Michael Marcus is a commodity trader reputed to have turned his initial capital of $30,000 into $80 million in less than 20 years. He was the first to be interviewed in Jack Schwager’s series about Market Wizards.
In this article, we look at Micheal Marcus’ life and career and end the article by listing some of his best quotes about trading.
Micheal Marcus’ early life and career
He grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. He was a graduate of John Hopkins and studied Psychology at Clark University. At a specific time, Mark was an acolyte of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
He began his trading career in 1972, trading plywood futures with his life savings of $7000, a substantial amount at the time.
In the summer of the same year, then-president Nixon put a hang on the price of some commodities, but the futures market didn’t budge. Instead, it rallied, making Marcus a fair $12,000 from his initial $7000. A year later, he turned $24,000 into $64,000.
Marcus was mentored by Ed Seykota, who taught him money management. He met Seykota while he was working as an analyst.
When Marcus was interviewed in Market Wizards, he said, “Seykota is a genius and a great trader who has been phenomenally successful. When I first met Ed, he had recently graduated from MIT and had developed one of the first computer programs for testing and trading technical systems. I still don’t know how Ed amassed so much knowledge about trading at such an early age. Ed told me, I think you ought to work here. We are starting a research group, and you can trade your account. It sounded great; the only problem was that the firm’s research director refused to hire me.”In the end, he was hired, though.
Marcus later became EVP at a commodities corporation. He recently invested in a start-up company stock through the holding company he founded, Canmarc Trading Co.
In describing his trading approach, Marcus described it like this: “In the final analysis, you need to have the courage to hold the position and take the risk. You need to be aware that the world is very sophisticated and always ask yourself: ‘How many people are left to act on this particular idea?’ You have to consider whether the market has already discounted your idea.”
“I look for confirmation from the chart, the fundamentals, and the market action. I think you can trade anything in the world that way.”
Mark has made private investments in small OTC Bulletin Board listed companies, including Encore Clean Energy Inc., Prospector Consolidated Resources, and Pink Sheets Touchstone Resources.
On May 25 of 2006, Marcus was elected to the Board of directors at the Annual General Meeting of ViRexx Medical Corp, a medical company specializing in immunotherapy treatments for certain cancers, embolotherapy treatments for tumors, and hepatitis B and C.
He has been featured in Thomas A. Bass’ book, “Predictors: How a Band of Maverick Physicists Used Chaos Theory to Trade Their Way to a Fortune on Wall Street.” Also, Mark has been interviewed by Jack Schwager in the Market Wizards, where he was described as a chartist who “keeps an eye on market entry and resistance.”
He has been considered one of the most successful traders. Mark has, for over ten years, made an outstanding trading profit for his company 2,500 fold!
Other famous traders and their trading strategies
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- Ray Dalio – life, investment strategies, and philosophy
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Ed Seykota – Trading Strategy and Quotes (Trend Follower Wizard)
- Jesse Livermore – The World’s Most Legendary Trader? (Trading strategy quotes)
- Richard Dennis – The Turtle Trader (trend follower)
- William Eckhardt – The mathematical trader (An early Nassim Taleb)
- Stanley Druckenmiller – George Soros’ left hand
- Paul Tudor Jones – Maverick Trader (quotes and strategies)
- Micheal Steinhardt – To Make Money Is Should Be A Little Painful
- David Einhorn – investment strategy and philosophy
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- Steve Cohen – Stock Market Wizard
- Mark Douglas – All About The Correct Trading Strategy Mindset
- Steve Clark – hedge fund strategy market wizard
- Larry Williams – Indicator Innovator, Strategy Trader, And Tax Rebellion
- Jim Rogers – The Adventurist Macro Trader
- Larry Hite – All About Trading Strategy Risk
- Randy McKay – Market Wizard currency trader
- Charles Faulkner – trader and programmer
- Richard Driehaus – Turtle Trader
- Dana Galante – the Market Wizard short seller
- Linda Raschke – Reading The Music Of The Markets
- Nicolas Darvas – How I made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market
- David Shaw – the king of quant – trading strategies
- Van K. Tharp – The psychology of trading
- Larry Connors – Mean Reversion Trader
- Rob Hanna – Quantifiable Edges
- Ahmet Okumus – From Istanbul to Wall Street
- Steve Watson – Small cap investor
- Gil Blake – The master of consistency
- Blair Hull – All about the trading edge
- Howard Seidler – an original Turtle Trader (The Turtle Experiment)
- Steve Lescarbeau – mutual fund trader
- Tom Basso – Mr. Serenity
- Bruce Kovner – Trade Small And Manage Risk
- Michael Carr – Trader, Motivator, And Speaker
- Bill Lipschutz – FOREX trader
- Brett Steenbarger – All About Trading Psychology
- Joe Ritchie – an early quant in the option markets
- Micheal Masters – Stock Market Wizard
- Monroe Trout – one of the first Market Wizards
- Alexander Elder – Trading Author And Indicator Innovator
- Mark Ritchie – Master Option Trader (God In The Pits)
- Alphonse Fletcher Jr. – Triple Digit Returns
- Mark Minervini – stock market wizard trader
- Mark D. Cook – market wizard trader and investor (Net worth and strategy)
- Jeffrey Yass – the founder of Susquehanna
- Claudio Guazzoni – Multillingual trader
- Micheal Lauer – Stock Market Wizard?
Trading strategy quotes from Micheal Marcus
We end the article with some quotes from Micheal Marcus, all taken from his interview in Market Wizards:
The best trades are the ones in which you have all three things going for you: fundamentals, technicals, and market tone.
Markets are more prone to false breakouts now than before.
To be a competent trader and make money is a skill you can learn.
Perhaps the most important rule is to hold on to your winners and cut your losers.
Over the years, it has mostly cost me money (talking to other traders).
I think the leading cause of financial disablement is the belief that you can rely on the experts to help you.
Gut feel is very important. I don’t know of any great professional trader that doesn’t have it.
FAQ:
– How did Michael Marcus achieve significant profits in the futures market early in his trading career?
In 1972, when then-president Nixon imposed a price freeze on certain commodities, the futures market rallied. Marcus made a substantial profit, turning $7,000 into $19,000 within a short period.
– What notable investments has Michael Marcus made, and in what sectors?
Michael Marcus has made private investments in small OTC Bulletin Board listed companies, including Encore Clean Energy Inc., Prospector Consolidated Resources, and Pink Sheets Touchstone Resources.
– How has Michael Marcus contributed to the field of trading beyond his personal success?
Michael Marcus has been featured in Thomas A. Bass’ book, “Predictors,” and interviewed by Jack Schwager in “Market Wizards,” where he was described as a chartist with a focus on market entry and resistance.
