There have been some doozies – moral of the story don’t stop swimming – eyes up P&Ds
“He needed to be more Livermore and less Einstein,” Richard Dennis says. “He was a whale who stopped swimming.”
Gregory Zuckerman @GZuckerman
Had the pleasure of lunching w/ legendary commodity trader Richard Dennis today in Chicago. A Leopold Aschenbrenner of his day, Dennis was nicknamed “the Prince of the Pit.” Dennis chased trends, making $50m three times in his career (in the ’70s that could buy u something). At 26, he purchased 3% of the White Sox for $300k, selling the stake over the years for $20m.
Was leverage where Aschenbrenner went wrong? No, says, Dennis–he didn’t focus on liquidity and avoiding becoming a target of shorts. By more actively trading his positions, he could have avoided the front runners.
“He needed to be more Livermore and less Einstein,” Dennis says. “He was a whale who stopped swimming.”
What does the 77-old Dennis do all day today? Trade–what did you think? His average holding period? Five days, like most of his career.
“I’m a degenerate trader,” he told me, “I’ll be out of my positions by the time” you read this.