The Greatest Trades of All Time: Top Traders Making Big Profits from the Crash of 1929 to Today

CHAPTER 3

Paul Tudor Jones II: Legendary Global Macro Trader

Paul Tudor Jones has become the epitome of what people think of when they hear the words “Wall Street trader.” Intense, brilliant, and sophisticated, Jones has built a personal fortune of $6 billion while returning untold fortunes to his investors.

Jones believes the key to successful trading is “an indefatigable and undying and unquenchable thirst for information and knowledge.” Jones built a career upon this principle—always trying to understand the underlying psychological motives of all of the actors in what is a complex and endlessly dynamic marketplace. Although this philosophy would seem to be a standard on Wall Street, the actual method he used in practice tended against conventional wisdom.

FOLLOWING A GENIUS

It is 4:00 A.M. on a Tuesday in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut. Most people here are soaking up their remaining hours of sleep before venturing out on a short commute into Manhattan to start their day running the corporations that have made New York City famous. Paul Tudor Jones is an entirely different story. While many of his colleagues sleep, Jones is already in his home office, where he has been on the phone for 45 minutes.

Although the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is still asleep, the trading day at the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange (HKMEx) is coming to a crescendo. Jones is on the phone with an associate in the middle of the action there, who is relaying every one of the legendary money ...