Men of genius of stock exchange.

J. Paul Getty.

Getty

Then the Great Depression struck in the 30's, J. Paul Getty realized that he could make more money by purchasing oil companies, rather by oil prospecting.

He looked for companies, whose shares were sold lower than their balance sheet value, but having valuable assets. His first investments in other oil companies, however, made losses for $1 million more. Stakes were extremely high. "I financed purchase of shares with every dollar I had," - said he. "And with every cent of the credit I managed to get. If I lost this campaign, I would be penniless and in deep debts."

The biggest aim of Getty was Tide Water, an oil company controlled by Standard Oil, which was owned by Rockefeller. After several years of fighting, Getty took control by purchasing stocks of the company, which controlled a large block of shares in Tide Water.

Searching for every possible loophole was an ingredient of Getty's character he took after his father, a lawyer from Minneapolis. In 1904, his father brought the family to Oklahoma. Senior Getty saw oil platforms growing and knew that big money could be made on oil. The 11 year old Getty followed his father over oil fields and started keeping a diary, fixing any aspects of oil business. This experience was his best education. His years of study in Berkley and Oxford were wasteful, as he thought.

Later his family moved to California. In 1933, Getty suddenly left I fear of earthquakes. Getty never really was a brave person, except for investments. Getty was a very lucky stock gambler and believed that it was more important to rely on trends, rather than on perturbations in the economy.

John Templeton.

Templeton

People always ask me, where a good opening is, but it's an incorrect question. The right question is: Where is the worst opening?

John Templeton grew in a rural area of Tennessee. He studied in the Yale University and later in Oxford. His first big investment was made in 1939, when he bought for a hundred dollars one stock at each stock exchange, quoted for less than one dollar. Keeping them for four years, he earned more than $40,000. In those days it was real big money. Soon after this, Templeton found an investment consultant, who wanted to sell his business, and bought it for $5,000.

In the 1950's, long before global investment became popular, he was looking for good opportunities to invest worldwide. By the mid-60's, Templeton Funds started working in Japan. Those days, stocks of Japanese companies were traded with price/profit coefficient equal to 4, while shares of American companies were traded with coefficient equal to 16. Templeton believed that the main objective of the investor is to find the lowest prices. Investments of $10,000, made with his help, would cost $2,300,000 40 years later.

In 1987, Templeton was awarded with knighthood. "I think, that all careers become more successful, if you use spiritual principles," - said he. Templeton believed that spiritual search and progress are equally important as research and progress in science. However, prayers could never replace clear and adjusted investment strategies for Templeton.

Larry Williams.

Williams

There is no need to introduce Larry Williams. He, probably, was the most authoritative guru in the futures market. He has 30 years of experience in the market.

His most known achievement was the victory in the Robbins World Cup of Championship of Futures Trading. He managed to earn $1,147,000 for one year with the initial capital o $10,000. Additionally, he was a member of the Board of National Futures Association. Such biggest magazines as Barrons, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Money, Fortune and many other used to write about him.

Larry Williams' first book was called "Long-Term Secrets of Short-Term Trading". Along with profound analysis of the most effective strategies of short-term trading and detailed description of the best theory and practice of capital management, the book describes the author's best technical indicators. He disclosed the fundamentals of reliable and profitable short-term trading, as well as advantages and disadvantages of such a productive, but risky enterprise.

To become a successful trader, using methods of Larry Williams, it is necessary not only to receive regularly technical information on markets, but also to take into account psychological structuring of participants, their goals and objectives. In 1987, Larry beat all records of the Robbins Cup.

Michael H. Steinhardt.

Steinhardt

A good trader is, first of all, a person, who is able to bridle his desire to follow his theories to the end and who has enough mental flexibility to understand when and where he can make a mistake.

Steinhardt grew in Brooklyn. He first was interested in stocks, when received several of them as a present. Soon he started visiting the local department of Merrill Lynch to check his investment and use profits for purchasing of more shares.

After school, when he was 16, Steinhardt went to Wharton School at the Pennsylvania University, where he completed the basic university program for three years. Steinhardt graduated from Wharton, when he was 19. Them he made his way to his favorite place, Wall Street.

When he was 26, he and his two friends with the capital of $7,700,000 founded Steinhardt Partners Fund ($1 invested in Steinhardt Partners in 1967 now costs $550). Like George Sores, Michael Steinhardt made money on management of a hedge fund. Later he mentioned that investment risks of such funds vary from 200% of profit to 200% of losses. Nonetheless, successful management of hedge funds allowed Steinhart to increase his fortune up to $500,000,000.

Michael Steinhardt became famous due to several quite risky operations. Thus, in 1981, when interest rates in the market were 14%, he bought Treasury bonds for $250,000,000. The own capital of the fund was only $50,000,000. At some moment, he lost $10,000,000 at this transaction, but he kept the position and finally earned $40,000,000. Total annual profitability of the operation was 97%.

In 1983, Steinhardt bought 800,000 shares of IBM at $117, and then he closed the position at $132, reversed and sold 250,000 shares, closing the transaction at $120. This transaction brought him $15,000,000.

In 1985, Steinhardt bought shares of an unknown Italian company, Montedison, at $0.50 and sold them in one year at $3.0. This transaction brought most of the annual profit to the fund.

Using his experience of working at Wall Street, Steinhardt gives a gruff advice to non-professional investors: "They should understand that they have competitive weaknesses in education, experience and information quality. Trading at the stock exchange is not a game, but a difficult and fascinating work".

Peter Lynch.

Lynch

Invest money in the company, to which any fool would invest, just because that sooner or later any fool would do it.

Peter Lynch was born in 1944. From his childhood he had to work. When his father died, he was only 10 years old. To feed his family, he used to work as a caddy at a local golf course. Peter was fascinated with money talks of the course visitors. These were big businessmen and managers. He learned about such things as investment, credits, shares and funds when he was very young.

He entered Boston College, and in 1969 was employed by Fidelity Company as an analyst specializing in metallurgical industry. In 1974, he was promoted to the director of the research department and three years later he was appointed the head of Fidelity Magellan Fund ($1 invested in Fidelity Magellan Fund in 1911 costs now $400).

When Lynch headed Fidelity Magellan Fund in 1978, the fund owned shares of only 45 companies, costing about $20,000,000. In 1990, when he was 46, he withdrew from business and became the Vice President of the fund. By this time, assets of the fund were invested in 1200 companies and the fund cost almost $14,000,000,000. An investor, who invested $10,000 in 1977, could earn $280,000 in 1990. Now assets of the fund exceed $50,000,000,000.

Peter Lynch is the author of many books popular among investors. His book "Beating the Street" in co-authorship with John Rothschild was the sequel of "One Up on Wall Street". There he explains how to become an expert in your company and how to form a profitable investment portfolio, based on your personal experience, intuition and independent market studies.

Peter Lynch believes that human nature demands immediate satisfaction and profit without loss. Time showed that this is just a fantasy, but not the real world of investment business. Even the best traders and investment managers face periods of stagnation and losses. Losses and profits are integral parts of nay historical indicators.

George Sores.

Sores

Millionaires spend money, and billionaires make history.

It absolutely doesn't matter, if you're right or wrong. The only important thing is how much money you make, when you're right, and how much money you lose, when you're wrong.

George Sores was born in Budapest in 1930. In 1947, when communists took power in Hungary, he immigrated to Great Britain. He used to turn a penny as a tobacco seller. In 1952 he graduated from the London Economics School.

In 1969, together with analyst Jim Rogers, Sores founded the international investment fund - Quantum Fund ($1 invested in Quantum Fund in 1969 costs now $4,000). Since that moment, the йpoque of his financial prosperity began.

Sores' financial career had its ups and downs. In 1992, Sores carried out his most notorious operation - gambling against British currency, when he earned $2,000,000,000.

During 1993, Sores' speculative income was $1,100,000,000. On the other hand, in August 1998, Sores lost about $2,000,000,000 in Russia and about $3,000,000,000 after NASDAQ fell down in spring 2000 -  $3,000,000,000.

Sores is mainly keen on currency (Forex) speculations. He receives all necessary information from regular newspapers, never using analytical materials of Wall Street. His investment decisions are based on confidence in chaotic nature of financial markets.

Warren Buffet.

Buffet

Wall Street is the only place on earth, were a man, who arrived in a Rolls Royce, humbly asks for piece of advice from a person, who arrived by subway.

Warren Buffet was born in 1930, in Omaha, USA, and even when he climbed to success, he preferred to live there.

Warren made his first transaction with securities when he was 11 years old, earning $5. When he was 20, he failed to enter Harvard and worked as a mechanic, a newsboy, a caddy. Later his career raised him to the level of a pinball technician at local barbershops. Buffet scratched up $9,800. For five years of investment he turned them into $100,000. This was his starting capital for professional investments.

After two-year apprenticeship besides Benjamin Graham, an undisputed founder of modern analysis of securities, Buffet returned to Omaha and together with his family members and friends founded Berkshire Hathaway ($1 invested in Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 costs now $5,000).

The main strategy of its development was long-term investment in underestimated shares of companies with a good potential, participation in charter capitals of companies and arbitration. The most important thing in investment for Buffet was precise understanding of business and a clear idea of what would happen to the company in long-term outlook.

In spite of his conservatism, in 1969 Buffet committed something radical: he just dismissed the partnership, when prices were actively growing, believing that the market is overestimated.

Buffet is one of the richest persons in the United States. He acquired large blocks of stocks in Coca-Cola and Washington Post Co., Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and other companies.

Today Warren Buffet's fortune is estimated as $36,000,000,000. According to Forbes, the only person, who is richer than Warren Buffet, is Bill Gates.

*  This article has been prepared and written by the specialists of analytics department of the Company Larson&Holz IT Ltd. in 2004.
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