Ly Millennials Discussion Threads

[ariane] 21/3/2011 07:46

possibility of a float according to the FT today

[tim 3] 30/1/2009 00:48

relishing - 29 Jan'09 - 17:27 - 15 of 15


The last 2 weeks when only the 3 decent traders were left and could have made the most interesting and informative part was translated into about 5 minutes of screen time.
Sums up what the series was about really.

good point

[relishing] 29/1/2009 17:27

The last 2 weeks when only the 3 decent traders were left and could have made the most interesting and informative part was translated into about 5 minutes of screen time.
Sums up what the series was about really.

[mtness] 29/1/2009 17:25

I thought it was all a bit emotional - I would have preferred to have seen a bit more on the way they come to their decisions

[tim 3] 28/1/2009 15:53

Last nigts prog was very good best tv I have seen in ages gives some VERY BASIC ideas on whats needed for trading too.

[mtness] 13/1/2009 19:09

I think we all agree it's probably not what it seems and is certainly 'entertainment' - I think the idea is to see if people who know nothing can do better than people who supposedly know something, but given the losses in hedge funds in 2008 that might not be as difficult as it sounds.

[greedy rooster] 13/1/2009 19:00

Million Dollar Losers

I'll sell the old bloke at 63 - Entertaining but well edited.

[paintace] 13/1/2009 18:48

10 out of 10 for entertainment. Who will be the first trader to toss a coin to decide buy or sell ?

Mr Van Dam must have more money than sense if it's not a 'set up'. If it was real, I agree with Trojan about giving him a slap because he should have trained them better. Not many trade plans on show.

He could have saved the training costs by sending them all on a Darren Winters' free sales pitch sorry I mean free training course where they could learn how to trade with moving averages. LOL

[glennborthwick] 13/1/2009 16:01

like tossing a coin

[mtness] 13/1/2009 15:56

Glenn - sorry didn't realize you had already set up a thread on this show - I set up another one before I saw this one !

I thought the show was amusing, which is what the BBC wanted I guess - give a bunch of amateurs a million dollars and lets all sit around and have a laugh ! Two weeks training is clearly ridiculous and they were in the middle of the worst financial crisis since time began!

[mtness] 13/1/2009 15:52

Yes, they seemed a bit disjointed for a 'team, and I suspect the manager was told to just let them do their own thing. I found it compulsive viewing, just because you were wondering what they were going to do next, which is what the BBC wanted I suppose.

[whonosewhy] 13/1/2009 15:34

Maybe Lex Van Dam was hedging against any trade they did to make sure he did not lose ! Sorry shoudl read more closely ! You have just made that point.

My thoughts were they lacked any sort of trading strategy - I thought they would be targetting a set percentage per day and having key entry points at least.

My other thought was that the 'Manager' former trader guy did not seem that impressive.

He was either not comfortable with the camera or was not a very competent manager of people.

Maybe he was a brilliant trader but never actually managed a team before?

Or perhaps he was told just to babysit and not actually try and teach/coach/cajole them into high performance.

Has the makings of an entertaining series though I think.

[mtness] 13/1/2009 14:09

Yes they did seem rather emotional for people who want to be traders. Mr Van Danm is already a 'hedge fund guru' so what more could he possibly want ? Fame perhaps ? The whole concept is a bit odd but I suspect Mr Van Dam knows what he is doing. I also think he may have been hedging his bets by doing the opposite trades to what the novices did to make sure he would break even. If he didn't then he really is a gambler !

[trojan] 13/1/2009 14:06

You'll find at the end that it was all pretend money or something!!! LOL

The old boy wants a slap imo!!!

[hazelton] 13/1/2009 14:01

I would like to know what Mr Van Dam is going to get out of it. Profit seems unlikley.

[relishing] 13/1/2009 13:59

Loved the way they started off at the beginning of the program full of enthusiasm and brimming with confidence, and after a couple of days trading most of them were reduced to tears!

[mtness] 13/1/2009 13:56

They got 2 weeks training. But it didn't seem to do them much good. But a very entertaining bunch, I suspect that's why they were chosen - like Big Brother contestants.

Anyone know how I can edit the header to this thread ?

[relishing] 13/1/2009 13:54

Yes, interesting. Were they given any training before the trading sessions in last nights show? Got to say they seemed totally undisciplined and seemed to be plucking trades out of thin air at random? But as you say, part of this impression may be down to the presentation for 'maximum viewer entertainment'.

[mtness] 13/1/2009 13:52

The first show was last night and quite fascinating it was too - even though I suspect it has been set up for maxmimum viewer entertainment. All thoughts, comments, discussion etc... much appreciated - I think there will be 8 shows in all and maybe a prize at the end (for the TV show - no this thread!)

[mtness] 13/1/2009 13:50

This thread has been created to 'discuss' the new BBC reality TV show 'Million Dollar Traders' - where a bunch of novices have been given a 2 week crash course (with the emphasis on 'crash' rather on than on 'course' I think) then let loose on the stock market in the middle of the worst financial crisis in living memory with $1 million of someone else's money. The someone else in question is Mr Lex Van Dam (yes that is his real name apparently) - a 'hedge fund guru' ! Let the fun begin/!

See the video below



There is a blog dealing with Million Dollar Traders as they progress through the 8 weeks -

[honiton] 13/1/2009 09:52

they'll learn.

the £5K trade limit is a bit stingy.

I would up it to £30K and look for 0.5 - 1% gains on intraday movement.

You need to keep glued to the screen.

As for the coffee breaks - the best time is between 1.00 and 2.000 before New York opens.
Not much office banter. They should be more involved.

[hazelton] 13/1/2009 06:46

This looks like a poor copy of the Turtle Traders story (Richard Dennison +) of twenty years ago.

I did not understand how they could scale up their efforts to use their capital and they did not seem to have much of a plan. Still it makes good emotional television and is probably cheap. I was surprised with all our regulation that something like this was possible nowadays to do. There were programs like this years ago.

[daveinchy] 13/1/2009 00:24

First impressions - what a laugh - but with two weeks training it was hardly surprising that they were apprehensive and to me it didn't look as if they had any idea of just 'what a trade' was (different to an investment isn't it?) - but perhaps they hadn't been shown - looked as if they had just been sat down in front of a Bloomberg terminal and shown how to use it....still what can I say, I'm 40+ not a millionaire unlike the guy running the back office !

Not to sure if this series will be very popular - but it is interesting anyhow - jezz have I got to get up at 6 o'clock better get off.......

So far this year I haven't done anything either ! Just can't seem to get a handle on it - need to have a word with Lex......nite all...