Great Traders: Fascinating Facts About Richard Dennis

Richard J. Dennis is a legendary commodies trader who began trading at 17 years old and over time acquired the nickname “The Prince of the Pit”. Who was this fascinating man and how did he end up acquiring such a moniker? Here are some facts about his life that can answer those questions:

-Dennis was born in Chicago in January 1949. He became an order runner in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange when he was just 17 years old and a few years later he began trading for his own account at the MidAmerica Commodity Exchange, an entry-level floor where "mini" contracts were traded. Since there was a rule that traders had to be at least 21 years old he was his own runner and hired his own father to trade in his place in the pit.

-Although Dennis earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and he had accepted a scholarship for a graduate study in the same discipline he decided to continue trading and borrowed $1,600 from his family in order to do that. He spent $1,200 of those for a place at the exchange and that left him with just $400 to use for his actual trading. In about ten years Dennis had turned those $400 into $200,000,000. 

-He conducted the famous Turtle Experiment, proving that anyone could learn how to trade and trade immensely successfully.

Richard Dennis is a hugely successful trader who has certainly left a lasting mark on the trading world.

Great Traders: Fascinating Facts About WD Gann

Out of all the famous traders I have written about in this blog William Delbert Gann (1878 – 1955), also known as WD Gann, is certainly one quirkiest and most eccentric. He was a religious man who looked for inspiration in geometry, ancient mathematics and even astrology for his analysis methods and his disciples claimed that he was one of the most successful stock and commodity traders in history, while his detractors said that there’s no proof that he ever made a fortune from his trading. Despite the criticism some of his less esoteric analysis methods are used to this day. Here are some interesting facts about about WD Gann:

-He was born in a poor cotton farming family in Texas, USA and had ten brothers and sisters. His primary education was in the form of the Bible and the cotton warehouses, where he first learned about commodities trading. Later he attended a night business school and began working in a brokerage firm in Texarkana. He was able to open his own firm in 1903, called WD Gann & Company. 

-WD Gann was an avid writer, first publishing daily to even yearly forecasts about commodities and stocks trading, and later published a number of books on various topics – from technical analysis to science fiction.

-As I mentioned above, he looked for inspiration for his analysis methods in rather esoteric places, such as ancient mathematics, astrology and geometry. He firmly believed that the market moved in cycles and that everything that happened in it had historical reference points.

-He was a 33rd degree Freemason of the Scottish Rite Order.

-He developed a number of technical analysis tools, including the Gann Angles, which many traders use to this day, decades after his passing. However, I think it should be mentioned that the legitimacy of his methods has been questioned.

Whether WD Gann was truly a great trader or merely a celebrity “guru” is a matter of significant debate. One thing is for certain – he has left his mark on trading history.

Great Traders: Fascinating Facts About Stanley Druckenmiller

In one of my last posts for this year I decided to focus on yet another famous Forex trader – Stanley Druckenmiller. Although George Soros’ legacy as a trader is certainly one of the most memorable, his pupil Stanley Druckenmiller boasts an impressive record himself. So here are some interesting and fascinating facts about him:

-The son of a chemical engineer, Stanley Druckenmiller was born in a middle class family. He received a BA in English and Economics from Bowdoin College. During his studies there he opened a hotdog stand with one Lawrence B. Lindsay, who would later become an economic policy adviser to President George W. Bush. Later he took part in a three-year PhD program in economics at the University of Michigan, but dropped out to become an oil analyst at Pittsburg National Bank.

-He became the head of the the Bank’s equity research group after only one year. He founded his own company, Duquesne Capital Management, in 1981.

-He was hired by George Soros to work at the Quantum Fund in 1988. Druckenmiller considered Soros to be his mentor and he was part of Soros’ infamous Black Wednesday trade.

-Stanley Druckenmiller’s current net worth is $4,4 billion. 

-His trading strategy revolved around building long-term returns by preserving his capital and aggressively pursuing profits when his positions were doing well.

-Druckenmiller is one of the most generous philanthropists in the USA – he has given hundreds of millions of dollars to foundations that support education, medical research and anti-poverty.