Charlie D.: The Story of the Legendary Bond Trader

by William D. Falloon

In praise of Charlie D. "Falloon's eloquent explication of the life of the legendary Charlie D delivers a good read while exposing that most under-publicized commodity of them all-a mega-trader with a low public profile whose superhuman trading abilities were exceeded by only one thing-the extended reach of his heart and soul." -Patrick H. Arbor Chairman, Chicago Board of Trade "Charlie D. is a tribute to the entrepreneurial spirit of Charlie D, whose legend still lives today on our trading floors. It also captures the essence of the men and women of Chicago who, working in a unique environment, through their trading provide economic benefits around the world." -Thomas R. Donovan President and Chief Executive Officer Chicago Board of Trade "Charlie D was unique-a poker-faced, unemotional, swashbuckling trader every other trader seeks to emulate. At the same time, he was also a model of trading integrity and one of the most generous people I have ever known. Whether trading or gambling, vacationing with family or go lfing with superstars, he did everything with a special flair and spirit. Charlie was truly larger than life." -Thomas DeMark Author of The New Science of Technical Analysis and New Market Timing Techniques "Falloon captures the essence of the Charlie D I knew and rekindles my memories of a larger-than-life individual-how he laughed in the face of cancer, his generosity, and his sense of humor." -Mike Manning Rand Financial Services, Inc. "Charlie D was the most dynamic trader I've ever seen in my nineteen years in this business, and, beyond that, the best human being I've known." -Tom Fitzgerald TPF Trading

Genres: Biography, Finance

Hardcover

First published November 3, 1997

Reviews

[Marian · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you’re interested in trading, it’s going to be a very tough/boring read. There are a few golden nuggets here and there, but the rest of it is stories about the man’s personal life and how he played golf and football.

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlie D. var en fantastisk mand. Det er den tanke man sidder tilbage med efter at have læst sidste side i bogen. Bogen er en biografi om den legendariske obligation trader, Charles P. DiFrancesca. Charlie var en fantastisk trader fordi han havde evnen til at overkomme selv de største tab i pitten. For at sætte hans evner lidt i perspektiv kommer nu lidt fakta: i 1981 var handel med obligations futures det største marked, med hele 13,9 millioner kontrakter. I 1990 var disse futures forsat det mest handlet produkt. Det sidste hele år Charlie handlede, handlede han 75,5 millioner kontakter eller 27,3% af den totale volumen for derivater med volumen på over 100.000 kontrakter. (Fallon, 1997)

Bogen er en blanding af interviews fra Chalies bekendte, og forfatterens egen research og indre tanker.

Charlie er uden tvivl en af de største nogensinde. Han gjorde noget meget få har gjort før og efter ham. Desværre er bogen i højere grad til ære for Charlie, og en fortælling om Charlie som menneske. Dette gør bogen mindre relevant for nybegyndere og folk der blot ønsker at øge deres viden om trading. Bogen er i højere grad en hygge bog end noget andet, de teoretiske kapitler der er har muligvis relevans i samtiden, men har i dag ikke andet end historisk betydning (”lesson 1: choosing the right pit”). Det jeg tager med mig videre fra bogen, er at Charlie huskede hvor han kom fra og aldrig glemte de ”rigtige” mennesker i hans liv.

Charlie tradede lige til den sidste måned af hans liv, hvor han døde af kræft.

[Per Erik Løff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nja

This was a book that I looked forward to reading. However I kind of got a bit disappointed. The author never heard of him,all of book is hearsay (ofcourse). But one chapter is about the author chasing a guy, so he knows if he can use the story in the book. And that is the chapter... Another chapter is all about an American football game, which I as an European(and not really into sports anyway, I bought a trading book, at least a story of a trader, not a play for play sport review I don't know.

But,it is the only book, so it was kinda nice to read it. I will probably also get more out of the lesson he hold for some people on you tube, at least I hope it is still there. (The rating is based on that I removed one for each of the really annoying chapter and I didn't(atleast until now) ,mentioned the chapter tjat really should be (or kind of are) from a medical research on cancer(I am not a doctor either!!!)

[Kevin Heaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story of a great man. Written with an audience of both traders and non-traders in mind. Spends a little too much time on basic trading rules that are outdated but probably relevant when it was written back in 1997. Does tell a great story of the man outside of trading.