Jiri “George” Svoboda, Turtle Class of 1984 Jiri “George” Svoboda is a Turtle mystery. While he did initially register with the National Futures Association (a government-sanctioned regulatory body) to trade money for clients in 1988, the association never actually granted him final registration, presumably because of his 1988 felony convictions for producing false identification documents and making a false statement in an application for a passport, as well as his failure to disclose such felony convictions to the NFA. Why a fake passport? As an accomplished card counter, Svoboda was presumably searching for a way to play blackjack abroad and get his winnings back into the States anonymously. This circumspect history aside, several of his peers had great praise for Svoboda; one even said, “He’s a very practical person. He’s an extremely ethical and honest person who lives in a very black and shades-of-gray world.” And one Turtle, who declined to be interviewed on the record, was a big fan of Svoboda’s: “His performance is probably the best of all of the Turtles since 1988.” The Turtle grapevine did say that Svoboda has, over the years, provided advice to major Las Vegas casino owners on how to stop cheaters. Beyond that, Svoboda remains an enigma—which is probably just how he likes it.
Appendix II
Related Websites More information on the Turtles and their teachers Richard Dennis and William Eckhardt can be found at: www.abrahamtrading.com (Salem Abraham’s website) www.daledellutri.com (Dale Dellutri’s website) www.eckhardttrading.com (William Eckhardt’s website) www.emccta.com (Liz Cheval’s website) www.hawksbillcapital.com (Tom Shanks’s website) www.jpdent.com (Jim DiMaria’s website) www.markjwalsh.com (Mark Walsh’s website) www.michaelcovel.com (Michael Covel’s website) www.saxoninvestment.com (Howard Seidler’s website) www.trendfollowing.com (Michael Covel’s website) www.turtletrader.com (Michael Covel’s website)
Appendix III
Turtle Performance Data “In a world of constant change, risk is actually a form of safety, because it accepts that world for what it is. Conventional safety is where the danger really lies, because it denies and resists that world.” Charles S. Sanford, Jr. Jerry Parker was not the only Turtle to assemble a continuous track record since the Turtle program ended in 1988. Several other Turtles have gone on to have professional trading careers. Their careers are concrete proof of what sticking with a system over the long haul can do for a trading account. Table Appendices 3.1 and 3.2 graphically illustrate the month-bymonth processes and performances of Jerry Parker and Salem Abraham. Table Appendix 3.3 illustrates the yearly performance history of Dennis’s former partner William Eckhardt and the performance histories of the other Turtles continuously trading since 1988. Table Appendix 3.1: Annual and Monthly Returns, 198–-2–06, for Jerry Parker’s Chesapeake Capital. Month-by-Month Returns with Annual Total Return
Table Appendix 3.2: Annual and Monthly Returns, 19–-2–06, for Salem Abraham’s Abraham Trading. Month-by-Month Returns with Annual Total Return Table Appendix 3.3
Appendix IV
Turtle Performance While Trading for Richard Dennis The following performance data have never been published. They are the actual Turtle performance trading results while the Turtles traded for Richard Dennis, along with the amount of money they traded each month. Table Appendix 4.1: Mike Carr Turtle Performance, January 1984-April 1988.
Table Appendix 4.2: Mike Cavallo Turtle Performance, January 1984- April 1988.
Table Appendix 4.3: Liz Cheval Turtle Performance, January 1984–April 1988.
Table Appendix 4.4: Jim DiMaria Turtle Performance, January 1985- April 1988.
Table Appendix 4.5: Jeff Gordon Turtle Performance, January 1984-April 1988.
Table Appendix 4.6: Philip Lu Turtle Performance, January 1985-April 1988.
Table Appendix 4.7: Jim Melnick Turtle Performance, January 1984- January 1988.
Table Appendix 4.8: Mike O’Brien Turtle Performance, January 1985- April 1988.
Table Appendix 4.9: Stig Ostgaard Turtle Performance, January 1984- April 1988.
Table Appendix 4.10: Jerry Parker Turtle Performance, January 1984- April 1988.
Table Appendix 4.11: Brian Proctor Turtle Performance, January 1985- April 1988.
Table Appendix 4.12: Paul Rabar Turtle Performance, January 1985- April 1988.
Table Appendix 4.13: Howard Seidler Turtle Performance, January 1984- April 1988.
Table Appendix 4.14: Tom Shanks Turtle Performance, January 1985- April 1988.
Also by Michael W. Covel Trend Following: How Great Traders Make Millions in Up or Down Markets
About the Author, Michael Covel “Call me arrogant, cocky, crybaby, whiner or whatever names you like. At least they’re not calling us losers anymore. If people like you too much, it’s probably because they’re beating you.” Steve Spurrier, University of South Carolina football coach Taking very little at face value is my modus operandi. In fact, since childhood I’ve challenged the accepted norms regarding access to the truth. Along the way I’ve challenged a number of people who have wanted to keep the curtains closed. In this small world, one of the more unlikely people to have asked me, “How do you go about unearthing details?” was Mikhail Gorbachev (This happened at a reception sponsored by Christian Baha, who runs the managed futures firm Superfund). The former president had been told in Russian that I write about men who trade big money, so when we were introduced he asked me in Russian, “What is it like to write about these men?” Realizing his time was limited, I kept it short: “Very interesting.” He waited for the translation. “It must be difficult to get behind the scenes; how do you do it?” I smiled, “Oh, I am very good at digging.” He laughed. No translation needed there. He understood my English perfectly. Walking into the world of Turtles was not planned. It was an unconventional journey. Spring 1994 was the “get your act together, now is the time” year for me. I had just finished an MBA at Florida State, having spent my final semester in London studying international relations. Back in the States, armed with the so-called prerequisite advanced degree and a deep desire to become rich, Wall Street called. Unfortunately, Virginia, my home state, was not the place to start looking for a mentor or an opportunity that would lead to big money. Most of my friends were products of government workers, not the types
looking beyond security or “fitting in.” So, I tracked down one of the few Florida State alums on Wall Street, recently retired James Massey. He had made millions at Salomon Brothers and was memorably portrayed in Michael Lewis’s classic Liar’s Poker. [Jim] Massey … was John Gutfreund’s (the then CEO) hatchet man, an American corporate Odd Job. It didn’t require a triple jump of the imagination to picture him decapitating insolent trainees with a razor-edged bowler hat. He had what some people might consider an image problem: he never smiled … Trainees feared Massey. He seemed to prefer it that way.” 1 At lunch, Massey did not say a word. After a half hour the conversation was speeding downhill. Astute enough to see my sink-or swim-predicament, I said: “Have I said anything so far that makes you think I am full of shit?” That got his attention. “Yes, you said you wanted to be the best. You don’t want to be the best; you just want to win.” Massey, like any good coach, was offering the reminder that winners play harder than anyone else. As fate would have it, I didn’t get hired at Salomon Brothers, but right after meeting Massey, the word ‘Turtle’ crossed my desk for the first time. Shortly thereafter, in 1996, long before YouTube.com, Google, and millions of blogs, I was there at the start of TurtleTrader .com—a controversial website designed to teach trend following and Turtle trading. It ended up becoming one of the most popular financial websites in the world and was ultimately the start of this book. One of my goals has always been to make people think twice. That attitude has made me a target, but I was a baseball catcher so I am used to taking the shots. I often face intense reactions because I represent the other side that’s never considered. Ten years of digging and reporting have produced my fair share of critics, some legit, some off the wall. I am a messenger and people love to shoot messengers. At the end of the day, this was not the career direction I’d originally planned as a freshly minted graduate. However, sitting at the nexus of access and insight from some of the best trading minds on the planet has
become my singular passion—for now. For more information: www.turtletrader.com and www.michael covel.com. Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
PRAISE FOR The Complete TurtleTrader “Regarding your new book [The Complete Turtle Trader], I can say that after hearing the turtle story many times from many of the people that are part of the story and after reading many articles about such story, this is by far the most entertaining, inspiring, extensive, and honest story of the turtles I have ever read.” — Dr. Francisco J. Vaca Vaca Capital Management LLC Turtle Paul Rabar is a principal with Vaca Capital Management LLC “The Complete Turtle Trader, Michael Covel’s engaging and wellwritten account of the Turtles, covers not only the experiment, but a second generation of Turtles who were inspired by the Dennis/Eckhardt vision. One of the most interesting segments of the book covers Salem Abraham, who by chance met one of the original Turtles, took a 180 degree life turn, and began his own highly successful fund. It’s a powerful illustration that, though markets have changed since the 1980s, the dynamics of success have not. Covel’s book reads more like a piece of financial journalism than I expected, and I mean that as a compliment. It is this well-rounded perspective that makes The Complete TurtleTrader complete and a definitive contribution to the trading literature. He has clearly researched his topic and sources his quotes. He also casts a critical eye on his subjects, investigating why some Turtles found long-term success and why others didn’t. A very enlightening portion of the book concerns Richard Dennis himself, the ending of the Turtle experiment, and the master’s departure from his own trading rules and principles.” — Brett Steenbarger, Author “I did enjoy the book…I hope it’s doing well for you.” — Tom Shanks “The book was wonderful…”
— Michael Shannon “Liked it. Congratulations on a job well done.” —Jeff Gordon “Book is very good…thank you for going for the truth and objectivity.” — Lucy Wyatt Mattinen “Nice book.” — Russell Sands “All in all, not bad. I wish it had never been done and I wish I were not in it, but I know that you were definitely going to do it, so I figured I would try to get the truth out as much as possible. By and large, it worked that way.” —Jim DiMaria
Copyright Turtle Trader® and the turtle shell logo are registered trademarks of Marylebone Holdings, Ltd. Used with permission. THE COMPLETE TURTLE TRADER. Copyright © 2007 by Michael W. Covel. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. FIRST COLLINS TRADE PAPERBACK EDITION PUBLISHED IN 2008. The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Covel, Michael. The complete turtletrader: the legend, the lessons, the results / Michael Covel.— 1st ed. p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-06-124171-0 1. Dennis, Richard (Richard J.), 1949- 2. Commodity trading advisors— United States. 3. Commodity exchanges — United States 4. Speculation— United States 5. Investment analysis—United States. I. Title. HG6046.5.C68 2007 332.64’40973-dc22 2007023860 09 10 11 12 13 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 EPub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2010 ISBN: 978-0-061-74061-9
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