Sykes story is trying to uncover some of the “secret” stuff that goes on in the hedge fund world. If you are IN the hedge fund world, then it’s nothing new to you.

Cheers.

John

That’s definitely part of it.

I did have one random person come to my blog and simply post “stop writing this trash.” I replied with a link to a positive attitude book by Jeffrey Gitomer. I guess if millions of people read about your view of the world there is always a portion who is going to get fired up about it.

Tim certainly has been a huge self-promoter (which many find annoying, to say the least). As such he’s drawn the spotlight to himself and the harsh light has given anyone with even the slightest inclination to find fault more than enough fodder. I don’t know how or why he has rubbed some people completely the wrong way, but he obviously has. I have no behind-the-scenes access to all of that, so I can’t make any judgements either way.

The bottom line for me is that the book does offer up some potentially useful lessons for those who care to look. Tim doesn’t present any dangerous or potentially distructive trading ideas, and in fact is a pretty good example of what not to do at several points.

Why is Sykes being skewered here to no end? Is it because of things said on t.v. or elsewhere? I don’t own a t.v. so maybe I miss something that others are jumping on here. I thought the book was a fun read and unique story.

What am I missing here?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I agree that the book’s title is not greatly representative of the contents. The book is an autobiography, plain and simple, and spends relatively little time on the hedge fund subject.

Might I ask, though, by what criteria does one obtain “the right” to be an author? What if Sykes were to make $1,000,000 trading in the next five years and become a successful hedgefund manager? Would he then magically aquire such a right to author this very same book?

I don’t know what you expected out of the book. Your review strikes me as one from someone who thought he’d find something deeper than the fact that sometimes there’s luck involved along with a bit of skill and sometimes you can screw it all up because you aren’t focused on trading, but on other things.

The value of this book comes primarily from the fact that Sykes is willing to expose his failures. Not a lot of folks are prepared to do that, especially not so close after the fact. You aren’t going to find too many master traders who didn’t go through some of the same adversity. Read the interviews in Market Wizards. I don’t put this book in the same category, of course, but it does offer some of the sames lessons.

This worthless book is just an attempt at coming up with a catchy title to generate hits on a search engine. Same old tired information presented.

Sykes is a failed hedge fund manager, now becoming a snake oil book salesman. Book not worth $20.