Education of a Speculator

VICTOR NIEDERHOFFER's storied career as a speculator spans more than twenty-five years. In the introduction to Practical Speculation, Vic describes the rollercoaster his hedge fund rode from No. 1 in 1996 to the debacle in 1997 that forced him to close his fund. Rather than giving up, he wrote this book "figuring that by trying to teach others, I might learn something myself," apparently with some success. Niederhoffer was ranked No. 6 for the year 2003 among 200 managed futures hedge funds in the TASS database, and is No. 4 in the performance rankings through mid-2004. Niederhoffer is the author of the critically acclaimed Education of a Speculator as well as numerous groundbreaking academic articles about markets. A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard, he holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He is a five-time national champion in squash and claimed the world title in 1976.

"One of the great tours de force of investing literature, a must for any serious investor's library."-Barron's "With an original mind and an eclectic approach, Victor Niederhoffer takes the reader from Brighton Beach to Wall Street, visiting all stops of interest along the way. What emerges is a book full of insights, useful to the professional and layman alike."-George Soros, Principal Investment Advisor, The Quantum Fund ". . . a compelling and an entertaining read."-The Wall Street Journal "The Education of a Speculator is the first meaningful book on speculating. Successful speculating is as fine an art as chess, checkers, fishing, poker, tennis, painting, and music. Niederhoffer brings forth the best from each of these fields and shows the investor how their principles can enrich one's life and net worth."-Martin Edelston, President, Boardroom Inc., publishers of Boardroom Classics & Bottom Line/Personal "The Education of a Speculator offers plenty of insights into the way markets work, but the epiphanies are what a reader might expect from Lao-tzu rather than, say, Graham and Dodd."-Worth Magazine ". . . Victor Niederhoffer gives us page after page of distilled investment wisdom. Taken together, this is pure nectar to those who aim for consistently superior stock-market performance."-Barron's

• Brighton Beach Training. Panics and Hoodoos. Delphic Oracles and Science. Losses, Comebacks, Trends, and the Weather. Winning and Self-Reliance. The Nature of Games. Essential Board Games. Gambling the Vig. Horse Racing and Market Cycles. Deception and Charts. Sex. Returns and Randomness: Academic Style. Connections to Monitor. Music and Counting. The Ecology of Markets. Finale. Notes. Select Bibliography. Index.