RSS feedSo, some people seem to disagree with my opinion on Timothy Syke’s new book, An American Hedge Fund
But, why take my word for it? Timothy Sykes has generously shared some of his time to answer a few questions about his new book and his future endeavors.
What inspired you to write this book?
Basically just to answer all the fan mail I got from my TV show. Lots of people wanted details so it was easiest for me to just write down my entire story from start to present. Halfway through, I grew determined to be painstakingly honest so others could learn from my mistakes, and yes, I have made many.
Turning $12,000 into $1.65 million is a remarkable feat. You managed to do this between 1999 and 2002 by trading microcap stocks and adapting to the bubble bursting by quickly turning yourself into a short-bias trader two strategies which were perfect for the time but not likely to yield such outsized gains in any other market conditions. What would you say to people who believe you were merely very lucky?
Well if you don’t know the details, you see some kid starting with some
money, buying stocks at the perfect time and then switching to short
selling at the perfect time. Based on the circumstantial evidence, I should
be charged guilty as being lucky, but once readers see why I switched, I
think they’ll see it wasn’t luck and rather it was purely tactical.
Hopefully I can teach a few readers to be able to be nimble enough to flip
on a dime like I did.
Would you recommend people to attempt to follow in your footsteps?
Visit www.timothysykes.com day and night. I’ve posted all the books I’ve read, all my strategies (in my 6 hour instructional DVD), all my
experiences and all my mistakes (No BullShip!). Hopefully I can teach people to be better than me! Great rewards are possible, but it’s going to
take a lot more work than most anybody can imagine.
If you could provide one piece of advice be to an aspiring trader/investor/hedge fund operator, what would it be?
Learn as many strategies as possible and see which one fits your
personality best. Again, go to my library on www.timothysykes.com. There are tons of strategies just waiting to be learned and put to use.
Aside from taking back a bad investment, if you could go back in time and change one thing about the experience documented in your book, what would you change?
Never trade based on ego, anger, or fear. Create trading rules and stick to them to a T, no matter if it results in many small losses. I frequently sabotaged myself by breaking my own rules and overtrading just because I loved the feeling of profits. That is wrong and I hope I can save people from making that same mistake.
You chose to forgo a book advance from Wiley Finance in order to publish the book on your own. Why is that?
I’m an entrepreneur, Wiley didn’t bring much to the table other than
distribution and once I read a dozen or so books about publishing, I
figured my business model out pretty easily. Authors can do everything
themselves, but most don’t have the time nor the exposure that I do.
Tell us more about BullShip Press and what you hope to accomplish with it.
I want to publish books, DVD, Tv shows, movies, whatever–all of it is
going to cut through the regulatory BullShip so that people can see how
great finance really is. We’re losing the future generation to sports and
entertainment, it’s time we got them involved in our country’s true
national sport, financial speculation!
Can we expect any books written by you in the future?
Most assuredly, I love the writing process, SEC regulations shut me up for nearly a decade so I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I’m going to say.
Thanks for having me on, now go and buy my book
October 8th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Would be very interested in finding out the strategy he uses in speculating. What he looks for? What changes in market conditions hint him about potential growth and future profits when looking at a particular stock in comparison with the sector and overall economy?
October 8th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
I won’t give away too much because he does discuss his trading in the book rather well. But, the truth is day trading is a very dynamic profession especially within microcap stocks which is what Tim did. Strategies that are good for a few percentage points in an hour can disappear just as fast with how quickly tips and trades trickle through the internet. It requires constant attention and a will to capitalize on whatever opportunities are available regardless of why the opportunity exists because it may not be there for long.
October 12th, 2007 at 11:48 am
Thanks for the review, sounds like an informative book and definitely going to pick it up.
October 25th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Update to the Sykes saga. He has been reported to the SEC for posting on message boards attacks against a company he made a short recommendation against on thestreet.com
How he swindled that side into giving him a podium is anybody’s guess. I imagine he fancies himself ala Jim Cramer, but where he tries to match Cramer in terms of bluster and self-aggrandizement he lacks Cramer’s obvious deep well of knowledge and ability to educate about the markets which is something Sykes cannot do. I hope Cramer knows Sykes used his site and then bashed the same pick on Yahoo and Raging Bull message boards immediately after to reinforce the chances of success for his short recommendation.
This kid is the sleaziest thing to hit the financial media in a long time and that is saying something.
Just say NO to Tim Sykes.
And if you haven’t already seen his now classic laughing stock of Wall Street series of emails published on TraderDaily.com go look them up. They are excruciatingly embarrassing.
October 25th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
thanks for the insight Norman
October 26th, 2007 at 1:07 am
I would agree with many of the criticisms of Tim as far as his trading strategy amounting to little more than gambling and that his returns may have been very lucky due to the 99-02 NASDAQ bubble. Now that he’s closed his fund after 5 years of truly disturbing performance, I wonder if he’s really cut out to be educating those on investing. That being said, he bills his work as “financial speculation” and, in that case, he’s completely on the money. Can you be consistently successful? Probably not. But, you might win the lottery. I wouldn’t drop the money on his penny stock DVDs but reading his book will give you all the info you need to know about him if you’re curious.
October 28th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
I read Sykes mediocre hedge fund book since I knew him at Tulane, and like him as a person. However, the book is an empty and uninspiring story about how Sykes became a self-absorbed irresponsible stock trader. This book is NOT a “classic” and story is NOT “Rocky-like”(as author Sykes claims). This book is basically like a blog of an average person who got lucky trading stocks and then his luck ran out (which it really should be - blog and nothing more).
Beware of all the phony glowing reviews for Sykes Book. Its the good ole boy network in high gear where authors/investment advisers use the buddy system to give fake good reviews to each other.
Sykes put the term “stock operator” in title in order to confuse all future book searches for Jesse Livermore’s excellent story (Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, by Edwin Lefèvre (1923)). This cheesy trick might help book sales, but needless to say, Sykes has nothing in common with the great trader Livermore.
Sykes comes across like a hyper/immature/video game player-type Trader, which worked for him for a few years; then the law of averages caught up with him. His “return to the mean” continues during the past two years; and his very poor investment strategies are DOWN -37% since Jan 2006. His continuous bad performance throughout 2007 shows that he does not learn from his mistakes; and readers can only cringe while watching Sykes slow motion demise.
October 28th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
I also read Tim Sykes book, and it was not worth $20. It is basically about a guy who was very lucky while gambling with stocks, then his luck ran out..
..now he needs to make money by being a book/dvd salesman…
October 28th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
I’ve got to say that I’m surprised about the backlash against Tim. I would say that it may not have necessarily been his luck running out more so than a very ill-advised investment in a stock with no liquidity and eventually no real investment methods. This hamstrung his hedge fund and left him looking for another line of business. It shows that traders are not necessarily good investors and that Tim suffered from the particularly fatal flaw of not knowing his strengths AND his weaknesses and not being disciplined enough to stick with what worked.
I don’t think I ever personally said the book is a classic and did mention that I believed it could have been edited better. That being said, it is not without merit. To some, the flaws in writing may make the book not worth its price tag, but it is a story which I believe merits being told though it is more cautionary than inspiring.
December 1st, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Re: Sykes amateurish hedge fund book:
Is it more sad or amusing when someone’s young ego spurs them to write a book when they possess neither literary skill nor talent? Sykes has commented elsewhere that his goal to become “a great teacher, not a great investor” but in this sad excuse for a tutorial he proves to be neither as his amateurish errors practically drive him from the market, credibility (what little he had) completely shredded. Perhaps, however, it’s not truly his fault: let’s face it, when it comes to imparting wisdom from Wall Street it is simply not possible that a raw twenty-something simply has much to say.
Not that Sykes doesn’t try however. In perusing the “comments” portion of Amazon book reviews, he’s certainly not reluctant to chime in and offer a defense at nearly every turn. Find me ONE other author at Amazon that feels so compelled to argue his own incompetence.
Tim Sykes should end his determined quest to become a media personality as his grating manner and decidedly non-telegenic looks suit him far better to shine shoes.