Paul Tudor Jones of the Tudor Futures Fund Profiled at StreetStories
Market Wizards Index: +99%
Compound annual over 5 years
Fund or affiliation
Tudor Futures Fund
Methodology
Opportunistic and contrarian attempt to trade market tops and bottoms in futures with an emphasis on risk control.
Research Techniques Employed
Thinks Marty Zweig and Ned Davies are great. Pretcher is best because he the ultimate market opportunist.
He attributes a lot of his success to Elliott Wave approach.
Trading Techniques Employed
Contrarian attempt to buy and sell turning points. Keep trying the single trade idea until he changes his mind, fundamentally. Otherwise, he will keep cutting his position size down. Then he will be trading the smallest amount when his trading is worst.
Considers himself as a premier market opportunist. When he developed an idea he will pursue it from a very-low-risk standpoint until he has been proven wrong repeatedly, or until he changed his viewpoint.
Swing trader, the best money is made at the market turns. His missed a lot of meat in the middle, but caught a lot of tops and bottoms.
Risk Management Techniques Employed
Spends his day making himself happy and relaxed. Gets out if a losing position is making him uncomfortable. Nothings better than a fresh start. Key is to play great defense, not great offense.
Never average losers. Decreases his trading size when he is doing poorly, increase when he is trading well.
He has mental stops. If it hits that number, he is out no matter what. He uses not only price stops, but time stops.
Monitors the whole portfolio equity (risk) in realtime.
Philosophy and beliefs
He believes prices move first and fundamentals come second.
He doesnt care about mistakes made 3 seconds ago, but what he is going to do from the next moment on.
Don't be a hero. Don't have an ego. Always question yourself and your ability. Dont ever feel that you are very good. The second you do, you are dead.
History and other facts
Flamboyant lifestyle - Chesapeake Bay Mansion, private 3000-acre wildlife preserve, beautiful women, fine restaurants.
Personal intensity in trading - "Buy 300 at even! Go, go, go! Are we in? Speak to me!"
An article he read at college on Richard Dennis inspired him to be a trader. "I thought that Dennis had the greatest job in the world."
Eli Tullis, a famous cotton trader, was his teacher. Tullis taught that trading is very competitive and you have to be able to handle getting your butt kicked.
85% of his net worth is in his funds.
Performance Record
99% over 5 years: "Combine 5 consecutive, triple-digit return years with very low equity retracements. (... fudging slightly; in 1986, ... only a 99.2% gain!)" MW by Jack Schwager 1989.
In the month of October, 1987, Tudor Futures Fund registered a 62% gain.
