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VictorTheSixth wrote:All feuds when giants of the Stock Market collide are very interesting indeed... albeit those who have supremely successful (Soros, Buffet, etc.) tend not to be engaged in attacks for very long. Minus the occasional Right-Wing smear campaign (Buffet and Soros both being Libeals and agnostic/atheist respectively). Yes, you'll find a great deal of the legends of The Market are Atheists of some sort and either vote Liberal or Libertarian.

I'll need to read more about Soros, Buffet, and others.

By the way Sonoran, if you're interested in the Quantitative Analysis field, read: The Logical Trader

I know someone who has done well in this field that swears by it and consider it to be the most influential book he's ever read. I find it very good on the Quantitative Analysis end, but it tends not to be the best for the Financial Modeling end. There's a single book I could recommend to you for the Financial Modeling, but without a firm grasp of Computer Science it would be very hard for you to get revelations from it. You'd have an understanding as to how a system is put together, but you wouldn't understand how to create one or the minute details.

I'll be sure to check out that book, especially if it is recommended. Maybe I'll take a couple CS classes here in the near future.

Also, keep in mind Taleb's strategies do fail, he just doesn't advertise when they do. I know someone who studied under him. The man is infamously arrogant. For someone on Wall Street to gain a reputation for arrogance... that certainly says something! .

Sounds like an interesting person...

That said, Taleb's strategies are essentially the opposite of the ones you'll find in The Logical Trader. Where The Logical Trader tends to take an approach involving trend following, Taleb believes you should go opposite the trend (he has his own system that you can somewhat decipher if you analyze the book hard enough; keyword being somewhat).

I guess I will need to study both methods to see which one I would support.

Also, to make a point to you Sonoran: Both Taleb and the author of The Logical Trader feel that Ivy-leaguers and others like them should be purged from Wall Street all together. They have a firm anti-Academic stance, feeling that a great deal of trading is scientific inquiry and that the biggest key to success (something that George Soros always harps on) is being able to recognize when you're wrong, admit it, and learn from it. Black-Scholes take a much different view on this, which probably is due in no small part to the fact that their entire team was made up of Yale Graduates .

I guess Taleb and the author of The Logical Trader feel that those from the Ivy League are not as willing to admit or realize when they are wrong.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask me. I'll admit I'm relatively new to the field, but I've had the benefits of one hell of an education. I've been lucky enough to study under one of George Soros's students and one of Taleb's students. This combine with my opportunity to study under one of the original Financial Modelers has given me quite an interesting and unique outlook on this entire field in general.

I will be most sure to keep you in mind if I have any other questions. I do have on question: Why do you have a dismal view of Economic Theory and Degree holders? I think it is important to recognize the weakness of a field of knowledge. One thing I have noticed about economics is that there is no real central theory, but rather various schools of thought.