Monday, June 16, 2008

Lenny Dykstra, Story of a Successful Trader


With no college education, a diet off Coke and French fries, still calling everyone “dude”, the former pro baseball player Lenny “Nails” Dykstra makes stock-trading success seem effortless. Oh, and he owns a Maybach, easily the most expensive automobiles publicly available today (close to 8 figures in USD). Is it really that easy?

Ben McGrath of The New Yorker (yes I read the New Yorker) met up with him at the St. Regis Hotel, where Dykstra shelled out $3,000 a night; they discussed fellow athletes and the upcoming “Player’s Club” magazine until Dykstra had to meet with another interviewer at Sports Illustrated, “Dude, oh my God, take a ride with me…”

Unlike majority of pro athletes, Dykstra actually learned to grow his money and prosper life after retirement, well retirement for pro-athletes tend to occur much earlier than conventional occupations. He started out interested via Jim Cramer’s passionate talks off TV, and eventually found his own niche.

Sure pro athletes make millions during their careers, yet many go broke as soon as retirement hits. Evander Holyfield probably exemplifies this out of anyone these days.

What sets Dykstra different from the rest, seems to lie in his attitude along with necessary diligence toward self learning. He did not search for some easy, quick shortcut, and he knew better than to rely on others’ opinions. Despite having never attended college, he sat down and did his homework, and reaped what he had sowed.

Lenny Dykstra is living proof that with free, independent thinking, along with tireless work ethic, practically anyone off any educational level can trade and profit off the financial markets consistently. Hell, I have more respect for Mr. Dykstra than the Ph.D. academics who sit in comfortable offices and rant about “efficient” markets all day.

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