I was just turned on to a PBS film called “Trader”. It was riveting. The film is a short documentary from 1987 that profiles a trader on Wall Street. It is really amazing how much certain films take from the real thing. The trader who is featured is Paul Tudor Jones. His firm was handling about $90 million at that time (1987). Paul is a little bit Gordon Gecko and a lot of Patrick Bateman.

Paul Tudor Jones has had a LOT of success since then.  His net worth is now estimated at more than $3 billion and he made $750 million in 2006 alone! Paul’s firm found a very tight relation between the 20’s and the 80’s in the market and took advantage of that. History does repeat itself. The most compelling part of the film to me was the certainty that they had regarding the crash that was coming. My hunch is that they profited in a big way from that. They originally estimated that it would occur in March of 1988 (rather than October of 1987) but I would bet that they saw the signs when they came early (based on their model).

Take 45 minutes and watch all of the parts of this film. It is oddly inspiring.

Paul Tudor Jones

Related articles:

1. Failed Bank Friday
2. 11% is good right?