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What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars

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What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars

By: Jim Paul, Brendan Moynihan, Jack Schwager - foreword
Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
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About this listen

Tim Ferriss Book Club Selection

Jim Paul's meteoric rise took him from a small town in Northern Kentucky to governor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, yet he lost it all - his fortune, his reputation, and his job - in one fatal attack of excessive economic hubris. In this honest, frank analysis, Paul and Brendan Moynihan revisit the events that led to Paul's disastrous decision and examine the psychological factors behind bad financial practices in several economic sectors. This book - winner of a 2014 Axiom Business Book award gold medal - begins with the unbroken string of successes that helped Paul achieve a jet-setting lifestyle and land a key spot with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It then describes the circumstances leading up to Paul's $1.6 million loss and the essential lessons he learned from it - primarily that, although there are as many ways to make money in the markets as there are people participating in them, all losses come from the same few sources.

Investors lose money in the markets either because of errors in their analysis or because of psychological barriers preventing the application of analysis. While all analytical methods have some validity and make allowances for instances in which they do not work, psychological factors can keep an investor in a losing position, causing him to abandon one method for another in order to rationalize the decisions already made. Paul and Moynihan's cautionary tale includes strategies for avoiding loss tied to a simple framework for understanding, accepting, and dodging the dangers of investing, trading, and speculating.

Also included is a bonus hour-long interview between co-author Brendon Moynihan and noted investor, business advisor, and best-selling author Tim Ferriss.

©2013 Brendan Moynihan (P)2014 Tim Ferriss Business Professionals & Academics Investing Money Chicago

Critic Reviews

"One of the rare noncharlatanic books in finance." (Nassim Nicholas Taleb, from Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder)
“The book points out very early that many successful investors have opposing styles and theories on how to make money, and that they can not all be right at the same time. The most important point to take from the book is how to avoid losing money...” (Steve Osbiston, Financial Times Advisor)
“A novel approach aimed at pushing you inside your head and outside the losing habits most folks adopt right after multiple successes. A must-have for traders blessed with a string of hot trades.” (Ken Fisher, Fisher Investments, FORBES)
All stars
Most relevant  
The consistency among great investors, traders, businessmen seems to always be capital preservation. The book tells the story of a man who started off very lucky but lost it all because he let his success defined all that he touched so he thought nothing could ever go wrong.

Wonderful book as a reminder to how important it is to mitigate the downside in trading and not to personalise wins or losses, and instead it's better to have the mindset where one just capitalises on opportunity.

Amazing Book for Traders!

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Really liked it wasn’t about a trading plan but rather trading exit strategies plus dealing with life

Really interesting and great listen

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This is a great, engaging tale talking about finance in easily understandable terms. It provides real insights into what makes a great investor and how to improve your investing psychological attitude as well as highlighting areas which are easily seen in others as well.
Would recommend to anyone who has an interest in making money, systems/people thinking, or investing generally.

Amazing!!

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My key takeaway from this book is summarised as follows

1 there are many methods of approaching markets to make money . My job is to find those that suit me

2 whatever method is used to make money I think that the difference between a successful market participant and the unsuccessful is how losses are managed

3 to manage well I need a plan. I need tools to implement the plan. And I need discipline to stick to the plan.

Enjoyable and informative book. Big thanks

Quite possibly the most important book for market participants

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This was a very pivotal point in my life…. The ideas and knowledge passed through this book is well worth ready for anyone! But it’s a must if you have Crypto invested for the next bull run…. A must read!

A must read!

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An absolutely awesome book on life, investing and business.

great narration, story telling and a clear message.

One of the greats.

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What did you like best about What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars? What did you like least?

I loved the lessons on how to not lose money and how they can be applied to everyday life rather than just investing.

What other book might you compare What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars to, and why?

Don't know

What three words best describe Patrick Lawlor’s performance?

Very assertive voice

If this book were a film would you go see it?

If it's different to the book and is universally acclaimed, then absolutely!

Good

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Interesting back story and allegory but essentially boils down to: don’t treat the market like a casino - plan entry and exit criteria, don’t personalise gains/ losses.

Quite entertaining but convoluted

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Let me disclose that I didn’t finish this book , & that I returned it for a refund .
I like to learn from experience, and to also learn from the experience of others . This guy basically just spend the whole book bragging that he bluffed his way to wealth , and that if he didn’t know something he didn’t care and would either bluff his way through or delegate it to someone else . Not a whole lot of self reflection there . Maybe the tone changed as the book went in but I couldn’t get through it . It was a bit outdated ( I didn’t realise it was a 20th anniversary re release) and the narration is dull .

Yawn

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