The man who solved the market
by Gregory Zuckerman · first published 2019
66% recommend34% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Fascinating history of Jim Simons and Renaissance Technologies, covering the firm's culture, math-driven hiring, and execution; suits anyone curious about quant finance, though it won't teach a trading strategy.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Jim Simons is the greatest money maker in modern financial history. No other investor--Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Ray Dalio, Steve Cohen, or George Soros--can touch his record. Since 1988, Renaissance's signature Medallion fund has generated average annual returns of 66 percent. The firm has earned profits of more than $100 billion; Simons is worth twenty-three billion dollars. Drawing on unprecedented access to Simons and dozens of current and former employees, Zuckerman, a veteran Wall Street Journal investigative reporter, tells the gripping story of how a world-class mathematician and fo
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…Kelly et al's work in early financial trading at Axcom, which was later turned into the Medallion Fund at Renaissance Technologies. Wikipedia [1] has some info on this, but I also highly recommend "The Man Who Solved The Market" (Zuckerman, 2019) for more history. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Larry_Kelly_Jr.
on “Kelly Criterion” ↗Recently published book on this topic: The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution by Gregory Zuckerman
on “Renaissance Technologies” ↗…Worst" https://www.amazon.com/Behave-Biology-Humans-Best-Worst/dp/0... "The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator" https://www.amazon.com/Mosquito-Human-History-Deadliest-Pred... "The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution" https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Solved-Market-Revolution/dp/0... "Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity" https://www.amazon.com/Hacking-Darwin-Genetic-Engineering-Hu...…
on “Books on Thinking About Thinking” ↗Sure. No. 1. "Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst" by Robert M. Sapolsky. No. 2. "The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator" by Timothy C. Winegard. No. 3. "The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution" by Gregory Zuckerman. No. 4. "Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity" by Jamie Metzl. No. 5. "Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice…
on “Books on Thinking About Thinking” ↗If you're interested enough, read Gregory Zuckerman - "The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution" (2019) The first half of the book goes over the academic history of quant trading.
on “What the interns have wrought, 2020 edition” ↗I really enjoyed: "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik. The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution by Gregory Zuckerman Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory
on “Ask HN: What book(s) did you love reading this year?” ↗…Contact Paradox, by Keith Cooper It’s about the search for alien life, but it blends science with philosophy which is a very unique way of approaching the issue. It’s also very well researched. The Man who solved the market, by Gregory Zuckerman It’s the story of Jim Simons and Renaissance, the hedge fund with the best returns in the industry. Very informative and it approaches the development of the firm from the viewpoint…
on “Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022?” ↗I can recommend "The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution" by Gregory Zuckerman, but of course don't expect to learn any market-beating strategies from it. Quanta Magazine, a source for articles often linked here,…
on “A Jim Simons Market Mystery – Solved? Not:-)” ↗Relatedly, "The man who solved the market" [0] is a fascinating read about the history of Jim Simons and Rentec. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43889703-the-man-who-sol...
on “A Jim Simons Market Mystery – Solved? Not:-)” ↗If you want some further reading on him, the man who solved the market, is not a bad read https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43889703-the-man-who-sol...
on “Ask HN: More magazines like Quanta and Noema?” ↗No, they were/are running a far more sophisticated shop. Certainly not solely tech analysis techniques. Read "The Man Who Solved the Market" by Gregory Zuckerman. Here's a review: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/books/review/the-man-who-...
on “Is technical analysis just stock market astrology?” ↗I highly recommend the book "The Man Who Solved the Market" by Gregory Zuckerman which explains how Simons build his infamous company. https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Solved-Market-Revolution/dp/0...
on “Jim Simons has died” ↗I listen to Acquired religiously, but felt this particular episode was pretty weak. They went through Zuckerman's The Man Who Solved the Market [0] chapter by chapter, butchering a few parts because the hosts don't know quant finance well (though they seem to know VC and product very well). I'd recommend just reading the book instead. I'd also…
on “Jim Simons has died” ↗If you're curious about Simons, and the wikipedia page is not enough, I found "The Man Who Solved the Market" by Gregory Zuckerman an interesting read.
on “Quanta to publish popular math and physics books by Terence Tao and David Tong” ↗A great book about RenTec and Jim Simons came out recently: The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution. Everyone in the industry worships Simons and RenTec as practically god-like. What they've managed to do shouldn't really be possible and is out of this world.…
on “Renaissance Technologies” ↗