Here's an interview I did with Timothy Sykes, the author of An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator & Created a Hedge Fund. My questions are in black, while his answers are in red.
Tell us in your own words what the book is about.
It's about my rise from college student to multi-millionaire to somewhat humbled millionaire. I've had a wild ride--when you make $1 million before your 22nd birthday, you gotta have a little fun--but, for better or worse, I was painstakingly honest in telling my story, detailing all my mistakes and flaws, because I really believe there's too much sugarcoating in the finance world and this hurts everyone's ability to learn from the past. I hope to show that while getting rich is possible, it's not easy and it's a whole hell of a lot more complicated, difficult and time consuming than most people imagine. Thanks to all these media people that prey on people's greed, people have never really heard this message before.
Also, the book title preys upon people's lack of knowledge regarding the hedge fund industry. Most people think it's just about rich people speculating on behalf of other rich people, the funds are all billion dollar plus and none of it matters to the average investor. I aim to show that hedge funds are like any other business and they really do matter because their trading influences overall markets and investment; if you don't understand all the variables that influence the market, your profit potential is lessened. I hope to inspire much greater transparency in this greatly misunderstood industry.
Lastly, I want to show that there are lessons not only in our greatest gains, but in our greatest losses too. Most people are ashamed of their mistakes and failures while I want to showcase mine for all to see! Losses are nothing more than stepping stones in our financial journeys and really only should be embarrassing if you fail to learn from them. This is why I don't believe I have to run a massive hedge fund to publish a book (as some others seemingly do believe). It's all about the lessons you offer and my lessons are perhaps even more important to the average investor because they'll be able to relate to my asset size more than somebody who's worth $100 million.
What are the core concepts of the book?
1. Penny Stocks, while risky and widely looked down upon, offer incredible rewards, especially for those with smaller accounts.
2. You must learn and become comfortable with many different investment strategies because the market is constantly changing so you must be able to change with it.
3. Never get too cocky; the market will always humble you.
4. The life of a stock trader is fun, but great sacrifices are necessary and even if you make them, you're not guaranteed profits.
5. Only play liquid (actively traded) stocks; you might be invested in the best company in the world, but if nobody else cares or knows about it, you're not going to make any money
6. The financial markets need more transparency; The SEC must stop ruling by fear and instead allow information to flow more freely.
7. Learning and reading are FUNdamental! (See my library of 300+ finance/business books at http://www.timothysykes.com)
8. Even if you're not interested in the stock market, you should take the time to learn about it (through introductory stories like mine!) because it influences much of the world around us.
Who is the book written for?
At first I wrote it for fans of my TV show, Wall Street Warriors; but now I realize it's for every small investor who dreams of making it big. I'm no different than many people, but I've been blessed with a little luck and a lot of determination which has lived a rather unusual life. Now I aim to share my experiences so everyone can learn from my successes and failures.
I come off like a complete idiot sometimes--and that's fine--because it happens to all of us, but most of us let our ego get in the way of being able to learn from these occurrences. Thanks to the success of my TV show, I have thick skin and enough ego to go around so I don't mind people making fun of me, as long as these lessons are ignored then they will be in vain.
Why should people buy the book?
Because it's easily the most honest book written about the stock market in the last decade or so. I closed down my hedge fund to be able to tell it all and it seems that nobody else is willing to make such a sacrifice. To publish this book, I rejected a $35,000 advance offer from Wiley to form my own publishing company, BullShip Press (seriously) because I want to cut through all the BS that's out there and show everyone that financial speculation should not be feared, it should be embraced and detailed so we can stop being so naive when it comes to this subject.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers of Free Money Finance about your book?
Just don't be closed-minded to any investment strategy. You wouldn't believe the flack I've taken from value investors who say they'll never read a book about trading. That's just sad--you need to learn from everyone's experiences so that you can get a better sense of the stock market and finance in general. No matter who we are or what we believe in--if we tell our stories honestly--there's value in our experiences.
Besides, having value, I bring some entertainment to the table, too, but that's just me!
Nice job! Great story, gotta check it out. And that library, wow.
Posted by: Minimum Wage | October 15, 2007 at 10:44 PM
Update to the Sykes saga. He has been reported to the SEC for posting on message boards attacks against a company he made a short recommendation against on thestreet.com
How he swindled that side into giving him a podium is anybody's guess. I imagine he fancies himself ala Jim Cramer, but where he tries to match Cramer in terms of bluster and self-aggrandizement he lacks Cramer's obvious deep well of knowledge and ability to educate about the markets which is something Sykes cannot do. I hope Cramer knows Sykes used his site and then bashed the same pick on Yahoo and Raging Bull message boards immediately after to reinforce the chances of success for his short recommendation.
This kid is the sleaziest thing to hit the financial media in a long time and that is saying something.
Just say NO to Tim Sykes.
And if you haven't already seen his now classic laughing stock of Wall Street series of emails published on TraderDaily.com go look them up. They are excruciatingly embarrassing.
Posted by: Norman Lunden | October 25, 2007 at 10:27 AM
I read Sykes mediocre hedge fund book since I knew him at Tulane, and like him as a person. However, the book is an empty and uninspiring story about how Sykes became a self-absorbed irresponsible stock trader. This book is NOT a “classic” and story is NOT “Rocky-like”(as author Sykes claims). This book is basically like a blog of an average person who got lucky trading stocks and then his luck ran out (which it really should be - blog and nothing more).
Beware of all the phony glowing reviews for Sykes Book. Its the good ole boy network in high gear where authors/investment advisers use the buddy system to give fake good reviews to each other.
Sykes put the term “stock operator” in title in order to confuse all future book searches for Jesse Livermore’s excellent story (Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, by Edwin Lefèvre (1923)). This cheesy trick might help book sales, but needless to say, Sykes has nothing in common with the great trader Livermore.
Sykes comes across like a hyper/immature/video game player-type Trader, which worked for him for a few years; then the law of averages caught up with him. His “return to the mean” continues during the past two years; and his very poor investment strategies are DOWN -37% since Jan 2006. His continuous bad performance throughout 2007 shows that he does not learn from his mistakes; and readers can only cringe while watching Sykes slow motion demise.
Posted by: Mike Green | October 28, 2007 at 01:10 PM
I also read Tim Sykes book, and it was not worth $20. It is basically about a guy who was very lucky while gambling with stocks, then his luck ran out..
..now he needs to make money by being a book/dvd salesman…
Posted by: Mike O. | October 28, 2007 at 02:01 PM
Norman Lunden Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 10:29 am
Update to the Sykes saga. He has been reported to the SEC for posting on message boards attacks against a company he made a short recommendation against on thestreet.com
How he swindled that side into giving him a podium is anybody’s guess. I imagine he fancies himself ala Jim Cramer, but where he tries to match Cramer in terms of bluster and self-aggrandizement he lacks Cramer’s obvious deep well of knowledge and ability to educate about the markets which is something Sykes cannot do. I hope Cramer knows Sykes used his site and then bashed the same pick on Yahoo and Raging Bull message boards immediately after to reinforce the chances of success for his short recommendation.
This kid is the sleaziest thing to hit the financial media in a long time and that is saying something.
Just say NO to Tim Sykes.
And if you haven’t already seen his now classic laughing stock of Wall Street series of emails published on TraderDaily.com go look them up. They are excruciatingly embarrassing.
Anonymous Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 10:59 am
“I think that someone making $2 million in the stock market by age 22 is a news worthy story.”
$2 million? His claim started out as $1.2 million. Then it became $1.6 million. Now it’s $2 million. But who cares about facts and figures, right? You are pointing distressed college students towards a dishonest, sleazy, 27 year old, washed up day trader who is now dispensing highly imprudent financial advice, in order to gets these students “interested in investing.” … It seems the ends always justify the means at Young Money. But even the ends in this case are highly questionable. A naive student reading this magazine is not going to go seek out sensible financial advice, instead he is going go buy Timothy Sykes’s day trading DVD and start gambling on illiquid penny stocks with his student loan money in the hopes of making $2 million….
Steve Cohen Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 11:05 am
I read Sykes book and it is rather boring…yes he is very honest….but that doesnt make it good/interesting. It’s like a baseball player who bats .150 writing a book on why he can’t hit…..who wants to read that?
Who is Sykes trying to pedal that crappy DVD to? Hopefully not the inexperienced people he says that are the target audience for the book. That would be leading new traders off of a cliff. BEWARE: Sykes has gone from failed hedge fund manager to cheesy snake oil book/dvd salesman.
IF Sykes had any real belief in his trading strategies then:
1) His hedge fund would still be open. (Instead it closed with a loss -37% since Jan2006, and returned an overall return of less than 1%/yr since 2003!)
2) He would still be trading his strategies in the fund. (Instead he wants to make money selling book/dvd to newbies/suckers).
3) In the case where he honestly did not trust his own discipline, then he could hire a REAL trader to properly execute the strategies. (Instead he just quit).
It’s simple, Sykes put your money where your mouth is. Do NOT take advantage of newbies and suckers by selling garbage book/dvd.
Sykes Be Honest: Tell everybody that even your family no longer trusts you to manage their money!! That fact defines you as NOT TRUSTWORTHY!!
Gerard Alexander Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 11:29 am
I’ve been following Tim’s blossoming story with great interest and I feel compelled to answer his critics. They really should read the book because he details all his gains on a trade-by-trade basis and ti truly is inspirational. By my calculations, he does make $2 million (the $1.2 million is after-tax). His short recommendation on PRXI was dead on and yes, it appears he did post on message boards afterwards. But, that’s not against the law–especially since he’s a private citizen now, not a hedge fund manager.
So, Tim, keep up the great work, don’t listen to these jealous people, you’re an inspirations to us all!
Jim Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Just got done with the book, it’s an amazing read. I discovered the book from this review:
http://www.businesspundit.com/50226711/how_to_expose_the_hedge_fund_industry_write_a_book_and_shut_yours_down.php
and was not let down. Boy Tim’s story really does seem to get people riled up
another trader Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
I was neutral on Timothy until I read his post and comments on elitetrader.com. I understand now why so many people dislike him. People respect you not because you are successful or failed in trading, people respect you if you are honest, down to earth and speak from your heart. Timothy put himself where he definitely not belong: by showing his knowledge on trading, starting some business plan to sale his trading ideas and has absolute no good record to back it up in recent years. As a trader in a trader’s community, I felt the same way as everyone else that his is not likeable at all. Who like a person talk all the time, showing off, but cannot do anything to back it up. Doesn’t matter in what place or profession, everyone try to get away from people like that. But he just keep on spamming on elitetrader.com over and over, it is like a clown try to catch your attention again and again, and that makes people on elitetrader.com hate him from dislike him so much.
Bruce Freedman Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Sykes book completely fails to realistically convey the relative risks and profit potential for the average wannabe trader. The book never hooked me. I struggled to get through each chapter.
Sykes horrible book is overhyped and embarrassingly bad! There have been so many other blowouts, and unlike Sykes many are actually interesting like Hunt brothers, LTCM, Livermore etc.
There is nothing special about Sykes story and his Hedge Fund failure! Moreover, Sykes book is not a story of someone WHO LOST IT ALL and had GUTS TO carry on and make it all back again.
ONCE Sykes lost his money, he just changed professions…haha….
What a FIGHTER!?..haha. Book is not worth $20 !!
Sebastian Berk Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
I can’t imagine anyone being jealous of Tim unless they are living in a third world country and suffering from a terminal disease. Yea, his PRXI call was pure genius. He shorted at 14 and covered at 13 and change. Wow, a regular rocket surgeon. No wonder, he has to resort to selling books, that he self publishes. Anyway, I really wouldn’t care about Tim, if he was only a failed trader with a bad book and a worthless trading course. There are plenty of guys like that around. What is most annoying about him his is arrogance and constant spamming. Every time, some guy has that he sent a free book to reviews it, we have to hear about it on every trading website. It is endless. He is so insecure, having to respond to every random comment on the web, even if its not directed at him or seeking his opinion. Let me ask you this, if you were confident in your product, would you attack every random critic, doubtful. He also thinks that by being a failure, he has something to teach. He couldn’t make him self a good trader, but he can make you one, for a small fee of course.
Dave Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Here’s a guy who is now peddling a DVD on how to trade. One needs to ask themself if he has such great stock picking skills then why doesn’t his family and friends give him some money to trade? He’s claimed that they are already invested with him but have incurred losses from his investment in CYGT.PK (a company trading on pink sheets). One would think that if his trading skills are so sound (and profitable) then investors sitting on losses would be more than happy to give money so that the trader could make profits to offset their losses they’re sitting on.
Bottom line is that his trading skills have likely not adapted to the changing market — something any successful trader is able to do. Thus, it appears as if his means of making money in the markets have reverted to selling a DVD. Those that “can” (trade), do.
I suspect a year from now people will be saying “Tim who”. His 15 minutes of fame will have vanished as quickly as they came about.
Moron Detector Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
I saw Tim on CNBC, when they were having their trading contest. He was asked to recommend a stock. So Tim says, I like XYZ. The interviewer asked why, and Tim said, I like the chart. Interviewer asked but why do you like the chart. To which Tim responded, just look at it, its going up, its a beautiful chart. It stuck in my mind. If you have the urge to buy his book, just take $20 out of your pocket and burn it. It’s much quicker and won’t scar you mentally.
Howard Kaplan Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I read Sykes mediocre hedge fund book since I knew him at Tulane, and like him as a person. However, the book is an empty and uninspiring story about how Sykes became a self-absorbed irresponsible stock trader. This book is NOT a “classic” and story is NOT “Rocky-like”(as author Sykes claims). This book is basically like a blog of an average person who got lucky trading stocks and then his luck ran out (which it really should be - blog and nothing more).
Beware of all the phony glowing reviews for Sykes Book. Its the good ole boy network in high gear where authors/investment advisers use the buddy system to give fake good reviews to each other.
Sykes put the term “stock operator” in title in order to confuse all future book searches for Jesse Livermore’s excellent story (Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, by Edwin Lefèvre (1923)). This cheesy trick might help book sales, but needless to say, Sykes has nothing in common with the great trader Livermore.
Sykes comes across like a hyper/immature/video game player-type Trader, which worked for him for a few years; then the law of averages caught up with him. His “return to the mean” continues during the past two years; and his very poor investment strategies are DOWN -37% since Jan 2006. His continuous bad performance throughout 2007 shows that he does not learn from his mistakes; and readers can only cringe while watching Sykes slow motion demise.
Ross Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
I concur with the negative commentors above. HE PRESENTS HIMSELF AS SOMEONE WHOSE PRIMARY INTEREST IS HELPING NEWER TRADERS FIND PROFIT, BUT HE USES FALSE ALIASES, LIES THROUGH HIS TEETH AND CONSTANTLY COMES OFF AS SOMEONE WHO IS MUCH MORE INTERESTED IN SELLING HIS WARES, WHETHER OR NOT IT DROWNS NEW TRADERS.
Can you say, “parasite?”
another trader Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
I think we can sum it up like this: everyone like people who do more, talk less, not vice versa. Have we see any top trader or investor keep posting on forum every day for every article mention about him/her? No, but we have this guy who is like bottom amature trader keep posting like a old cheap whore consistantly flashing something that cause everyone to throw up.
Jim Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Just saw this on elitetrader.com, posted from Tim:
Daniel,
Timothy Sykes is a con artist. His knowledge of capital markets could be written on a post-it note (the small kind). If you have half a million college students day trading during a bubble market, then at least one will turn $12,000 into $1 million. Now, if you admire dumb luck then that’s your business. But it is highly irresponsible to present this dart throwing monkey as someone who should be dispensing financial advice to financially distressed college student, as you have done. You ****** up in your role as Managing Editor and now you are trying to control the damage by rationalizing your poor decision on your blog.
LOL Your statements keep getting more ridiculous. Did I con the DJ Newswire into calling my book “part Reminiscences of a Stock Operator”? Did I con MOJO to play my TV show 800 times? Did I con thousands of people into emailing me for more information?
Your whole thesis is based around your misguided assumption that i only made money in the bubble. I don’t know how you forget that I made hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. Yes, 2006 wiped out my 03,04,05 gains–deal with it!
Seriously dude, whats wrong with you? All the media that feature me read my book and they like it. It’s that simple. You’re fighting a losing battle here buddy, probly because you don’t have all the info. Like a trader who’s short a stock that just keeps rising. Buy to cover! Buy to cover!
S.C. Says:
October 25th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Sykes Be Honest:
Everybody knows that even Sykes own family no longer trusts him to manage their money!! That fact defines Sykes as NOT TRUSTWORTHY!!
Beware: newbies and suckers avoid Sykes garbage book/dvd.
Abe Rosenberg Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 9:58 am
Mr Sykes:
I understand why your family does not trust your money management, and I know you need to now be a book/dvd salesman to make money. However, I have to make a few points here from someone with Wall Street experience, not more than most but enough to make comments about your failures and “teachings” to newbies:
1. The SEC does not shackle or censor the industry. Mary and John Smith, the average retail investor out there does not have the discretionary dollars or financial know how to invest in hedge funds. The main reason for many rules and restrictions in the laws is that due to the risky and non-public nature of hedge funds, the average investor should be prevented from putting their meager investment dollars in there just to see it get blown up. The rich are either very sophisticated or have the money to afford fancy financial managers to due the due diligence for them if they wish to put money into hedge funds. This is not the class the SEC needs to protect in their point of view.
So to say people have been kept out of the knowledge loop by the SEC is naive of the actual laws out there and their original intents. You are not shackled, the rules are clear in how and who you can talk too. Ms. Mary making $40k a year teaching English does not need to be thrown into the hedge fund industry.
2. Penny stocks are the riskiest investments out there. Anyone with true knowlege of ivnesting knows this already and you are not adding anything new. I think you admit not knowing anything about this sector when you got in. So in reality you needed to educate yourself. The average American might find it anecdotal to learn about penny stocks but they should not even touch them. A book is not needed to tell them this fact of life because most of them knew nothing about penny stocks before hand anyway. The worst thing in the world you can do is pretend to teach people how to actually make money in penny stocks and encourage them to go into this field. That is financially irresponsible.
3. You are closing your fund for one reason only, to stop trading (it was mostly your money anyway) and focus on the new career you have started. The SEC is not handcuffing you in any way since I see advisors all day on CNBC talking their book with full disclosure. People here truly do not hate you they are insulted by the double talk as though we are the naive group of people you are selling the book to.
4. You are not offering any amazing expose on the hedge fund industry. The rules and restrictions on hedge funds and advertising is easily found on Google. They all come from the SEC laws on the books since the 1930s. You are more focsued on the manipulation that occurs in the penny stock sector and again, the informed already know that a $0.40 stock with 5000 shares traded is easily manipulated.
My point is that you traded from your living room and started a hedge fund with your own money and a few investors. You actually do not have true insight into the hedge fund world because you were never in it. Jim Cramer was in the hedge fund world, Long-term Capital Management, the guys on Wall Street with $1 billion in assets are swimming head deep in the real world of raising capital, managing assets, leverage and returns. So it is a little misleading. I think you would have done better marketing talking about the penny stock markets and focusing on that. Your complaints on the SEC and the hedge fund industry is like a college Division 2 ball player claiming to critique the Major Leagues, from the outside.
So stop for a second and realize that behind these names are people with long industry experience and trading backgrounds who have a better sense of what the industry is and can see that you are waving your hands to get the attention but lack the substance. And no I do not need to read the book because you have already told me all I need to see. Trading your own account pretty much and in penny stocks and with assets of less than $2 million is not the hedge fund industry. I know many retail acconts which are much bigger and more active in alternative investments but so do a lot of people here.
Your marketing approach is not for the industry it is for those ignorant of the industry who dream of trading so they live through your story but for myself, I live this everyday and understand the SEC laws and industry regulations.
So I say this without trashing since I support you in your book as writing a book is a wonderful experience. What I take issue is the claims that you and the book and what you are offering are something they are not. Fine for the uninformed public since they do not know any better but for most of us familair with penny stocks, hedge funds and the SEC, it is more of the same and what Google can reveal. If you wish I can put a detailed google collection of info right here.
Tudor Jones Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Quotes from TimothySykes, and our replies:
1. SYKES SAID: ” If you’d read the book, you’d see my trading success continued long past the bubble and my short selling strategy has continued to work very well in a now 5-year old bull market.”
——————————————————-
OUR REPLY: Your 5 year return shows otherwise. You made ur bulk between 1999-2002, times that we will NEVER see again. You should be commended on keeping most of the money and being ambitious enough to trade while in college. I wish I did the same, but then, most of us did not get $12,000 at the age of 16, we had part time jobs to help pay for our own expenses.
Enough with your stats, they are all over ET. The fact is that you have been unable to make money for the last 5 years, and even when you returns are looked at closely, you have no apparent edge outside 1999-2002.
If your strategy worked, you would still be trading your fund.
——————————————————-
2. SYKES SAID: “If you learned more about my DVD, you’d see I say stay away from OTCBB and Pink Sheets–my main focus is Nasdaq smallcap, very liquid, very volatile, very executable. Recent plays include CHNR, JRJC, CPSL, ZVUE, BHIP, SCON on and on”
——————————————————-
OUR REPLY: First of all, I would NEVER buy your DVD or even listen to it. It’s snake oil. Plain and simple, if your strategies were so good, you would not be selling it. Make all the excuses you want about your lack of discipline, the fact is that if your strategies still worked, you would invest in them, even hire a REAL trader to execute, if needed. Your fund would still be open.
Second, most penny stocks are OTCBB and Pink Sheets. So only trading Nasdaq small cap sub $5 stocks is not exactly a Penny Stock strategy. AMEX actually has better plays in that category. Once again, you show your lack of knowledge.
——————————————————-
3. SYKES SAID: “My critique of the hedge fund industry is from a startup’s point of view. All the biggest funds have little to no idea about what’s going on down here and nobody else is willing to risk their futures to tell it like it is. All I know is that industry regulations have hurt the little guy and thats infuriating.”
——————————————————-
OUR REPLY: Oh cry me a river. Maybe the SEC should grant hedge fund status to everyone.
As I have said, you have ZERO idea about the industry. If you only realized how much work, staffing, planning & legal/accounting expenses goes into setting up a REAL hedge fund. And that’s prior to even putting on the first trade. Maybe it’s you who does not have an idea about the other side.
——————————————————-
4. SYKES SAID: “It’s true, I’m all about entertainment because I do think business and finance is fun. We are losing our youth to the wrong element–it’s time somebody tried to bring them back to what really matters.”
——————————————————-
OUR REPLY: There already is a Jim Cramer. I keep trying to give you a clue, THERE IS NOTHING NEW & EXTRAORDINARY IN YOUR GAME. NOTHING!!!
Have you ever watched CNBC? So what the hell are you talking about “We are losing our youth”. CNBC is all bells and whistles, with bright lights, cheerleaders, fun fun fun. It’s been a steady trend for years toward making finance & business FUN.
——————————————————-
5. SYKES SAID: “Please let’s continue this dialogue, it’s not often that I have a chance to have a meaningful debate on here.”
——————————————————-
OUR REPLY: Timmay, most of the debate is with yourself. Your target audience are morons who are looking for a quick buck & unwilling to learn, put in the time and accept the reality of trading. Everyone else sees through your charade. While you need to keep up appearances, it is not logical for you to do that on ET. You simply do not have the experience or the knowledge to play this Snake Oil game with guys who have seen it before. You’re getting picked apart and have been picked apart, caught lying & contradicting yourself, then trying to make lame excuses. And then you conitinue to antagonize by posting all these reviews in your desperate attempt to validate your book & yourself.
Paul Green Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 11:17 am
We don’t “hate” you, Tim Sykes. We hate what he stand for: vanity, narcissism, exhibitionism, self-importance, greed, investment foolishness, and stupidity.
For example, last month after watching “Alive Day” on HBO, about injured soldiers from Iraq. I was humbled by their stories and their sacrifice.
Then I stumbled on this juvenile toolbag/Sykes on TV/”Mojo” (groan) and was struck by the contrast between the soldiers humility and selflessness and Tim’s vapid self-absorption.
I suppose we can’t expect more out of a privileged and probably deeply insecure book salesman, but why in the world is anyone listening to this guy? I’d love to see Sykes debate Jack Bogle, David Swesen, or some other legend of the investment world who could easily dispatch Tim’s argument that hedge funds are “better” than mutual funds.
To think that some young investors, who could pay a very minimal fee for a perfectly good index mutual fund, is going to hand over their money to Tim for that shitty dvd or book, then lose money like Tim; its just Sad. We don’t “hate” you, Tim. We hate what you stand for: vanity, narcissism, exhibitionism, self-importance, greed, investment foolishness, and stupidity.
Mike O. Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 11:23 am
No Tim Sykes, you are not a bad guy at all. But you do not realize that your flash in the pan story has a limited shelf life. We all know your family no longer trusts you with investing their money because you have lost them hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that you now need to find a new career.
Let me be honest with you because I do not hate you, want to call you nasty names like others here or begrudge you any success. But you are being displayed as a trader, hedge fund manager et al and your actions are more media whore-ish and childish, sort of Cramer for the even less-informed. Your are giving a stereotype, though unintentionally to the position that many resent because this is serious.
Losing money is not a game and acting like, oh I made mistakes here learn from them is not accurate. Beginners are not going to do the same thing you did on the whole and non-beginners already know the pitfalls of small-cap investing. So you are overlooking the obvious, you are trying to maximize the current popularity to make money on the book and MOVE into another career.
There is nothing wrong with that since trading failed but we all see it and your inability to admit you are looking to change into media seems naive. You want to publish books, have your own TV show and become something that no longer involves you trading OPM. When you embrace that, you will do fine.
AJ Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Sorry Tim but your book/dvd are overhyped and embarassingly bad!! You are an OK guy, but new investors need to be warned about you.
It is sad that you are a failed fund manager now trying to sell book and dvd to poor suckers…
..maybe you should go back to college and develop real skills…
Jonathan Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
amazing the hate comments on this board–better check the IP addresses, they all sound like one guy! Tim’s really pissed someone off, but it’s incredibly fun to watch. for the record, I took a chance on Tim’s DVD and book and I thoroughly enjoyed them both. he really makes the stock market understandable and DOES NOT promise readers riches, in fact, he focuses mostly on his losses, which is unheard of! Tim, great job, people will see the light eventually
Nicole A. Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Tim is incredible, besides being extremely cute and charismatic, you can tell he know what he’s talking about too. Lots of jealous people out there and guys, you should be!
Ex-Sykes Fan Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Loser Sykes Luck Runs Out and Self Publishes Book To Make Some Money Off Of Newbies and Suckers…..
Maybe Timothy Sykes will find some type of work which will allow him to succeed; but trading and self-publishing books will not allow him to actually contribute to society, and Sykes admits that he continues to lose OPM.
After reading Sykes book, story can be summarised in a nutshell:
1) Timmy made money trading the NASDAQ bubble(along with everyone else), and he did not demonstrate good money management. Basically, “lucky monkey” effect….
2) Timmy has not made money trading in the last 5 years because his luck ran out, and the bad risk management.
3) Timmy is trying to make money off his ‘99-’02 track record, while lying about his trading failures over the last 5 years.
4) Timmy has averaged less than 1% annual return with his Sykes/Cilantro “hedge fund” since 2003. So, investors would have been better with interest bearing checking account.
5) Timmy lies that “..my Fund bleeding has stopped…”, but actually he lost his investors very large amounts of money throughout 2006-07, including continuous losses every month of Summer 2007. Sykes Fund “Bleeding” has not stopped, but rather continues as Sykes has lost over a third of his investors money since Jan 2006.
I just saved you the $20 book fee. Book is not worth reading even if you get it for free….
Baron R. Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
I read the Sykes book, and it was a waste of time and money!
If Sykes was any good at trading stocks and making money, then we would never have heard from him. Instead, we get Timmay SPAM to buy his ****** book because he can not earn a living trading!
Honest Comments Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
No reason to hate Tim or be jealous, he does not want the truth of his snake oil book and dvd to get out:
Sykes is the biggest attention whore I have seen in a long time. He is like Paris Hilton without the talent.
- TimOK/BookSUCKS
Timothy Sykes, our resident idiot and attention slut, shares his “fooled by randomness” experiences in a crappy book which is not worth $20….
- SykesBook=toiletpaper
The only humor in this, is that Tim is actually being serious. It is just a shame that he is the only one who takes himself seriously.
- Anonymous
KarlKimbal Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Recent public quotes made by Timmay:
“The funny thing that you guys are gonna find out is that the plays that created my fortune keep happening, even if I’m too undisciplined to properly take advantage of them.
I can’t raise $ because all my friends and family were right there with on CYGT so they don’t look likely to give me any more $ anytime soon.
Unlike every other finance book, mine is not to toot my own horn. In fact many people say I’m too hard on myself.
I could care less about the Wall St. community, ever since I told a few people I don’t do coke, I’ve been on the outside anyway.
Actually I can trade these strategies myself, but it’s just not scalable enough to continue to devote my life to. However, not everyone is as spoiled as me and I’m sure there will be quite a few people who will be more than happy to make $50k/year from Penny Stocks.
Man you just don’t get it–I made so much so quickly because I was willing to take bigtime risks…..That only leaves little potential gains for me or for people I decide to teach.
I don’t claim to be an accomplished fund manager–but I definitely am a battle-tested fund manager and for giving helpful advice and telling wild stories, that is the key.
I’m going to be 100% open about everything (hence my somewhat damaged reputation), but, in time, it’s going to earn me respect, especially when people figure out that I really can teach them to make tens of thousands of dollars off Penny Stocks annually.
Ha, my friends and family all invested in CYGT, thats why they no confidence in me and I don’t blame them.
The key is that my strategy simply isn’t scalable, so the best way for me to profit from it is to teach thousands of other people to get involved,
I could care less about being known as a good or bad trader–I’ve repeatedly stated I’m not a great trader.”
The question is why would a magazine targeting young successful readers want to publish anything from or about this kind of person. He can’t trade, he is just spending all of his time generating web interest. Your magazine has been had; big time!
anonymous Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
KarlKimbal, good one!!!
Jason Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Holy G-D people, Tim’s book isn’t bad at all, it’s right up there with Confessions of a Street Addict as one of my favorites
You people need to get a life
gaj Says:
October 26th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Overall: Most people who have read Sykes book do NOT like it, and do NOT recommend to others to buy it.
The title of timothy sykes’ self-published book: “An american hedge fund: How i made $2 million as a stock operator and created a hedge fund” offers great promise. any trader who has versed up on the classical trading books would instantly recognize the subtitle as a combination of two of the greatest trading books ever, nicolas darvas _how i made two million in the stock market_ and edwin lefevre’s (auto)biography of jesse livermore, _reminiscences of a stock operator_. unfortunately, the only similarity between these classics and sykes’ book is in the titles.
the aforementioned classics brought much to the table; lefevre’s books offered trading lessons never previously brought into print and darvas’ book gave a simple, trend-following system on how to beat the market which helped many future traders. _american hedge fund_, unfortunately, serves up an appetizer and dessert and calls it a full course meal.
the central theme for sykes’ book seems to be one of ego. most of his mistakes are admitted by the author because of his great ego, and many of his public actions appear to be caused by an insatiable appetite to become the next jim cramer. and while cramer had a 10+ year career as a serious hedge fund manager with significant funds under his control, sykes’ fund ran (the author has stated the fund has now been closed) for a few years with a mere pittance of capital compared to others.
the author details the well-recited tale of turning his bar mitzvah money into a significant grub stake during the end of the nasdaq bubble, by capitalizing, along with others, on the momentum boom. to the author’s credit, he learned that things had changed in 2000, and didn’t give back much of the hard-earned gains from the runup. instead, he started focusing on shorting stocks, which led to his still-favorite successful trading method of being short “unsustainable” runups in smaller cap stocks.
but for those looking to start up a hedge fund, sykes doesn’t get into too much detail on the real meat and bones behind creating a hedge fund. instead he spends most of his time complaining about SEC rules, touting his effort to get his name out to the public, and complaining about becoming highly leveraged in an illiquid pink sheet stock. this rookie mistake was compounded by continuing to deposit more money into the company. reading up on some of the published (and internet-accessible) material on the subject would have saved sykes hundreds of thousands of dollars, and us the dreariness of reading about it.
sykes keeps comparing his trading record to larger hedge funds, and then wondering why he doesn’t have access to larger investors. anyone who would study sykes’ record, even without access to the specific trades, would come up with one of two conclusions: either too much risk was taken on, or because the trading method is not scalable!
this story would have been much more interesting if sykes had delved more seriously into the hedge fund industry, but i suspect that he could only see it through the eyes of his tiny in-name-only hedge fund, which would not offer a clear view of the shenanigans of the industry.
who would enjoy this book? people who watch cnbc as a hobby or a social friend. voyeurs who like to imagine the successes of others being their own. and, sure, people who have never read a trading book before - or don’t know what things were like in the late 1990s - can gain some information here. it is well-written, even when it strays from the main focus of a trading book. but with the proliferation of so many better trading books and with this one having such a misleading title, why spend the money to get this one?
i have no doubt that sykes, when he sticks to his basic setups, is a successful trader. that’s not something many people can say. his story should have been one of many, a la _market wizards_ or _millionaire traders_, and not worthy of his own book. and until he removes his ego from of the equation and focuses on going beneath the superficial level, it will be difficult for people to take his actions seriously.
Phil Coyne Says:
October 27th, 2007 at 11:28 am
If Sykes was really a consistently successful stock trader, then we would have NEVER even heard of him because he would be too busy making money for himself and investors/family/friends.
Instead, we get timmay SPAMFEST about that horrible book and worthless dvd.
Those who can (trade) do, those who can’t write books and try to sell dvd’s.
Jason Says:
October 27th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Ha, most people love Tim’s book–for all these “people who hate Tim”, there’s only a few negative Amazon reviews. All these “haters” are just a few poor sports who use aliases/emails to make the hate seem much greater than it is.
Tim’s book is a new classic, don’t believe me, just ask the Dow Jones Newswire that compared it to “Catcher in the Rye”, “Reminiscences of a Stock Operator” and James Cramer.
Sykes="Jason" Says:
October 27th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
“Jason” = Tim Sykes (loser Sykes uses many aliases to SPAM about his shitty book).
Book is NOT a classic, but rather a way for Sykes to make excuses and money from his failures. Book is not worth $20.
Jason Says:
October 27th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
I am not Tim, just a fan. And for some reason, I believe the Dow Jones a little more than I do you. Oh yeah, and there’s about 200 other respected people (who don’t hide behind aliases) who agree with me. This is from Tim’s website
http://timothysykes.com/index.php/books/an-american-hedge-fund.html
You lose
Sykes="Jason" Says:
October 27th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Sykes lies again:
“I am not Tim, just a fan. Oh yeah, ….. This is from Tim’s website”
ha ha ha…Fan post Sykes website link, very convenient…ha ha ha…
What a pathetic joke Sykes has become from failed hedge fund manager to “SPAM aliases” to sell his snake oil crap…
…I agree with your family Tim, those people in your family who know you best do not trust you with their money, and neither should anybody else…
Mike Greenberg Says:
October 28th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
I also read Tim Sykes book, and it was not worth reading even if you get it for free. It is basically about a guy who was very lucky while gambling with stocks, then his luck ran out..
..now Sykes needs to make money by being a book/dvd salesman…
Jon Updike Says:
October 28th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
I like Tim Sykes only as wacky entertainment, but he is getting a little more emotionally unstable, such as insulting any reader of the book who is unimpressed, and demanding that Amazon delete any bad book reviews…kind of weird…I think Tim is trying to milk his “TV fame” the best he can.
Gerald Anderson Says:
October 28th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
SYKES said:”Once you read my book, you’ll see stock picks don’t matter, what matters is your ability to profit from patterns that repeat, time and time again.”
OUR REPLY: Tim, Do you expect us to believe that you have found profitable patterns in financial data without any knowledge of quantitative analysis or equity analysis? Here we are (all of us at hedge fund other than Cilantro Fund Partners) spending zillions of dollars on financial data, quants, equity analysts, sell-side research and supercomputers, trying to find a pattern (any pattern) that can give us a slight edge on the market, while you have managed to discover such patterns all by yourself and without any education or resources. And, joy of joys, you will soon be giving away your secrets to the public in the form of a $20 book.
I think what really happened is that you’ve given up on trying to analyze individual companies, because that’s just too much work and too boring (who wants to think about businesses when we can be making money instead?) But you still need to sell some kind of snake oil to your audience and your hedge fund investors. And that snake oil is … chart reading. Couldn’t you have been at least a little original, Tim? Of course not, you’re too dumb for that sort of thing.
I would say that at least one person will lose his life’s savings because of your book, and will probably kill himself. But let’s face it, there are hundreds of thousands of phony books about investing, written by con men like yourself. I guess nothing can stop a sucker from parting with his money, but you are making it just that much easier for him.
JD Says:
October 28th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
These comments aren’t from investors, they sound more like they are little jealous kids. Hell, their comments make it obvious that they haven’t read Tim’s book! Otherwise they would’ve known that Tim’s losses were from one stock and there was nothing he could do about it. This is a great cautionary tale and I for one am looking forward to seeing what Tim’s future holds
Sykes="JD" Says:
October 28th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
I unfortunately bought and read Sykes book. It completely fails to realistically convey the relative risks and profit potential for the average wannabe trader. The book never hooked me. I struggled to get through each chapter.
Like many others, I really tried to give Sykes a fair chance. Save yourself a dime and avoid it - if someone gives it to you, and you can’t return it, use to start the BBQ grill.
It is so strange that Sykes can not believe that people see through his “bull-ship”, and know that he has nothing to offer investors.
Sarah Kirkland Says:
October 28th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
I just finished reading Timothy Sykes book, and i’m extremely disappointed. I was hoping to read an inspiring tale of growth, and it was the exact opposite. It really seems like Timothy has regressed over time.
I was really shocked to read that he took such a big hit on a single penny stock, a rookie error if you ask me. But this is someone who supposedly had years of experience with trading, so I don’t understand why Timothy showed such poor judgement.
Now, he needs more money to live on and is trying to sell dvd to poor unsuspecting new investors. Please warn people not to trust Mr. Sykes!
B. Alda Says:
October 28th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
I get suspicious when I read five-star reviews about books that don’t offer much content like Sykes book. Of the 50 or so books that I have read to date on trading, Sykes book would easily be one of the poorest in terms of substance - there is no ‘brain-feeding’ content whatsoever.
In my opinion, it offers nothing to the beginner or advanced trader and I am surprised that some people have found positive comments for it (I note they don’t really say why it is good). There is nothing new covered or any depth in what is covered (at least nothing a decent website couldn’t offer).
If you are just starting with trading or investing, save your money and try to skip Sykes book by a million miles.
Hermann Klinke Says:
October 28th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Isn’t it funny that many failed traders, like Sykes, turn into “trading authors or experts” that want to show you how to trade?
I think that’s the greatest irony of the trading “education” industry. “Those that can, do; those that can’t, teach.” applies here about Tim Sykes .
Timothy Sykes Says:
October 28th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
I think it’s even funnier that there’s several dozen negative comments here and yet only a few negative reviews ANYWHERE else. This leads me to believe all these negative reviews are from one or two jealous little kids. Grow up!
T. Nick Says:
October 29th, 2007 at 5:17 am
I like Tim OK as a person, but my problems with him are a result of the stupid lies he tells everybody, such as
“The reason I am getting out of the hedge fund business is that I love teaching too much and I can’t teach while running a hedge fund”
or
“The reason I am not actually posting any picks is that I am too busy winding down my hedge fund”
or this, perhaps the biggest pile of unadulterated ******** I have ever seen posted on these boards by anyone who might even remotely be considered sane
“the best way for me to profit from [my system] is to teach thousands of other people to get involved, playing these microcaps from all different angles, increasing the liquidity and volatility for all”.
Nothing to do with his poor past track record. Everything to do with calling ******** when I see it.
And once again, I have no problem with anyone making money selling a dream. If the credulous buy their wares, they deserve what they get. Dreams can be sold without telling idiotic lies. If part of your plan is to tell idiotic lies, don’t whine and complain when someone else points them out.
Mcshy Says:
October 30th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
TIM…enough already!….seriously, no one really cares about your story. You won the lottery(your trading was luck), ripped off your clients while running a hedge fund and lost alot of their money, though not much of yours and now you’re running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off, screaming for disclosure and selling a wonderful strategy that your have such confidence in, you are willing to trade it with a couple hundred shares. Do you disclose that to any prospective clients? I think not! How about disclosing the fact that you havn’t made a living trading in at least the last three years?
How’s this for disclosure: Your story should be the Poster story why retail investors should NOT be able to invest in hedgefunds, and should be part of the disclosures all investors sign before they invest in the market or a hedge fund. That way, they won’t get sucked in, and lose their arse, while hacks like yourself take no risk and pocket 2%administrative fee and 20%performance fee!
Van Hoy Says:
October 31st, 2007 at 7:38 am
Sykes dvd teaches techniques that caused him to:
1) Lose over half a million dollars trading one penny stock in which you took a ridiculously large position relative to your equity size and then failed to exercise the discipline necessary to take a loss when the trade went against you
2) lose so much of the hard-earned money of your friends and family that they refused to allow you access to their funds in the future
3) close your ‘hedge fund’ after returning a total of 1% in 5 years, thereby failing to match even the performance of a chequing account
4) give up trading and start selling educational materials
You mean those techniques?
Timothy Sykes Says:
October 31st, 2007 at 9:02 am
All concerns will be addressed on Nov. 1. Check my website for the details!
Shame On Sykes Says:
October 31st, 2007 at 9:16 am
Timothy Sykes latest escapade adds more shame (if that is even conceivable) to his recent sprint to become the biggest buffoon in the financial media. Somehow he was given a podium with a column on The Street. He proceeded to recommend a short against a company and then went gaga all over the financial message boards like Raging Bull and Yahoo to actually bash his short pick. I have never seen a financial columnist post a short in a mainstream publication and then immediately start bashing it on a public message board. It is really unprofessional if not completely unethical. Meanwhile the brash cad proudly promotes the firestorm of hatred he builds around himself in order to promote his dopey book. The solution is simple: Don’t buy his awful book because that is how he is putting food on the table since he can’t trade effectively for a living. By the way, that stock that blew up his “hedge fund” ($1M+ ROTFLMAO) was a company called Cygnus, a Pink Sheet, yes an unregulated, totally illiquid pink sheet, called Cygnus. He bought it because his college roommate’s daddy ran the company. That was evidently the extent of Timmy’s due diligence. This guy is a serial loser. Tim Sykes should be banned from all media outlets and any party serving a higher grade of beverage than Schlitz beer.
More On Sykes Says:
October 31st, 2007 at 5:57 pm
For those who can’t get enough, Young Money also has an audio interview with Tim Sykes.
More Sykes SPAM Says:
November 1st, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Sto Sykes SPAMFEST:
So what, how cares about that loser? Now Sykes is doing some stupid “TIM” SPAM promotion to sell that shitty dvd.
Posted by: Stop Sykes SPAM | November 02, 2007 at 01:37 PM
Re: Sykes amateurish hedge fund book:
Is it more sad or amusing when someone's young ego spurs them to write a book when they possess neither literary skill nor talent? Sykes has commented elsewhere that his goal to become "a great teacher, not a great investor" but in this sad excuse for a tutorial he proves to be neither as his amateurish errors practically drive him from the market, credibility (what little he had) completely shredded. Perhaps, however, it's not truly his fault: let's face it, when it comes to imparting wisdom from Wall Street it is simply not possible that a raw twenty-something simply has much to say.
Not that Sykes doesn't try however. In perusing the "comments" portion of Amazon book reviews, he's certainly not reluctant to chime in and offer a defense at nearly every turn. Find me ONE other author at Amazon that feels so compelled to argue his own incompetence.
Tim Sykes should end his determined quest to become a media personality as his grating manner and decidedly non-telegenic looks suit him far better to shine shoes.
Posted by: Ben Storey | December 01, 2007 at 11:39 AM
Timothy Sykes is a hypocrite.
After I discovered severe corruption at Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, I wrote a fully documented message detailing the allegations, which I posted on Timothy Syke’s website.
In a very short time, my message was deleted. When I contacted Sykes, his excuses ran the gamut from “the file size was too large” to “the message doesn’t fit the theme of our website” to “you don’t write good enough”.
Timothy Sykes is not a prophet who exposes “manipulative forces at work in companies, the media, ANALysts, etc.” as he proclaims. Timothy Sykes is a liar who probably works *for* the manipulative forces as a facade of opposition.
Posted by: Jeff Bowyer | November 13, 2008 at 04:10 AM