will appeal to traders/investors looking to ponder their personal investing philosophies. Although Soros tries too hard at times to make every statement sound profound, the timeless philosophical topics he brings up lends the book substantial (as well as lasting) value. This is due to the fact that a majority of traders will always lose money. When novice traders are unable to achieve success, it is best for them to step back and ask fundamental questions, like “why do I trade?”. But most don’t do this, and this book can help with that.
Consequently, the most important lesson that can be extracted from Soros’s market philosophies is that it is important to HAVE market philosophies. When I wrote my “How to Become a Trader” checklist, I said that one of the first things you should do is to write down your philosophies about the markets. This catches some prospective traders off guard since it is something that they’ve never thought about.
1. All successful traders use methods that suit their
personality; You are neither Waren Buffett nor George Soros nor Jesse Livermore; Don’t assume you can trade like them.
2. What the market does is beyond your control; Your reaction to the market, however, is not beyond your control. Indeed, its the ONLY thing you can control.
3. To be a winner, you have to be willing to
take a loss;
4. HOPE is not a word in the winning Trader’s vocabulary;
5. When you are on a
losing streak — and you will eventually find yourself on one — reduce your position size;
6. Don’t underestimate the time it
takes to succeed as a trader — it takes 10 years to become very good at anything;
7. Trading is a vocation — not a
hobby
8. Have a business/trading plan;
9. Identify your greatest weakness, Be honest — and DEAL with it (more…)
1. All successful traders use methods that suit their
personality; You are neither Waren Buffett nor George Soros nor Jesse Livermore; Don’t assume you can trade like them.
2. What the market does is beyond your control; Your reaction to the market, however, is not beyond your control. Indeed, its the ONLY thing you can control.
3. To be a winner, you have to be willing to
take a loss;
(The Stop-Loss Breakdown)
4. HOPE is not a word in the winning Trader’s vocabulary;
5. When you are on a
losing streak — and you will eventually find yourself on one — reduce your position size;
6. Don’t underestimate the time it
takes to succeed as a trader — it takes 10 years to become very good at anything; (There Are No Shortcuts)
7. Trading is a vocation — not a
hobby
8. Have a business/trading plan;
(Write This Down)
9. Identify your greatest weakness, Be honest — and DEAL with it (more…)
Soros: “The Myth”
Soros’ “The Alchemy of Finance” is a seminal investment book… it should be read, underlined, and thought out page-by-page, concept-by-idea. He’s the best pure investor ever… probably the finest analyst of the world in our time.”
-Barton Biggs
Soros: “The Reality”
“My father will sit down and give you theories to explain why he does this or that. But I remember seeing it as a kid and thinking, Jesus Christ, at least half of this is B.S., I mean, you know the reason he changes his position in the market or whatever is because his back starts killing him. It has nothing to do with reason. He literally goes into a spasm, and it’s his early warning sign.”
-George Soros’ son, Robert
George Soros on Himself
“My approach works not by making valid predictions but by allowing me to correct false ones.”
-George Soros
Soros and Exits
“When George is wrong, he gets the hell out. He doesn’t say, ‘I’m right, they’re wrong.’ He says, ‘I’m wrong,’ and he gets out, because if you have a bad position on, it eats you away. All you do is think about it — at night, at your home. It consumes you. Your eye is off the ball completely. This is a tough business. If it were easy, meter maids would be doing it.”
– Alan Raphael (Ex-Soros CIO)
I used to do a lot of philosophical speculation as a young man. I wasted a large part of my youth regurgitating certain ideas. Then I discovered that one can learn a great deal more through action than through contemplation. So I became an active thinker where my thinking played an important role in deciding what actions to take and my actions play an important role in improving my thinking. This two-way interaction between thinking and action became the hallmark of my philosophy and the hallmark of my life. – George Soros
Soros: “The Myth”
Soros’ “The Alchemy of Finance” is a seminal investment book… it should be read, underlined, and thought out page-by-page, concept-by-idea. He’s the best pure investor ever… probably the finest analyst of the world in our time.”
-Barton Biggs
Soros: “The Reality”
“My father will sit down and give you theories to explain why he does this or that. But I remember seeing it as a kid and thinking, Jesus Christ, at least half of this is B.S., I mean, you know the reason he changes his position in the market or whatever is because his back starts killing him. It has nothing to do with reason. He literally goes into a spasm, and it’s his early warning sign.”
-George Soros’ son, Robert
George Soros on Himself
“My approach works not by making valid predictions but by allowing me to correct false ones.”
-George Soros
Soros and Exits
“When George is wrong, he gets the hell out. He doesn’t say, ‘I’m right, they’re wrong.’ He says, ‘I’m wrong,’ and he gets out, because if you have a bad position on, it eats you away. All you do is think about it — at night, at your home. It consumes you. Your eye is off the ball completely. This is a tough business. If it were easy, meter maids would be doing it.”
– Alan Raphael (Ex-Soros CIO)
“I’m only rich because I know when I’m wrong…I basically have survived by recognizing my mistakes.”
Understanding that he was not always right enabled him to cut losses short and position size right.
“My approach works not by making valid predictions but by allowing me to correct false ones.”
Soros’ is flexible in his trades, he changes his mind and reverses positions when needed. He does not marry his trades.
“It’s not whether you’re right or wrong that’s important, but how much money you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong.”
George Soros knows that the key to profitability for him is more about big wins and small losses than his winning percentage.
“The markets are always on the side of exuberance or fear. It’s fear and greed. Right now greed has the better of it, which is rather nice (for investors) as long as it doesn’t get out of hand,”
Market trends are caused more by the extremes of investors emotions than fundamental reasons. (more…)
Soros’ prowess in the markets is legendary, so much so that deconstructing his process in order to learn the secret to his success has become a cottage industry in financial circles. In the world of “Market Wizards,” Soros is Saruman. Tolkien baby…look it up.
However, in the Times’ article, his son Robert demystified the source of the Elder Soros’ alchemy in such a simple and definitive way that it may drive market historians to acts of self-immolation.
Apparently It all comes down to a pain. In the back to be specific.
According to his son, Robert, Soros’s trading was always influenced by more than reflexivity. “My father will sit down and give you theories to explain why he does this or that”, he once said, “but I remember seeing it as a kid and thinking, ‘Jesus Christ, at least half of this is bullshit’.
“I mean, you know [that] the reason he changes his position on the market or whatever is because his back starts killing him. It has nothing to do with reason. He literally goes into a spasm and it’s this early warning sign.”
Soros has admitted to relying greatly on “animal instincts”, saying the onset of acute pain was often “a signal that there was something wrong in my portfolio”.
His decisions, then, “are really made using a combination of theory and instinct”.
That’s right. Though you and I did our damnedest to read between the lines and glean some sort of insight from The Alchemy of Finance in the 80′s and again with Soros on Soros in the 90′s, it was all for naught. Now we know the true source of this modern-day Tim The Enchanter’s genius. Monty Python baby…..look it up.
This revelation might tempt some of you to adopt the same market style as Mr. Soros, a view I wholeheartedly endorse, as long as the profile fits. It’s easy to see if a spasm based methodology is right for you by answering a few simple questions.
