Trader (1987)

Trader's Film Library #78 · People, money and institutions. A rare documentary about Paul Tudor Jones, filmed just before the 1987 crash.

Original title: Trader: The Documentary · Type: documentary · Created by: Michael Glyn (PBS) · Usefulness for traders: ★★★★☆

What it's about

An hour-long PBS documentary about Paul Tudor Jones, one of the most famous futures traders. It was filmed just before the October 1987 crash: you see Jones at work, his team, the commodity exchange pits and his preparations for the move he expected. Among other things, Jones says the great US bull market may be coming to an end. For years the film was practically unavailable.

What it has to do with markets

A rare record of a professional trader at work in the 1980s: pre-session preparation, discipline, an obsession with risk and comparisons with historical market analogies. It's one of the few films in which a trader working with real money talks about his process rather than about money as such.

Lessons for traders

• protect capital first, profit second: a professional thinks about how much they can lose
• historical analogies are inspiration, not proof (the narrative fallacy, Atlas of biases #26)
• pre-session preparation is half a trader's job

What to watch out for

The film is almost 40 years old and hard to find through legal channels. The market and technology have changed a lot since then.

Discussion

The discussion takes place in Hetman Capital Club (in Polish). Join the discussion in the Club →

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The description outlines the plot without revealing the ending where possible (true stories have a known outcome). Educational content, not investment advice.