The Greats

"After 16 years of studying the stock market, I didn't really understand how it works until I read the books by Larry Williams.  I highly recommend you read them, too."  --Trader Gregg

Larry Williams & his daughter, actress Michelle Williams

In 1982, his book "How to Prosper in the Coming Good Years" was published. It forecast the largest bull market and surge of economic growth the United States has ever seen. The book was written at a time when the majority of pundits were calling for a slowdown in economic growth and stock market, which is exactly the opposite of what Williams forecast.

In 1987, Williams won the World Cup Championship of Futures Trading, sponsored by Robbins Trading Company, trading $10,000 in real money to $1,147,000 in 12 months – a feat no one else has come close to matching.  It was a wild year, as Williams ran his winnings to more than $2,000,000 by the end of September, dropped down to $750,000 after the October ‘87 crash, and traded back to the $1,147,000 mark by the end of the year. (By the way, Larry went to Brigham Young University in the 1960’s).

In 1997, at age 16, his daughter, actress Michelle Williams (Dawson’s Creek, Brokeback Mountain) used what her father taught her and won the same competition with exactly 1000% return, turning $10,000 into $110,000.  (Not bad for a high school student…..)

Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett is considered by many to be the greatest investor of all time.  He took Berkshire Hathaway, orginally a textile company and turned it into an investment company, managing the investments personally.

Peter Lynch

In 1977, Peter Lynch was named head of the then obscure Magellan Fund at Fidelity Investments which had $18 million in assets. By the time Lynch resigned as a fund manager in 1990, the fund had grown to more than $14 billion in assets with more than 1,000 individual stock positions. From 1977 until 1990, the Magellan fund averaged a 29.2% return.

Benjamin Graham

Benjamin Graham is considered to be the father of value investing.  It's no accident Warren Buffett has made so much money; he was taught by Benjamin Graham early in his career.

Jesse Livermore

Jesse Livermore was made famous in the book, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator.  He made and lost a fortune on Wall Street a few times.  He committed suicide in 1940 from chronic depression.