[.ca] The Education of a Speculator (ISBN 0471249483)

From Amazon.com:
What you typically hear about Victor Niederhoffer is that he trades for "the great Soros," that he doesn't wear shoes in his office, that the only newspaper he reads is the National Enquirer, and that a picture of the Titanic hangs in his office. That's all true. But it's the logic behind the eccentricities that is the real story. The Education of a Speculator is a sojourn inside the one-of-a-kind mind of Victor Niederhoffer, a trader in commodities and a keen observer of life. He has trained himself to look at the world in a singular fashion: where the guy on the street sees opportunity, Niederhoffer has scoped out all the downsides and done the contrarian thinking necessary to turn a profit. Niederhoffer draws material from disciplines as varied as biology, music, cards, and sports. His book, written with humor and verve, offers readers a chance to see the world through his lenses. The result is a genuinely new perspective on life (unless you too happened to grow up a speculator). This is a terrific, rewarding book.

garbage:
I think it is funny that the author, himself shows up to defend the book (aks putrid garbage) he has tried to slide to the public ... this was a review way at the bottom of the list. All accounts of the book being an exercise in ego massage are confirmed by Neiderhoffers attempt to justify his rubbish as a conspiracy of envy. What a laugh. I reviewed the book previously (see Victor Victorius)and gave it one star. ~~~~~ The book is not kind to the many poseurs, propagandists and Ponziists who populate the speculative world. It shows how the wisdom that ordinary people gain from their everyday activities involving games, music, gambling, nature, connections and counting can lead to much better prospects for success than the guidance authored by the 100 most renowned gurus and magicians. Unfortunately such breaking of taboos, including the depiction of the public in its usual niche in the market as a contributor of money to absorb the substantial overhead that keeps the market running is bound to raise the hackles and incur the wrath of many within the market ecosystem, e.g. the dealers, the brokers and the large speculators. While I am certainly open to legitimate criticism and know that this book has many defects, I am afraid that a mole/enemy is out there attempting to poison the well. Please be wary of any critiques of my book that appear to be written from a scatological or pornographic mien

This is a very interesting book...and an interesting man:
This book will make you think about trading, life, and speculation. And make you see that trading, and life itself are speculation. Once you know this you can also realize that the majority of people in society are followers and irational. That to bet with them or use their reasoning is almost always foolish. People in life look for sure things... same with many in the market. Others don't look at risks and jump... just like life and the markets. So your goals is to think like the few who think different and win, by using your head. It amazes me to see how many people regard certain things as life and market truisms when they are just based on slogins and irational thinking. There is a reason why the few win...and the many lose...and that is what this book is about...in life and the markets.

Taleb: I Owe Him (N*) a Large Part of my Intellectual Growt:
Nassim Taleb (of Fooled by Randomness; FT Oct 26, 2001, book review) considers this book "insightful" owing its author, Victor Niederhoffer, "a large part of my intellectual growth" (pg 100-103). However, he does say the author "missed just a modicum of methodology," which was supplemented by reading other books (philosopher Karl Popper).

Stocks, commodoties and almost everything else:
The Education of a Speculator is a long, sometimes meandering account of the life of speculator Victor Niederhoffer. There is no particular order to this book, at least that I could discern; Niederhoffer jumps from topic to topic, going backwards and forwards in time. The style is almost stream of consciousness, with the main subject of finance digressing into topics as diverse as biology, music and squash (the author is a serious player of squash and other racquet sports). In addition to Niederhoffer's unconventional style of writing, the book assumes a fairly high level of knowledge regarding financial markets. Those (such as this reviewer) who are not well versed in the kind of articles, charts and data found in the Wall Street Journal or Barron's will often find themselves in way over their heads. For all this, I still recommend The Education of a Speculator, even to people not especially interested in the world of investing. Victor Niederhoffer is what may be called a holistic or macro thinker; he could also be called a Renaissance man. He has knowledge of many subjects and sees the connecting links between all events, objects and disciplines. He may not be right about everything, but his perspective is always interesting, intelligent and original. He combines the streetwise instincts of Brooklyn, where he grew up, with the scholarly mindset of Harvard, where he both graduated from and taught. As for investing itself, Niederhoffer, like many speculators (at one point he describes the overlapping definitions of an investor, a speculator and a gambler), has had many ups and downs in his life. When this book was written, he was at the top of his game; shortly afterwards he was wiped out. That, of course, was several years ago and he is still active as a writer (he has recently written a new book) and investor. I have always been fascinated with the world of investing, especially the kind of volatile speculating engaged in by people like Niederhoffer. Even if you don't understand all the details and nuances, the book conveys the dangers and excitement of this unpredictable universe. The author has spent many years compiling and analyzing data concerning markets, and he discusses how difficult it is to make predictions based on past performance. It is easy to look at a chart and, after the fact, describe how stocks or commodities moved in a logical, predictable manner. Often when you try to apply any seemingly logical system using real money, the results are disastrous. Niederhoffer seems to conclude that markets are paradoxical -they are both logical and illogical; sometimes they follow patterns but sometimes they are chaotic. And, most importantly, we can never be sure when order or chaos will prevail. If there is one overall lesson we can take from The Education of a Speculator, it is probably something like this -reality is almost infinitely complex with every part connected to every other part, the whole thing organized by some vast pattern that can only occasionally be comprehended.

Are the Patterns in Financial Markets Quantifiable?:
As far as I am concerned the most important message of this book could be squeezed to a single sentence: See if you can QUANTIFY trading ideas you might have. There is a lot of fluff and self-gratification in the book but if you can grasp the importance of that single thesis and make use of it in your practical speculation that'll pay you back far beyond the price you paid for this book. Pursuing a stock speculation idea that is not quantifiable can be as futile as looking for a black cat in a dark room especially when the cat is not there.