Stock Market Wizards

Although I found most of the traders in this book through personal contacts
in the industry, several money manager databases and texts provided
helpful references. In particular, I would cite the following:
Barclay MAP for Windows. This software program, which is updated
monthly, allows searches of an impressively large database of hedge
fund managers. The program is highly intuitive and permits the investor
to extract and rank those trading programs that meet multiple
user-defined criteria. (Barclay Trading Group: [641] 472-3456; www.
barclaygrp.com.)
Van Hedge Fund Advisors International Inc. (VAN). A hedge fund
advisory service that compiles its own hedge fund indexes and maintains
one of the largest hedge fund databases. The company provided
me with the results of a computer search of hedge fund managers meeting
my extremely restrictive set of criteria. ([615] 661-4748; www.
hedgefund .com.)
The CTA Report. A quarterly comprehensive compendium of CTA
performance results, containing a well-designed two-page layout of tables
and charts for each CTA. There is also an easy-to-use Web site for
monthly updates. As the name implies, this service covers managers who
specialize in futures trading; only a small portion of these managers focus
on equity derivatives. (International Traders Research, Inc.: [858] 459-
0818; www. managedfutures. com.)
The U.S. Offshore Funds Directory. An annual publication that contains one-page summaries and annual returns for over 700 offshore
hedge funds. There is also a web link for updates. ([212] 371-5935; www.
hedgefundnews .com)
When I began my search for traders worthy of inclusion in this volume,
my first call was to Doug Makepeace. He has built a career on finding
and investing his own and client funds with exceptional traders. Doug
was most generous in sharing information with me, even though doing so
threatened his ability to invest additional funds with these traders in the
future if they became too well known.
Tom DeMark, a renowned technical analyst whose indicators are featured
on many of the country’s leading financial data services, was particularly
vigorous in his efforts to help me find traders for this book. Tom is
in a good position to provide such assistance, holding the unofficial world
record as the technical analyst who has worked for the most (four) Market
Wizards or their organizations.
Marty Schwartz and Linda Raschke were two former Market Wizards
(”former” referring to the books in which their interviews appeared, not
their trading talent) who helped me find new Market Wizards for this
book.
Other industry contacts who were particularly helpful in aiding my
search for great trading talent include: Sol Waksman and George Van; Bob
Morris, Andy Good, Tony Cimirusti, Loran Fleckenstein, and Jason Perl.
I find it extremely difficult to evaluate the writing quality of any book
I am working on. I lose all sense of perspective. For this reason, it is
invaluable to have someone to provide objective feedback as the book is
being written. Enter my wife, Jo Ann, who read the final draft of each
chapter as soon as it was completed. Her promptness in performing this
task was not a reflection of her eagerness to read the material—in fact,
few topics interest her less than the financial markets—but rather a resignation
to the inevitable in the face of my unrelenting nagging. (”Have
you read it yet?”) Jo Ann provided honest comments—sometimes brutally
so—and very helpful suggestions, nearly all of which were accepted.
Whatever the defects of this book in its final form, I can only assure the
reader they would have been that much worse without Jo Ann’s input.

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