I am new to this site. I am a former Mortgage and Derivatives Trader on Wall Street. I am one of the few ex Wall Streeter’s who has experienced a crisis of conscience. I am an empirical skeptic who is cynical by nature but I have only recently started to sit down and try to figure out why people act stupidly and irrationally. Naseem Taleb, author of the Black Swan & Fooled By Randomness is one of my favorite authors and I truly believe that after all of my years trading it all comes down to random luck not any type of skill.
Do you think there are any types of traders who are closer to the mark? It’s been a while since I read Black Swan, but I seem to recall Taleb was a “quant,” and that he made a good deal of money thereby (NB: I have near zero knowledge of finance of any sort).
I am new to this site. I am a former Mortgage and Derivatives Trader on Wall Street. I am one of the few ex Wall Streeter’s who has experienced a crisis of conscience. I am an empirical skeptic who is cynical by nature but I have only recently started to sit down and try to figure out why people act stupidly and irrationally. Naseem Taleb, author of the Black Swan & Fooled By Randomness is one of my favorite authors and I truly believe that after all of my years trading it all comes down to random luck not any type of skill.
Welcome, great intro!
Do you think there are any types of traders who are closer to the mark? It’s been a while since I read Black Swan, but I seem to recall Taleb was a “quant,” and that he made a good deal of money thereby (NB: I have near zero knowledge of finance of any sort).
jaymani,
Have you seen:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/creditcards/ ?
Luck may be a small part, but I think cognition is the better part.
Sorry, if this is to bold, I’m new at this as well.