The making of Jim Simons
wsj.com
The making of Jim Simons
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Re: The making of Jim Simons
#2“Jim Simons looked to math and computers as ways to eliminate the emotional ups and downs of investing. “I don’t want to have to worry about the market every minute. I want models that will make money while I sleep.”
“ Mr. Simons developed a unique perspective. He was accustomed to scrutinizing large data sets and detecting order where others saw randomness. Scientists and mathematicians are trained to dig below the surface of the chaotic, natural world to identify simplicity, structure, and even beauty. Mr. Simons concluded that financial prices featured defined patterns, much as the apparent randomness of weather patterns can mask identifiable trends.”
The world’s greatest investor was a math professor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Simons_(mathematician)
Also, all the Quanta Magazine stories that are published on HN are from a magazine that Simons funded:
Re: The making of Jim Simons
#3“Jim Simons looked to math and computers as ways to eliminate the emotional ups and downs of investing. “I don’t want to have to worry about the market every minute. I want models that will make money while I sleep.” “ Mr. Simons developed a unique perspective. He was accustomed to scrutinizing large data sets and detecting order where others saw randomness. Scientists and mathematicians are trained to dig below the…
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Re: The making of Jim Simons
#4I don't subscribe to wsj, so I can't read the article, but Simons was on Numberphile a while back.
Re: The making of Jim Simons
#5I don't subscribe to wsj, so I can't read the article, but Simons was on Numberphile a while back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0
That’s why there is a web link above.
Re: The making of Jim Simons
#6I wonder if anyone has insight into how they have been able to do this consistently in the modern era of quantitative trading (this article had scant detail)? His returns are such an outlier and strategies such a closely guarded secret that they leave people on Wall Street in awe.
Re: The making of Jim Simons
#7I wonder if anyone has insight into how they have been able to do this consistently in the modern era of quantitative trading (this article had scant detail)? His returns are such an outlier and strategies such a closely guarded secret that they leave people on Wall Street in awe.
They built a system where any data set can be pushed in, joined with the rest of the data, and then automatically made inferences off of for trading.
Re: The making of Jim Simons
#8I don't subscribe to wsj, so I can't read the article, but Simons was on Numberphile a while back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0
That’s why there is a web link above.
Ah, the glory days when that used to work with WSJ. I can't even get the freewsj.com trick to work any more.
Re: The making of Jim Simons
#9I wonder if anyone has insight into how they have been able to do this consistently in the modern era of quantitative trading (this article had scant detail)? His returns are such an outlier and strategies such a closely guarded secret that they leave people on Wall Street in awe.
They built a system where any data set can be pushed in, joined with the rest of the data, and then automatically made inferences off of for trading.
In what timescale though? There are huge differences between the timescales of "realtime" (say HFT), a second later, a minute later, an hour later, a week later and so on. Do they operate at all of them?
I have no specialist knowledge, btw, I'd sincerely like to know!
Re: The making of Jim Simons
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
They built a system where any data set can be pushed in, joined with the rest of the data, and then automatically made inferences off of for trading.
In what timescale though? There are huge differences between the timescales of "realtime" (say HFT), a second later, a minute later, an hour later, a week later and so on. Do they operate at all of them? I have no specialist knowledge, btw, I'd sincerely like to know!
From what I recall, their approach is mostly what you might call "special situations." That is, their analysis looks for significantly incorrectly priced items, and purchases/shorts them.
The Medallion Fund is kept fairly small so it can capture these items without changing their prices substantially. That is, the fund owners have to take their 40% return each year out of the fund.