理查德·丹尼斯(Richard Dennis)——美国期货市场一位具有传奇色彩的人物,Prince of the Pit
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Richard J. Dennis, a commodities trader once known as the "Prince of the Pit," was born in Chicago, in January, 1949. In the early 1970s, he borrowed several thousand dollars and reportedly made $200 million in about ten years. When a futures trading fund under his management incurred significant losses in the stock market crash of 1987 he retired from trading for several years. He has been active in Democratic and Libertarian political causes, most notably in campaigns against drug prohibition.
在多年的投机生涯中,丹尼斯出尽风头,给人的感觉是常常可以在最低点买进,然后在最高峰反手卖空。实际上丹尼斯认为此类买卖得益不多,他积聚的巨额利润,并非依赖准确地测中大市顶点或底部。据他估计,他本人95%的利润来自5%的交易。他深信让利润充分发展的道理。
80年代,丹尼斯成为期货市场叱咤风云的人物,落单入场经常可以带动市势。他的成绩继续提高,平均每年都从市场赚取5000万以上的利润。
1987年股灾中,丹尼斯遭受重挫。旗下基金由损失近半,个人帐户也遭同样败绩。他的投入主要放在卖空债券上。股灾后利率下调,债券冲高,虽有风险控制,但一时难以止住,所以损失惨重。对此他淡然处之。他的过人之处就在于可以不动声色,泰然面对逆境,全无情绪上的波动。他了解“重大损失无可避免”的现实。情感波动对交易并无益处,过于关注反将影响大局。胜败过于介怀,倒表示对自己信心不足。实际上,交易顺手时他不会过分喜悦,运气欠佳时,感情上所受的挫伤自然减弱。
1988年,理查德·丹尼斯淡出交易场,留下一座传奇丰碑。
He became an order runner on the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange at age 17. A few years later, he began trading for his own account at the Mid-America Commodities Exchange, an entry-level floor where "mini" contracts were traded. His profits mounted, as he bought successively new weekly and monthly highs in the trending inflationary markets of the 1970s, and he soon bought a full membership at the vastly more expensive Chicago Board of Trade. To circumvent a rule against a minor as a trader, he worked as his own runner, and handed his orders to his father, who stood in his stead in the pit.
Dennis earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from DePaul University, then accepted a scholarship for graduate study in philosophy at Tulane University, but then changed his mind, and returned to his trading on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade.
In contrast to the vast majority of floor traders, who quickly "scalped" trades in and out of the market, repeatedly throughout a trading day, Dennis held positions for longer periods, seeking to profit from riding along with a trend. He traded commodities from the floor like institutional mutual fund managers invest in securities — riding out short term fluctuations and instead of scalping, holding over the intermediate term to capture significant moves. Dennis often pyramided his positions. In time he realized that moving off the floor would enable him to monitor more markets with more comfort, so he opened an office upstairs in the Chicago Board of Trade.
Dennis prospered enormously and early, in an era in which "anyone with a simple trend-following method and a dart board could make a million dollars," a period of repeated crop failures, and such consequent events as the "Great Russian Grain Robbery" of 1972, when Russian agents secretly purchased 30% of the U.S. wheat crop in the space of a few weeks, which set the stage for solid, sustained price trends in both directions for the next several years.
Dennis believed that successful trading could be taught. To settle a debate on that very point with William Eckhardt, a friend and fellow trader, Dennis recruited and trained 21 men and 2 women,in two groups, one from December 1983, and the other from December 1984. Dennis trained his Turtles, as he called them, for only two weeks. Then he gave each of them a million dollars of his own money to manage, and turned each one loose on the markets. When his experiment ended five years later, his Turtles reportedly had earned an aggregate profit of $175 million.Some of those turtles began and continued careers as successful commodity trading managers.
Dennis managed pools of capital for others in the markets for a while, but withdrew from such magagement after his clients suffered heavy losses. In the Black Monday stock market crash of 1987, he reportedly lost $10 million, with a total of $50 million reportedly lost in 1987-88. In 1990 his firm settled investor complaints of his failure to follow his own rules, for over $2.5 million, without admitting any wrongdoing.
Dennis has published op-ed articles in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Chicago Tribune. He is the president of the Dennis Trading Group Inc. and the vice-chairman of C&D Commodities, a former chairman of the advisory board of the Drug Policy Alliance, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Cato Institute.
在美国期货市场里,理查德·丹尼斯(Richard Dennis)是一位具有传奇色彩的人物,60年代末,未满20岁的理查。丹尼斯在交易所担任场内跑手(runner),每星期赚40美元,两、三年后, 他觉得时机成熟,准备亲自投入期货市场一试身手。他从亲朋好友处借来l600美元,但因资金不足,只能在合约量较小的芝加哥买了一个“美中交易所”的席位,花去l200美元,剩下的交易本金只有400美元。对绝大多数人来说,400美元从事期货交易,赚钱的可能性根本是微乎其微的,但是在理查德·丹尼斯追随趋势的交易原则下,就是这400美元,最终被丹尼斯像变魔术奇迹般地变成了两亿多美元。用他父亲的话说:“理查这四百块钱滚得不错。”在成功之余并亲自培训带出来的十几个徒弟,成为美国期货市场的一支生力军,管理的资金达数十亿美元。
理查德·丹尼斯并不是天生就会做期货的, 那时他还不满21岁,还不能直接进交易所做,他父亲替他站在里面叫价,他在外面指挥。就这样断断续续地做工两年,赔了大约两千块钱。他满21岁那一天,他父亲松了一口气说:“儿子,你自己去做吧,这一行我可是一窍不通。”刚开始赔多赚少,一月的工资还不够一个小时赔的。1970年,赶上那年玉米闹虫害,很快就将400美元滚成3000美元。他本来是要去读大学的,但只上了一周课便决定退学,专职做期货。有一天他进了张臭单,一下子赔了300美元,心里觉得不服,一转方向又进了一张单,很快又赔了几百。他一咬牙又掉转方向再进一张,就这么来回一折腾,一天就赔掉l/3本金。那一次赔钱教训很深刻,经历了大起大落以后,他学会了掌握节奏:赔钱不称心时,赶紧砍单离场,出去走走或是回家睡一觉,让自己休息一下,避免受情绪影响而作出另外一个错误决定,再也不因亏损而加单或急着捞本。最困难的时候也是最有希望的时候。有时候赔了钱,最不愿再琢磨市场,而往往最好的做单机会就在此时悄悄溜过。只有抓住了应有的赚钱机会,把利润赚足,犯错误时才能够赔得起。另一方面又要学会选择最佳做单时机。理查.丹尼大概估计过,他做单95%的利润来自5%的好单。错过好的机会会影响成绩,这正符合技术分析中常用的一句话“Let profits run, cut losses short.”让利润增长,砍掉亏损,过滤掉一些不该进场的单子则能提高收益率。多年后,理查德·丹尼斯回忆那段时光时,觉得那笔学费交得很合算,他学到了很多东西。
在1973年的大豆期货的大升行情中,大豆价格突然冲破四美元大关,大部分盲目相信历史的市场人士认为机不可失,大豆将像1972年以前一样在50美分之间上落,在近年的最高位410美分附近齐齐放空,但理查德·丹尼斯按照追随趋势的交易原则,顺势买入,大豆升势一如升空火箭,曾连续十天涨停板,价格暴升三倍,在短短的四、五个月的时间内,攀上1297美分的高峰,理查德·丹尼斯赚取了足够的钱,并迁移到更大的舞台-----CBOT, 芝加哥商品期货交易所。
理查德·丹尼斯成功的关键在于及时总结经验教训。他基本上属于无师自通,所有的经验和知识都是在实践中从市场学来的。一般人赚了钱后欣喜若狂,赔了钱后心灰意冷,很少用心去想为什么赚,为什么赔。理查德·丹尼斯在赔钱后总是认真反思,找出错误所在,下次争取不再犯。赚钱时则冷静思考对在哪里,同样的方法如何用到其他市场上。这样日积月累下来,自然形成自己一套独特的做单方法:
1.追随趋势:绝对不要一厢情愿认为某一价位是高价区和低价区,自以为是的“逢高卖,逢低买”,抄底、摸顶都是非常危险的。理查德·丹尼斯认为能判断对的只是市场可能走的方向,但朝某个方向究竟走多少得由市场去决定。理查德·丹尼斯偶尔也破例试一试抄底或摸顶。在1974年的糖交易中,理查德·丹尼斯在60美分/磅的价格抛空糖,但是11月时最高升到66美分/磅,后来一路跌到13美分/磅。但他后来又在10美分/磅附近抄底,屡抄屡败,据他自己说,赔的钱超过摸顶抛空下来赚的。所以逆势的结果仍然是得不偿失。做单要顺势,势越强,越容易赚钱。他在交易所现场当交易员,主要是靠跟市场走赚钱。很多人有了利润总是急着离场,甚至在市场涨停板时也急着获利出场,生怕赚到的钱泡汤,这时候邓尼斯总是把单子接下来,第二天总是赚大钱。
2.技术分析:理查德·丹尼斯分析行情主要以技术分析为主,并根据自己多年的经验,以跟随大市趋势为原则,与他的合伙人数学博士威廉.厄克哈德,设计了一套电脑程序自动交易系统,但当自动电脑程序自动交易系统与自己的入市灵感背道而驰时,他会选择暂时离场,不买不卖。
3.反市场心理:不要向多数人认同,因为在期货市场大部分人是赔钱的。期货市场有一种“市场心理指标”指出,如果80%的交易者看多,则表示头部不远了,行情会跌;80%的交易者看空,则表示底部不远了,行情会涨。(但对于初入门者须慎之又慎,笔者。)
4.风险控制。从第一次犯错误赔掉1/3本金时起,理查德·丹尼斯就学会了风险控制。一般说来,好单进场后不久就会有利润,一张单进场后要是过了一两周还赔钱,十有八九是方向错了。就算回头打平了出来,但是过了那么长时间你可能还是错了.进单后总要做最坏的打算,你认为不可能的事情往往就会发生。所以要设好砍仓价位,过了价位坚决砍仓。
1978年理查德·丹尼斯决定离开交易所现场,在办公室做单。几年前,期货市场还比较单一,主要是商品期货。到70年代末,外汇、证券等期货市场已逐步成熟。为了从更多的市场获利,理查德·丹尼斯决定离开交易所现场,在场外做单。第一年由于不习惯,理查德·丹尼斯赔了些钱。后来他发现:第�,离场做单已没有现场做单时那么快捷,因此要看得比较远,多做一些长线。其次在判断走向方面也不大相同。在场内你可以感觉得到,比如有几个人在市场转向时总是错,当你知道他们同时做多头或空头时(美国至今仍然采用人工叫价),你自然就会对市场的走向有较正确的判断。离场后这方面的信息没有了,就得想办法另找判断市场的依据。(对国内大部分的场外投资者来说颇有益处。)
理查德·丹尼斯与他的朋友威廉·厄克哈德两人在期货交易方面配合得天衣无缝,一同创下美国期货史上少有的佳绩,但他俩在人生哲学方面却有很大差异。理查德·丹尼斯高中毕业后一直做期货,是在实践中杀出来的。威廉·厄克哈德却是饱浸文墨,他们经常争执不休的问题是“:究竟一个成功的交易员是天生的还是练出来的?” 理查德·丹尼斯认为是可以培养的,威廉·厄克哈德则认为更多的是靠天份,两人谁也说服不了谁,干脆打赌验证。为此,他们在1983底和1984年初《华尔街日报》上登寻人广告,寻找一些愿意接受训练成为期货交易者的人。工作条件是:交易者必须搬到芝加哥,接受微薄的底薪,如果交易赚钱可以有20%的分红。慕名前来应聘者上千人,他们从中挑选了80人到芝加哥面试,最后选定23人从事此项训练计划,这23人的背景、学识、爱好、性格各不相同,具有广泛的代表性。
理查德·丹尼斯花了两周时间培训,毫无保留教授他们期货交易的基本概念,以及他自己的交易方法和原则。他教导学生追求趋势,先分析决定市场是多头还是空头,进场交易时必须做好资金管理,适当控制买卖单量,并选择时机获利出场。理查德·丹尼斯在亚洲参观一家水产养殖场时发现该场繁殖乌龟很有一套,回来后一时兴起称他的徒儿们为“龟儿”。课程结束后,理查。丹尼斯给每人一个10万美元的帐户进行实战练习。这些龟儿还真争气,在4年的训练课程中,23名学生有3人退出,其余20人其余都有上乘表现,平均每年收益率在l00%左右,而他付给这些学生20%的分红就达3000-3500万美元,其中最成功的一名学生,4年下来替理查德·丹尼斯赚了3150万美元。名声传出去后许多大基金会纷纷出高薪来挖人,如今大部分“龟儿们’要么被挖走,要么拉出去单干,手头都控制着上亿元美金,成为期货市场的一支生力军。“乌龟帮”的名声也越叫越响。结果证实理查。丹尼斯的观点是正确的:成功的交易者是可以通过训练与学习而得的,这无关乎聪明才智,全在于交易者的方法、原则。