Michael Hutchins

City: New York
Firm: UBS
Age: 49

As UBS’s global head of fixed income, rates and currencies, Hutchins is one manager who still actively trades. The expectation that he will soon retire from the bank has sparked mass speculation among Street watchers over who his replacement might be. Publicly, however, Hutchins does not appear inclined to depart. Last October, he joined the Bond Market Association’s board of directors.
Estimated income: $30–$40 million
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Driss Ben-Brahim

City: London
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 40

The head of Goldman’s exotics-derivatives desk in London, Ben-Brahim made partner and was named successor to Christian Siva-Jothy and Geoff Grant, the former co-heads of Goldman’s global foreign-exchange prop-trading desk who left for hedge-fund land last year. Ben-Brahim did not take home a 2004 bonus in the same stratosphere as his 2003 check (which was rumored as high as $70 million), but he can still ably afford London rent.
Estimated income: $25–$30 million

*Updated: He's reported have earned a £50m bonus in 2006.
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Ken Karl

City: New York
Firm: UBS
Age: 46

Running the UBS prop-trading desk (known internally as PFG) as well as the firm’s credit arbitrage group, Karl fared well last year, winning a bonus package that might have made even a hedge-fund manager envious.
Estimated income: $25–$30 million
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Jon Wood

City: London
Firm: UBS
Age: 42

Dubbed “Keyser Soze” by some rivals after the mysterious kingpin from The Usual Suspects, Wood, yet another big-earning UBS trader near the top of the Wall Street heap, is known for being secretive. He has also earned a reputation as one of the most aggressive and successful traders today. With just a few others alongside him, Wood runs what is viewed as one of the City’s most powerful equity-prop desks. He was recently lured out of seclusion as a result of his involvement in a legal spat concerning the Gadget Shop in the United Kingdom. Keyser Söze apparently has a sense of humor; British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G) provided the entertainment at his fortieth birthday party.
Estimated income: $25–$30 million
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John Bertuzzi

City: London
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 50

Goldman insiders say Bertuzzi, another energy warrior, was on fire in 2004. “He made well over $100 million in profit for the bank,” one source tells us. While oil was so hot last year that many could turn a profit just by getting up in the morning, to rank among the most profitable in Goldman’s elite crew takes an edge.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
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Robert Cignarella

City: New York
Firm: Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Age: 36

Considered among the best debt traders on the buy side, Cignarella, a graduate of the University of Chicago Business School, is one of the brightest lights at GSAM, the asset-management arm of Wall Street's most prestigious firm.
Estimated income: $25 - $30 million
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Jeffrey Frase

City: New York
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 37

As Goldman’s head of crude-oil trading, Frase had the catbird seat for the one of the biggest oil-price run-ups ever witnessed — and it appears he made good use of it. Colleagues report that his raw trading talent is as good as anyone’s.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
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Geoff Grant

City: London
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: Early 40s

A top Forex-market prop trader at Goldman, Grant took his bonus check and traded London drizzle for California sunshine, moving to Santa Barbara, California, to launch a hedge fund with fellow Goldman alum Ron Beller. The global macro fund, Peloton Partners, will be based in London, but Grant will operate from his little piece of paradise.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
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Olav Refvik

City: New York
Firm: Morgan Stanley
Age: 46

Some rival traders have dubbed him the “King of New York Harbor” for his savvy rental of waterfront real estate — he controls a large chunk of oil-storage space, which gave the firm an edge in last year’s raging oil market. Refvik, a Norwegian, is also known to sail around the harbor in his yacht, Song of Norway. His February bonus check should allow for a significant naval upgrade.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
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Neal Shear

City: New York
Firm: Morgan Stanley
Age: 50

Part of the crack energy team that was practically printing money for Morgan Stanley in 2004, Shear was rewarded for his success. In March, he was appointed head of fixed income, replacing Zoe Cruz. If the energy markets weren’t excitement enough for Shear last year, his appointment lands him neatly in the midst of a major power struggle between the backers and the enemies of CEO Phil Purcell.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
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Ashok Varadhan

City: New York
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 33

Considered one of the best young traders on Wall Street, as well as a likely candidate to be among the next crop of Goldman pros bolting for a hedge fund, Varadhan heads up North American interest-rate products, reporting to Philippe Khuong-Huu. The numbers gene runs in the family: Varadhan’s father, Srinivasa, is an eminent mathematics professor at New York University.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
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Jack DiMaio

City: New York
Firm: CSFB
Age: 37

A cool cat, DiMaio has gone through a few lives in his career on Wall Street. The acclaimed bond trader first made headlines when he threatened to take his credit team to rival Barclays Capital, and later did an about-face after extracting a breathtaking compensation deal from CSFB. Former CSFB CEO John Mack, chagrined by the episode, later shunted DiMaio and his team over to the asset-management wing, CSAM. Now, with more than $1 billion of CSFB’s money under management, DiMaio is starting his own credit hedge fund, DA Capital.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
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Simon Greenshields

City: New York
Firm: Morgan Stanley
Age: 49

Another of the hot energy traders who made Morgan Stanley’s commodities department one of the top performers on Wall Street last year, Greenshields, a natural-gas and electricity trader, was handsomely rewarded for his performance.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
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Yan Huo

City: London
Firm: UFJ International
Age: 41

After a successful run heading a prop-trading desk in London for J.P. Morgan, Huo moved last year to a prop-trading position for UFJ International in the City, where he continued to excel.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
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Michael Nierenberg

City: New York
Firm: Bear Stearns
Age: 42

Bear Stearns had a phenomenal year in mortgage-backed securities, and few did better than Nierenberg, the firm’s co-head of MBS trading. In 2004, Bear dominated the global MBS market, with $93 billion in issuance for a 10 percent market share, some $6 billion more than its closest rival. Nierenberg is reportedly so superstitious that he refuses to write in red ink; we suspect he used quite a bit of black throughout 2004.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
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John Shapiro

City: New York
Firm: Morgan Stanley
Age: 53

The head of Morgan Stanley’s commodities-trading team, Street veteran Shapiro is known for trading in the physicals as well as energy derivatives. Morgan sources say Shapiro didn’t do too badly for his own book.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
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Barry Wittlin

City: New York
Firm: Merrill Lynch
Age: 47

Appointed head of strategic risk trading for Merrill Lynch’s global debt markets in January, Wittlin made his 2004 score heading the firm’s global-rates group. While the titles sound official and stuffy, Wittlin is in fact “one of the biggest prop traders there,” one insider says.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
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Nasser Ahmad

City: New York
Firm: CSFB
Age: 37

The A in Jack DiMaio’s new DA Capital, Ahmad, part of the group that jumped over to CSAM with DiMaio, has been running an internal credit hedge fund for CSFB. An accomplished fixed-income trader, he will now help run the more than $1 billion in DA Capital’s pot.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Charlie W.K. Chan

City: Singapore
Firm: CSFB
Age: 45

The head of emerging-markets FX trading, Chan (whose full name is Charlie Chan Wai Kheong) paced the bank-trading scene in Asia in 2004. His trading book for CSFB created buzz; might a move to a hedge fund be in the works?
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Nicolas Dusart

City: New York
Firm: BNP Paribas
Age: 32

French banks have a reputation for not paying as well as their American counterparts, but industry sources say BNP Paribas was hardly stingy when it came to Dusart’s bonus. The director of high-yield prop trading is said to be well worth all those euros.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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City: New York
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 40

Another in a long line of brilliant minds to serve Goldman masters, Khuong-Huu was brought in four years ago from J.P. Morgan, where he launched the firm’s options-arbitrage group. A world traveler, Khuong-Huu worked in Paris at Société Générale in the late ’80s, trading in the bank’s index-arbitrage business. He later moved to J.P. Morgan in Tokyo.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Angie Long

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: 30

Among the top traders at J.P. Morgan, Long last year ran high-yield and credit-derivatives trading; she was recently promoted to be deputy to Eric Rosen, the head of credit trading. Extremely bright and a trader’s trader — she can hold her own on the desk and on the town — she’s also the only female on the Trader Monthly 100.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Rajeev Misra

City: London
Firm: Deutsche Bank
Age: Early 40s

Misra, head of global credit trading, has helped turn Deutsche into a credit-derivates powerhouse. His inspiration was to better integrate the unit into the bank, leading to greater innovation and more money.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Aziz Nahas

City: London
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: 33

Head of prop trading at J.P. Morgan, Nahas was lured away from CSFB along with Cyril Levy-Marchal last March. He reported to head prop honcho Yan Huo (see page 81), but when Huo left, Nahas took over.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Sal Naro

City: New York
Firm: UBS
Age: 43

Naro surprised many when he left UBS this spring to launch a new hedge fund with SAC Capital veteran Mark Fishman. Based in Stamford, Connecticut, the fund is called Sailfish Capital.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Michael Phelps

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: Early 40s

While the Olympic swimming stud who shares his name took home more gold in 2004, the Phelps who works at J.P. Morgan took home more green: He’s among the top prop traders at the bank.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Eric Rosen

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: Early 40s

In the past 18 months, Rosen has risen, going from head of loan trading to co-head of credit trading and then to sole head of credit trading. Many speculate he’ll climb further still.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Christopher Ryan

City: New York
Firm: UBS
Age: Late 30s

Named co-head of the newly created global credit group at UBS along with Sal Naro late last year, Ryan is the man left standing at the helm after Naro bolted to start his own hedge fund. UBS insiders say Ryan does not possess quite the trading chops of Naro, but he certainly did all right for himself in 2004.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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David Sabath

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: 41

As head of credit prop-trading at J.P. Morgan, Sabath had a scorching year in 2004. This spring, he left to team up with Satellite Asset Management's David Ford to launch a broad-based credit hedge fund. Before coming onboard at J.P. Morgan's prop group, Sabath headed up distressed debt at Golman Sachs.
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million
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Geoffrey Sherry

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: 40

It has been an interesting 18 months or so for Sherry, who was promoted in November, along with Eric Rosen, to run J.P. Morgan's credit-trading business. Sherry did not stay especially long in his new seat, however. This past March, he bolted the firm to join Bruce Kovner's Caxton Associates, where he's starting a new fixed-income hedge fund.
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million
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Boaz Weinstein

City: New York
Firm: Deutsche Bank
Age: 31

One of the most popular traders on Wall Street, Weinstein is also among the most talented. As head of global credit trading-U.S., overseeing approximately 100 traders, he still spends a good deal of time trading for the firm's internal hedge funds and prop-trading book. A star chess player, Weinstein was also once something of a card counter.
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million

Other Categories:

- Top Prop & Indie Traders
- Top Commodity & Pit Traders
- Top Wall Street & Bank Traders
- Top Hedge Fund Traders

Thomas Peterffy

City: Greenwich, Connecticut
Firm: Interactive Brokers Group
Age: 60

Chairman of the futures and options market makers, Peterffy oversses IBG's ground-breaking algorithmic models. While machines do all of the actual trading, Peterffy and his team actively feed and monitor them. An IBG spokeswoman insists Peterffy no longer trades, but a source close to the firm says, "At an age when he could be taking it easy, he's still very much hands-on with that whole operation." Peterffy is a majority owner in the privately held firm, which brought home estimated profits of $250 million last year.
Estimated income: $75 - $100 million
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John Devaney

City: Key Biscayne, Florida
Firm: United Capital Markets
Age: 34

What He Trades: Down in south Florida, John Devaney is taking on Wall Street — on his own terms. A secondary market maker specializing in the sale and structuring of asset-backed securities, Devaney and his firm, United Capital Markets, pick up paper other houses wouldn't touch with a very, very long pole — and they make a killing. But he's not about to let the Street catch up. "There's still plenty of opportunity out there," he insists. "Generally, by the time value has stripped from the sector, we're already into the next one." Some currently hot markets for him include pooled aircraft leases and CDOs.

How He Trades: Knowledge is the key to Devaney's strategy. His firm doesn't just buy any old junk, instead researching the underlying risk. "We're willing to take on the principal risk in our deals, as opposed to merely lining up buyers and sellers," he says. "When we buy distressed bonds, we're buying at levels where we'd be comfortable holding them to maturity if necessary." Many view him as a maverick, though Devaney balks at the term. "To me, the word maverick implies reckless risk-taking. We view ourselves as educated risk-takers. Our opinions of credit are informed."

How He Got Started: Talk about taking risks: In 1999, Devaney quit his job on the mortgage-trading desk at Capital International, took $500,000 of his own money and, with no outside investors, decided to open his firm. He was 28 years old — and the sole employee.

When He's Not Trading: Eager to attract attention, Devaney has hired everyone from Earth Wind & Fire to the Counting Crows for industry conferences. "Compared to many of our competitors in the industry, the money we spend on marketing and advertising is a drop in the bucket," he says with a shrug. "Focusing our dollars on one or two big events each year has been a way for a firm like ours to make a big splash. We like to do them right."

On the philanthropic side, he backs a local community-reinvestment program and has headed the Key Biscayne Community Foundation. He also owns pieces of a real-estate investment company, a yacht charter operation and an aviation holding company.

Words to Live By: "We've had to be creative to keep our edge."
Estimated income: $40 - $50 million
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Joe Lewis

City: Lyford Cay, Bahamas
Firm: Tavistock Group
Age: 68

A legenday currency trader who has a hand in various investment ventures, the British-born Lewis caused a stir last year when he joined a hostile bid for U.K. homebuilder Countryside Properties. A golf fanatic who once paid $1 million at a charity auction for a round with Tiger Woods, Lewis's net worth is an estimated $5 billion. That's not bad for a lad from London's East End who left school at age 15. His Tavistock Cup tournament in Orlando, Florida, at the Tavistock-owned Lake Nona and Iselworth clubs, always draws a slew of PGA and European-tour talent.
Estimated income: $40- $50 million
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Nicholas Roditi

City: London
Firm: Plantation and General Investments
Age: 60

A former Soros traders, Roditi took the Quantum leap in 2000 along with Stanley Druckenmiller after the fund suffered severe losses by failing to effectively gauage the tech-stock surge. Roditi, a macro trader and notorious recluse, has been quietly trading his own money and cleaning up. Born in Zimbabwe, he owns a 68 percent stake in Plantation and General Investments, an African group.
Estimated income: $30 - $40 million
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Paul Rotter

City: Zug, Switzerland
Firm: Rotter Invest AG
Age: 33

It was quite a year for Rotter, the Czech native who is regarded as one of the most successful individual traders on the Eurex. He specializes in German bond futures and is responsible for some 10 percent of the Bund market.

Early last year, some Eurex prop traders started noticing suspicious price movements in Schatz futures; they blamed Rotter, branding him "The Flipper." (Rotter says it's just sour grapes about his size and acumen.) He used to spend up to 11 hours a day trading but says he cut down last year.
Estimated income: $30 - $40 million
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City: Chicago
Firm: Third Millennium
Age: 38

What He Trades: Palumbo’s foremost hunting ground is in the equity-options market, and last year he made major bank going long oil stocks and short volatility. "We started going long crude-oil stocks at the beginning of 2004, based on the feeling that the level of demand in places like China and India was underestimated," he explains. His long positions in BP, Exxon and Halliburton options also panned out nicely.

How He Trades: Don't ever expect to find Palumbo thumbing through the morning papers. "I rarely read the Wall Street Journal," he says. "I get my ideas about the market from talking to people." Says John Niemann, a CBOE floor broker and friend, "Mike is a really smart trader — even at the beginning of his career, he was good."

Because Palumbo was a once a credit analyst, he knows his way around a balance sheet. But it's his understanding of macroeconomics — and Third Millennium's role as a market maker — that most helps him sniff out winning trends. "I pay close attention to what is coming across our desk," Palumbo says. "We might not be in on the trade, but it's important to know what people are doing."

How He Got Started: Palumbo began his trading career as a clerk on the floor of the CBOE for Susquehanna Financial Group in 1993. Within six months, he had graduated to the ranks of market maker. He soon felt he could make it on his own.

"I could have stayed and made a pretty good living. But I wanted to go out on my own and see what I could do," he says. "I didn't feel like Susquehanna was giving me fair compensation." He split and formed Third Millennium. Starting in the Kmart pit in 1996 with $250,000, the firm quickly moved upstairs. There were rough spots at first — such as the summer of 1998, when Russia defaulted and the Dow tanked — but the last few years have been sensational.

When He's Not Trading: Growing up, Palumbo mastered poker and blackjack; he knew how to crunch numbers. These days, when he jaunts to the Palms in Las Vegas, he prefers to unwind with craps.

But he doesn't have to go to Vegas to be treated right — he's a partner in two swank nightspots in Chicago. "It just made sense for the lifestyle I have," he says. "I wanted to make sure I could always get the best table." He also owns a 125-foot power yacht that spends its winters moored in the Caribbean and its summers on Lake Michigan.

Words to Live By: "Perseverance."
Estimated income: $20 - $25 million
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J.P. MaManus

City: Geneva, Switzerland
Firm: Cubic Expressions
Age: 53

Known as the Sundance Kid, McManus is a successful, reclusive, high-rolling foreign-exchange traders and financier. Born in Ireland, he resides in Geneva for tax purposes and is reputed to have an army of foreign-exchange traders working for him. He also has plenty of other interests, including horses and other forms of gambling (he made his first fortune as a bookmaker). In the U.K., McManus is best known for his stake in the Manchester United soccer club. He's also part of the Joe Lewis's massive forex syndicate.
Estimated income: $20 - $25 million
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Christian Schaffer

City: Munich
Firm: First Futures
Age: 37

Among the largest traders on the Eurex, Schaffer is the managing director of First Futures, a prop-trading firm with eight employees, and member of the Eurex Deutschland Exchange Council. He trades mainly Bund and EuroStoxx futures. He also recently launched his own managed-futures fund, SASCAM Global.
Estimated income: $20 - $25 million
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Bob Bright

City: Las Vegas
Firm: Bright Trading
Age: 65

A senior statesman among prop traders, Bright still lights it up. The NYSE-listed equities market has always been his sandbox (he dislikes Nasdaq market makers), though he dabbles in futures an doptions, mostly equity indices. Lately, he has been employing a pairs-trading strategy. "He's thrilled over the NYSE merging with ArcaEx – it's a big win for prop trading," says his brother, Don. When he's not trading, Bright scours the Strip for a baccarat table from which he hasn't been banned. He also owns Bugsy Siegel's 1933 Packard limousine.
Estimated income: $15 - $20 million
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Dan Zanger

City: Miami
Firm: Chartpattern.com
Age: 52

What He Trades: No commodities, currency plays or black-box intelligence for this self-made prop legend. Instead, he trades mostly Nasdaq stocks. On the surface, Zanger is a purist, using chart patterns and more chart patterns to find his prey.

How He Trades: What is he looking for? "Frisky stocks that are starting to perk," he says. He takes a high-intensity "180-mph, inches from the wall" margined 2-to-1 approach to trading. In early 1998, Internet stocks exploded, and as they cooled in late 1999, biotechs took off. They ran for six months; then fiber-optic stocks took over in 2000 and cooked until Nortel preannounced a shortfall in earnings.

Zanger has found that such groups run for around 6 to 18 months, and then it's time to move on. "You have to know what's hot and follow that stock or group. I find out who the winners are and stick with them, moving in and out until they begin to fizzle," he says. On a typical trading day, you'll find him glued to his computer screens, following anywhere from 40 to 60 stocks, watching his "frisky buddies" for breakouts or breakdowns.

How He Got Started: After finishing high school in 1971, Zanger was a ski bum for four years, then got addicted to Charting the Market, a little-watched television show on channel 22 in Los Angeles, on which the host charted pennants, flags, cups and handles and other patterns.

In 1989, Zanger took a course from Bill O'Neil and would spend three hours on weekdays and 15 hours on weekends looking for chart patterns in his chart books; he still applies O'Neil's signature "Canslim" formula to this day.

In the early '90s, he had correctly identified rallies but got killed on corrections. By 1996, he had learned to recognize market tops; he accurately spotted a bearish reversal in the oil index in 1997, which he calls the turning point in his trading career. Taking what was left of his trading capital — all of $10,775 — he made $18 million in 18 months. In under two years, this stake had grown to an incredible $42 million.

When He's Not Trading: "Anyone who has worked in the construction business, like I did for 25 years, knows what it's like to work long, hard hours for little income. When the market is open, I have to be there. It is my passion and one of the loves of my life."

Zanger has homes in Miami Beach and Los Angeles, and he recently bought a new 88-foot yacht that will be equipped with a four-foot satellite dome that will allow him to trade from anywhere in the world. Zanger boasts an enormous collection of California cult wines and is also an avid collector of art.

Words To Live By: "Price, chart patterns and volume."
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million
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Greg Beard

City: Chicago
Firm: TND
Age: 44

Last year, Beard made the move from pit to screen, giving up his former company, Beard Trading, for the screen-oriented TND. He currently trades interest-rate instruments. His major side pursuit, meanwhile, is buying and selling home on Lake Geneva.
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million
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David "Tiger" Williams

City: Stamford, Connecticut
Firm: Williams Trading
Age: 43

One of the more amiable figures on Wall Street, Williams is a former trader at Tiger Management (the Yale hockey star's "Tiger" nickname pre-dated his time at Julian Robertson's famous fund). The eight-year-old Williams Trading, of which Williams is the founder and sole managing partner, is a desk-for-hire for hedge funds keen to outsource their execution needs.

An avid swimmer, runner and cyclist (he has completed an Iron Man triathlon), Williams is a major sponsor of the U.S. Postal Services cycling team and counts Lance Armstrong as a friend. His Tiger Foundation supports a range of charities.
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million

George Soros

The godfather of funds handed over control of Soros Fund Management to his sons last year to focus more fully on his philanthropic and political activities.
Estimated Income: $200–$250 million
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Dan Och

Och is still very much involved in the operations of Och-Ziff, but Street sources assure us that he no longer actively trades.
Estimated Income: $100–$150 million
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Ken Griffin

He hasn’t been near the trading floor in years. Regardless, his black-box Chicago hedge fund, Citadel Investment Group, had a great year and is doing more market making.
Estimated Income: $75–$100 million
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Michael Gordon and John Angelo

Once two of the toughest arbitrage traders on the Street, Gordon and Angelo have built a top financial powerhouse — but they’re no longer trading.
Estimated Income: $75–$100 million each

Other Categories:

- Top Prop & Indie Traders
- Top Commodity & Pit Traders
- Top Wall Street & Bank Traders
- Top Hedge Fund Traders

Steven Berkson

City: New York
Exchange: NYMEX
Age: 41

Maybe the biggest natural-gas trader in the ring, Berkson had a banner 2004 – possibly the best of any energy local, NYMEX sources report. Berkson (whose badge reads BERK) keeps a low profile outside the ring.
Estimated income: $20 - $25 million
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Mark Fisher

City: New York
Exchange: NYMEX
Age: 45

Fisher, considered among the most talented energe traders ever, makes most of his dough through his clearing firm, MBF Clearing Corp. But the gold-badge man and NYMEX grassroots leader still trades with the best of them.
Estimate income: $15 - $20 million
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Eric Bolling

City: New York
Exchange: NYMEX
Age: 43

What He Trades: Natural-gas futures are Bolling’s market of choice, though he got his start in crude oil. “If you think of the crude-oil pit as a $100-minimum table,” he explains, “then natural gas is the $1,000-minimum table. It’s hugely volatile.” The international nature of energy appeals to him. “Chicago has a lot of grain markets and agricultural pits where the markets are localized, but energy is global. Something can happen in Saudi Arabia that has ripple effects from Shanghai to Manhattan.” Bolling owns two seats on the NYMEX, two on the Comex and two on the NYBOT.

How He Trades: Bolling is down in the pits all day, every day. When trading ends, he monitors his positions electronically. Still, he remains a devotee of the cut and thrust of the floor: “When something happens in the market, they all go to open-outcry, because that’s where the volume is.”

Bolling represents a lot of that volume, claiming responsibility for as much as 5 percent of the action in the natural-gas pit. Six-foot-one and a former professional third baseman, he says the physical and mental edge that comes from competitive sports gives him an advantage. “When you’re on the field or on a court, there’s a process you go through in your mind that is similar to making a commodities trade or a pit trade. Not necessarily an upstairs, long-range hedge-fund manager’s trade. But in an instantaneous pit trade, athletes are very good.”

How He Got Started: In 1985, Bolling, drafted out of Rollins College by the Pittsburgh Pirates, was playing for their single-A affiliate in Bradenton, Florida, when a routine grounder came his way. “I picked up the ball, turned to throw and heard a pop in my shoulder,” he says. “That was it, the end of my career.” He started looking for other jobs. A Chicago native, he had seen the serious money to be made at the exchanges. Later that year, he found himself on the energy desk for Prudential-Bache in Boston.

“I realized that the people really making money were on the trading floor. So I did whatever it took to get down there.” He leased his first seat in 1987 and bought his first seat the next year.
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million
———————————————————————–
Tom Gordon

City: New York
Exchange: NYMEX
Age: Mid-40s

One of the most successful NYMEX traders last year, Gordon scored as crude prices went through the roof. "Tommy is one of the top oil traders down there," says one NYMEX veteran. Gordon is a large contributor to the exchange's charitable foundation.
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million
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Kevin McDonnell

City: New York
Exchange: NYMEX
Age: 45

A NYMEX institution, the unassuming McDonnell is one of the best energy crack spread traders ever. NYMEX sources say he was one of the most successful traders in the pits last year, often playing crude against gasoline prices. He was also among a group of traders who spent time in Dublin attempting to build the exchange's European energy-trading presence.
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million
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Alan Rottman

City: Chicago
Exchange: CME
Age: 42

Few Chicago traders were as fortunately placed last year as the Eurodollar options guys. Rottman, who trades front months, and his team rode some late-year volatility in what turned out to be a fantastic 2004. "We've been specializing in this sector for 20 years," Rottman says of his group. "And we experienced a very profitable year."
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million
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Jeffrey Wolfson

City: New York
Exchange: NYMEX
Age: Mid-40s

Known by his badge, GEOF, Wolfson does serious volume in the crude-oil pits. "They don't come much bigger," says one industry source. Wolfson blows off steam generated in the NYMEX trenches by playing basketball at night.
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million

Other Categories:

- Top Prop & Indie Traders
- Top Commodity & Pit Traders
- Top Wall Street & Bank Traders
- Top Hedge Fund Traders

Stevie Cohen

City: Stamford, Connecticut
Firm: SAC Capital Advisors
Age: 48

He looks a little like George from Seinfeld and dresses as plainly as a suburban accountant, but make no mistake: Stevie Cohen is the master of the hedge-fund universe, and he made more money than anyone else on the Trader Monthly 100 for the second year running. Intensely secretive – Cohen was said to have been annoyed when the New York Times recently ran a front-page story highlighting his art collection, and unsurprisingly, he declined to be interviewed for this story – the man behind 13-year-old SAC Capital commands what might be the most powerful trading force on the planet.

Because the firm has been so successful, Cohen is comfortable taking half the profits from the few clients lucky enough to have access to his greatness – but in truth, he hardly has any clients left. Cohen, who overall produced returns somewhere in the mid-20 percent range last year, is mostly trading his and other SAC employees' money. "In what was a difficult year for the markets, Stevie is trading better than ever," says one industry insider.

What does Cohen do with all his cash? His 14-acre Greenwich, Connecticut, estate is referred to locally as "Chelsea Piers" for its array of sporting amusements. Then, of course, there's that art collection: enough Warhol and Pollock to earn him a seat on the board of the Museum of Modern Art.

And like many of the hedge-fund elite, Cohen donates a considerable amount to charity.
Estimated income: $600-$650 million
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James Simons

City: East Setauket, New York
Firm: Renaissance Technologies Corp.
Age: 67

Renaissance's Long Island retreat more resembles a college campus than a hedge-fund hub, and Simons, a former math professor with a Ph.D. from Berkeley who was once fired from a government defense job for protesting Vietnam, is not your typical tycoon. But industry insiders say that Renaissance's Medallion fund, with its black-box quantitative strategies, had another phenomenal year. Simons's cut of the profits: more than 35 percent.
Estimated income: $500-$550 million

Update: James Simons, a mathematician turned money manager who prefers hiring Ph.D.s over MBAs, inched out oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens Jr. as the world's best-paid hedge fund manager in 2005, collecting an estimated $1.5 billion, according to rankings released today by Institutional Investor's Alpha magazine. - Link
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Paul Tudor Jones II

City: Greenwich, Connecticut
Firm: Tudor Investment Corp.
Age: 50

Even when other hedge funds stumble, Jones stays near the front of the pack. In the nearly 20 years since he started his fund, the former New York Cotton Exchange floor trader has never had a down year. The past 12 months were no exception — insiders say Tudor Investment, bolstered by returns in the energy markets, kicked ass.

Well-liked on Wall Street and known for his philanthropy (he launched the Robin Hood Foundation in 1988), Jones is a Hemingway-esque sportsman. Among his extravagances: a game ranch in Zimbabwe. When not on safari, Jones, who loves the Florida Everglades, is big on conservation projects.
Estimated income: $500-$550 million
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Eddie Lampert

City: Greenwich, Connecticut
Firm: ESL Partners
Age: 42

IN 2003, Eddie Lampert was kidnapped. After 30 hours, he was able to talk his way out of the motel room in which he was being held hostage.

Last year, the former head of Goldman Sachs's risk-arbitrage desk was putting his dealmaking skills to different use: He made headlines orchestrating the merger of Sears with Kmart, which he had previously led out of its financial despair. Lampert, who started ESL in 1988 with funding from Richard Rainwater, epitomizes the new generation of hedge-fund managers who meld trading, private equity, leveraged buyout and traditional hedge-fund management.
Estimated income: $450-$500 million
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Bruce Kovner

City: New York
Firm: Caxton Associates
Age: 60

Still involved in day-to-day trading, Kovner and his $10 billion global macro operation did so well in 2004 that Caxton bumped up its fees from 2-and-20 to 3-and-30. The firm was particularly successful in energy trading — at least one of his senior energy traders retired early. Kovner, however, is going strong. A math professor turned Wall Street profiteer, Kovner is known for his neoconservative politics; the man who shuns the press is one of the financial muscles behind the New York Sun newspaper. His varied career also involved a stint driving a yellow cab and studying the harpsichord at Juilliard before making it big trading soybean futures.
Estimated income: $300-$350 million
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James Pallotta

City: Boston
Firm: Tudor Investment Corp.
Age: 46

Racking up an 18 percent gain in 2004, Pallotta's more than $6 billion Raptor Global Portfolio generated this hedge-fund pro a fat check in February. "He is the top-paid guy at the firm after Paul Tudor Jones," says one insider. Pallotta joined Jones in 1993 after a stint at Essex Investment Management, where he was director of research, when Jones was seeking to diversify the firm away from the futures and commodities markets.
Estimated income: $200-$250 million
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Stanley Druckenmiller

City: New York
Firm: Duquesne Capital Management
Age: 51

Reports on how Druckenmiller and his $6 billion Duquesne Capital hedge-fund operation performed in 2004 are mixed. One knowledgeable industry veteran tells us his returns were in the 25 percent range. The former chief investment officer for George Soros, Druckenmiller has shown a distinct willingness to take aggressive positions even when markets are not necessarily behaving according to conventional wisdom.
Estimated income: $150-$200 million
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Jeffrey Gendell

City: Greenwich, Connecticut
Firm: Tontine Partners
Age: 45

Making a 100 percent return on $1 billion-plus in assets is astonishing anytime, but in a year when even the superstars were thrilled to be around 40 percent, the secretive Gendell was shooting the moon at Tontine, thanks to a big energy push. Indeed, he has proved a consistent performer: In 2003, his overseas long/short fund boasted returns of 153 percent.
Estimated income: $150-$200 million
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Richard Perry

City: New York
Firm: Perry Capital
Age: 50

Founded in 1988 by the former Goldman trader, Perry Capital has some $11 billion under management. With offices in New York, London and Hong Kong, the firm is pushing into middle-market lending with its recent purchase of Capital Factors. Event-driven arbitrage and distressed debt remain Perry's strengths.
Estimated income: $150-$200 million
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John Arnold

City: Houston
Firm: Centaurus Energy
Age: 31

Arnold made a name for himself as the Enron trader. While he got his share of roasting in the press, the natural-gas trader didn't do anything criminal — he just made hundreds of millions of dollars in profits for the infamous firm. He started Centaurus in 2002. Energy traders say his first full year was phenomenal, and 2004 was even better. Centaurus is estimated to have produced as much as $800 million in profits.
Estimated income: $100 - $150 million
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Louis Bacon

City: New York
Firm: Moore Capital Management
Age: 48

Another hedge-fund manager who shuns publicity, Bacon had a strong 2004 — notching a 34 percent return — following on the heels of a phenomenal performance in 2003. Among other bets, the $7 billion global macro machine went long the S&P 500 toward the end of the year, catching (if not propelling) the late rally.
Estimated income: $100 - $150 million
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Richard Chilton

City: Stamford, Connecticut, and New York
Firm: Chilton Investment Company
Age: 46

With offices in New York and Stamford, Chilton runs four long/short strategies. His flagship U.S. portfolio has an annualized return of 19 percent, net of fees, since its 1992 inception. He's yet another hedge-fund heavy who sits on the board of Paul Tudor Jones's Robin Hood Foundation.
Estimated income: $100 - $150 million
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David Tepper

City: Chatham, New Jersey
Firm: Appaloosa Management
Age: 45

The former Goldman Sachs junk-bond trader who shot the lights out in 2003 and then gave back $1 billion to clients had another strong year in 2004. His Appaloosa fund had returns of around 40 percent last year, and once again he has given back money to his clients (another $700 million), bringing his assets closer to $2 billion — the level at which he would like to remain.
Estimated income: $100-$150 million
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Mark Kingdon

City: New York
Firm: Kingdon Capital Management Corp.
Age: 56

A third-degree black belt in tae kwan do, Kingdon oversees a $3 billion portfolio of stocks, bonds, currencies and options. His first job in the industry was in the pension-asset division of AT&T; he later joined a New York money manager. One of the industry's living legends, he has a lesser-known spiritual side.
Estimated income: $75 - $100 million
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Stephen Mandel

City: Greenwich, Connecticut
Firm: Lone Pine Capital
Age: 49

One of several Tiger Management alumni who have launched their own hedge funds, Mandel has garnered $6 billion in assets for his Lone Pine Capital. In a difficult market environment in 2004, Mandel's returns were above average. He was part of a group of long/short hedge-fund managers to open long-only funds and is currently searching for opportunities in Asia. He recently gave significant money to Bill Clinton's global AIDS-prevention initiative.
Estimated income: $75-$100 million
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Lief Rosenblatt

City: New York
Firm: Satellite Asset Management
Age: 51

Founded in 1999 by former Soros star Rosenblatt and two other partners, Satellite now has more than $5 billion in assets, and returns were roughly 25 percent in 2004, according to insiders.

Before joining Soros, the Rhodes scholar led the risk-arbitrage department at Plaza Securities in New York. He also has a law degree from Harvard. "Satellite is one of the top hedge funds in the world," says one Wall Street trader.
Estimated income: $75-$100 million
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Barry S. Rosenstein

City: San Francisco
Firm: Jana Partners
Age: 46

Viewed as sharp and down-to-earth, Rosenstein is part of a group of activist hedge-fund managers publicly browbeating corporate officers to change.

In 2004, his most notable coup was teaming up with Third Point's Dan Loeb and forcing the sale of software maker InterCept. Earlier this year, Rosenstein joined with the legendary Carl Icahn and went after Kerr-McGee. The fund has around $3 billion in assets and had 30 percent returns in 2004, before fees.
Estimated income: $75-$100 million
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David Shaw

City: New York
Firm: D.E. Shaw & Co.
Age: 53

D.E. Shaw has done so well in recent years that in late 2002, the firm hiked fees to 3-and-30 and investors didn't blink; such is the price of access to chairman Shaw and his braintrust. A former college professor, Shaw helped develop Morgan Stanley's automated trading system before launching his quant fund in 1988.
Estimated income: $75 - $100 million

Robert Soros

City: New York
Firm: Soros Fund Management
Age: 41

Last year, when George Soros handed over the reins to his sons, Robert was appointed to oversee the $8.3 billion Quantum Endowment Fund. Industry sources say this is no vanity role, and the younger Soros was in fact assuming positions in the markets for Quantum last year.
Estimated income: $75 - $100 million
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Kaveh Alamouti

City: New York
Firm: Moore Capital Management
Age: 51

Alamouti, previously the CEO of Optimum Asset Management, joined Moore's European operation a few years ago. The crack trader was put in charge of portfolio investing across a number of asset classes — and has since rocketed up the ranks at Moore.
Estimated income: $50 - $75 million
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Israel Englander

City: New York
Firm: Millennium Partners
Age: 56

It has been a rough couple of years for Englander and Millennium Partners. In 2003, the fund became a boldface name in the mutual-fund investigation after one of its former traders was accused of market timing. Still, the multi-strategy macro fund remains the envy of many traders. Industry insiders maintain that the man called “Izzy” is still actively involved in day-to-day portfolio management. His $3.5 billion fund ended the year up just over 8 percent.
Estimated income: $50–$75 million
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Alan Howard

City: London
Firm: Brevan Howard Asset Management
Age: 41

Howard is earning a reputation as one of the greatest traders ever. Market participants say the team that spun out of CSFB in 2002 under Howard is amazing, "but Alan is by far the best trader among them." He certainly defies the axiom that bank prop traders find it difficult when they go it alone. As if growing to become one of the larger hedge funds on earth – he had amassed nearly $8 billion in assets as of the end of 2004 – wasn't sweet enough for him, City sources say Howard was also one of the few traders who was on the winning end of the rate bet that almost upended Vega last summer.
Estimated income: $50 - $75 million
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Dan Loeb

City: New York
Firm: Third Point Management Co.
Age: 43

Say what you will – Loeb certainly knows how to make money. As the founder and president of Third Point (the fund is named after Malibu's Third Point at Surf Rider Beach), Loeb has built a reputation as something of a loudmouth with the e-mail zingers and pointed shareholder letters he sends to corporate executives with whom he's unhappy. Loeb's most recent antics were e-mailed among traders far and wide – a particularly spicy exchange between Loeb and a European potential hire that found its way into the press.

But behind the noise is a smart investor who steered his $3 billion hedge funds to returns north of 30 percent last year.
Estimated income: $50 - $75 million
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Raj Rajaratnam

City: New York
Firm: The Galleon Group
Age: 47

Founder of the $5 billion Galleon, one of the top-performing equity funds of the '90s, Rajaratnam remains actively involved in investment strategy and trading. He also continues to be passionate about his native Sri Lanka. After the devastating December 26 tsunami, Rajaratnam, who was in Sri Lanka at the time, established a charity fund to help build housing for survivors of the disaster.
Estimated income: $50 - $75 million
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Ken Tropin

City: Stamford, Connecticut
Firm: Graham Capital Management
Age: 51

Tropin sizzled in 2004 (it didn't hurt that he built an energy desk at the end of 2003). He founded the $4 billion commodities operation in 1994 after spending some time as CEO of John W. Henry & Co.
Estimated income: $50 - $75 million
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William von Mueffling

City: New York and London
Firm: Cantillon Capital Management
Age: 37

Von Mueffling stung Lazard Asset Management when he left in 2003 to form his own fund. Since then, Cantillon has picked up more than $6 billion in assets and posted double-digit returns. Even with last year's low volatility for long/short equity, Von Mueffling fared impressively.
Estimated income: $50 - $75 million
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Dwight Anderson

City: New York
Firm: Ospraie Management
Age: 45

Having worked with Julian Robertson and Paul Tudor Jones, Anderson knows a thing or two about running a hedge fund and is held in high esteem on the Street. Lehman Brothers recently bought a 20 percent stake in his $2 billion fund, and if last year's results are anything to go by, they got a good deal. Anderson, whose background is in commodities trading, benefited from a great year in the oil markets. His friends say he has a penchant for adventurous vacations.
Estimated income: $40 - $50 million
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Peter Briger

City: New York
Firm: Fortress Investment Group
Age: 41

The former co-head of Goldman's Asian distressed-debt business, Briger helps steward the Drawbridge Special Opportunities business under the $15 billion Fortress umbrella. His partner is Michael Novogratz (see page 77).
Estimated income: $40 - $50 million
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Philip Falcone

City: New York
Firm: Harbert Management Corp.
Age: 42

It was another good year for Falcone. The junk-bond trader and former Harvard hockey player started his fund four years ago and has grown assets to more than $3 billion. Personable and polite in private, Falcone is a pit bull in the distressed markets. While many of his rivals were struggling to find paper worth chasing in 2004, Falcone showed that he's second to none in this illiquid asset class.
Estimated income: $40 - $50 million
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David Gorton

City: London
Firm: London Diversified Fund Management
Age: 41

London Diversified had an excellent year, according to sources in the City, so CIO Gorton cleaned up. Launched in 2002, the fund is staffed by a slew of former J.P. Morgan professionals. As a standout prop trader at J.P. Morgan, Gorton and his crack team were reputed to bring in more than $1 billion a year in profits for the venerated Wall Street bank.
Estimated income: $40 - $50 million
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Wayne Holman

City: Stamford, Connecticut
Firm: SAC Capital
Age: Mid-30s

Holman is not a high-profile guy; indeed, outside the hallowed halls of SAC Capital, very little is known about him. But insiders assure us that, as a health-care trader for SAC's Sigma Capital, Holman earns. "He makes a bloody fortune," says one source.
Estimated income: $40 - $50 million
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Roy Lennox

City: New York
Firm: Caxton Associates
Age: 47

Hired by Bruce Kovner (see page 72) at Caxton straight out of business school, Lennox started as a commodities trader, eventually becoming what one Wall Street source terms "Bruce's right-hand man."
Estimated income: $40 - $50 million
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Michael Novogratz

City: New York
Firm: Fortress Investment Group
Age: 40

Once a U.S. Army helicopter pilot, Novogratz is used to high altitudes, but he and partner Peter Briger are entering rarefied air. Novogratz, a Fortress principal, is responsible for the Drawbridge Global Macro business.
Estimated income: $40 - $50 million
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Peter Abramenko

City: Stamford, Connecticut
Firm: SAC Capital
Age: 43

Abramenko is spearheading SAC's fixed-income push and helps the Sigma Capital Management fund. He's somewhat shadowy and aloof, but one hell of a trader. In 2003, when he was still head prop trader at UBS Principal Finance, he earned a bonus of $17 million. Not long after pocketing that, he left and later joined SAC.
Estimated income: $30 - $40 million
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Lawrence Hilibrand

City: Greenwich, Connecticut
Firm: JWM Partners
Age: 46

A decade ago, this egghead arb trader's name was synonymous with Wall Street hubris when he became the top-paid trader at Salomon Brothers. Subsequently, he was part of a group of traders who had come to epitomize hedge-fund hubris: The fund he helped steer, Long-Term Capital Management, almost caused an apocalypse on the Street.

Since the LTCM debacle in 1998, Hilibrand has flown under the radar. But he was among the group, led yet again by John Meriwether, that has since started a new fund, JWM Partners (Hilibrand has a 10 percent-plus stake). JWM has quietly been raising money — assets under management fall well north of $1 billion — and continuing to trade. Returns have been around 15 percent.
Estimated income: $30 - $40 million
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David Matlin

City: New York
Firm: MatlinPatterson Global Advisers
Age: 44

Before Jack DiMaio and his gang were running high-yield at CSFB, Matlin and his crew put the bank's high-yield group on the map. "And these guys were better," says one distressed trader. Three years ago, Matlin left to form MatlinPatterson with former CSFB bond trader Mark Patterson. The firm now has around $3 billion. MatlinPatterson closed its second fund last October after raising $1.7 billion. Matlin became the talk of the town in 2003 for his involvement in leading WorldCom, now MCI, out of bankruptcy.
Estimated income: $30 - $40 million
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Ravinder Mehra

City: New York
Firm: Vega Asset Management
Age: 46

Vega struggled through the summer of 2004, betting wrong on rates and taking a hit in two of its best-known funds. After experiencing draw-downs, Vega had stabilized by the end of the year. If anyone knows how to make money, though, it's Mehra, who in 1993 produced a $1 billion profit for his then-employer, Banco Santander.
Estimated income: $30 - $40 million
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Ed Mule

City: Greenwich, Connecticut
Firm: Silver Point Capital
Age: 42

A distressed-debt honcho from Goldman Sachs, Mule formed Silver Point in early 2002. Recently, the multibillion-dollar fund has been getting into middle-market lending; Silver Point helped provide bailout financing to Krispy Kreme. While at Goldman, Mule ran a large Asian business while also trading distressed in Europe and North and South America.
Estimated income: $30 - $40 million
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Allan Teh

City: New York
Firm: Kamating Street Capital
Age: 39

Teh left Citigroup, where he had been running an internal hedge fund, in January 2004. A stringent non-compete agreement prevented the credit trader from taking his team of math brains with him. So instead, Teh, who hails from Malaysia, hired math students out of top graduate programs. Kamating has already raised $600 million.
Estimated income: $30 - $40 million
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Sushil Wadhwani

City: London
Firm: Wadhwani Capital
Age: 45

A familiar face on the London scene, Wadhwani, a former advisor to the Bank of England, launched Wadhwani Capital in 2002. The global macro manager now has an estimated $2 billion in assets under management. Insiders say that while returns have not yet been outstanding, "it is only really Wadhwani there," so he's garnering most of the fees himself. He has also spent time at both Tudor Investment and Goldman Sachs.
Estimated income: $30 - $40 million
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David Windreich

City: New York
Firm: Och-Ziff Capital Management
Age: 47

The top equity dog at Och-Ziff, Windreich is hardly a household name, but hedge-fund sources say he takes center stage at the powerhouse built by Dan Och, who is no longer actively trading.
Estimated income: $30 - $40 million
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Jeff Aronson

City: New York
Firm: Angelo, Gordon & Co.
Age: 46

A distressed-debt trader for the New York-based fund manager, Aronson left this past spring. A source close to Angelo, Gordon expects that he will set up his own fund once his non-compete is up. "He makes it onto the list without breaking a sweat," one executive says of Aronson's 2004 compensation.
Estimated income: $25 - $30 million
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Todd Deutsch

City: New York
Firm: The Galleon Group
Age: 32

"One of the three best traders in the industry," says prop-trading king Steve Schonfeld of Deutsch, who joined Galleon in 2001. Before that, Deutsch, a Goldman alum, worked for a few years at JLF Asset Management. He's known for his tech and health-care stock-trading prowess.
Estimated income: $25 - $30 million
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Mark Fishman

City: Stamford, Connecticut
Firm: SAC Capital
Age: Mid-40s

As a director of fixed income at SAC, Fishman oversaw the firm's Genesis Fund. He defected this March to launch Sailfish Capital, a credit-focused fund he runs with UBS's Sal Naro and the Genesis team. Fishman's bond portfolio at SAC was reported to be one of the most actively traded high-grade credit-trading accounts in the game.
Estimated income: $25 - $30 million
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Mark Hillary

City: London
Firm: Tudor Investment Corp.
Age: 40s

"Hillary has made a lot of money for Tudor Investment over the years," says one firm insider. The London-based macro trader has been well-compensated for his hard work, particularly because he performed well in a difficult year volatility-wise.
Estimated income: $25 - $30 million
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Jim Pulaski

City: Greenwich, Connecticut
Firm: Tudor Investment Corp.
Age: 31

An energy and natural-gas futures trader for Tudor Investment, Pulaski more than earned his bonus check in 2004. Tudor sources say he's one of the best traders at the firm.
Estimated income: $25 - $30 million
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Chris Rokos

City: London
Firm: Brevan Howard
Age: 34

Rokos is the youngest of the traders who left CSFB along with Alan Howard (see page 75) to form Brevan Howard. At an age when many are just scraping together their first mortgage, Rokos could retire anywhere in the world. In 2001, he supposedly made more than $100 million in profits for the bank.
Estimated income: $25 - $30 million
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Hugh Sloane

City: London
Firm: Sloane Robinson Investment Management
Age: 49

A veteran of the Asian securities industry, Sloane, cofounder (with George Robinson) of Sloane Robinson, is the trader of the duo. The firm's four directors shared a pay bonanza of $100 million for 2004, according to records filed with London's Companies House. Sloane and Robinson were early figures on the City's hedge-fund scene, launching their fund in 1993. It has since grown to nearly $5 billion.
Estimated income: $25 - $30 million
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John Sommi

City: Greenwich, Connecticut
Firm: Lone Pine Capital
Age: 47

Another Tiger cub, Sommi is Stephen Mandel's head trader at Lone Pine. Those who know Sommi call him a fiend behind the screen and a major factor in Lone Pine's recent success. But unlike many other former Tiger stars, Sommi has managed to avoid the spotlight.
Estimated income: $25 - $30 million
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Robert Standing

City: London
Firm: London Diversified Fund Management
Age: 45

The most public of the London Diversified team, Standing is "just a regular guy," according to those who know him. He's also an extremely successful guy, reaping rewards from another standout year. City sources put his compensation at around $25 million. Sources close to Standing himself, however, say it's closer to $20 million.
Estimated income: $25 - $30 million

Other Categories:

- Top Prop & Indie Traders
- Top Commodity & Pit Traders
- Top Wall Street & Bank Traders
- Top Hedge Fund Traders

Missed writing about the market at the beginning of the week. Nevertheless, I'll start from mid-week. My trades are predominantly based on the USD, so I'll only be writing about the GBP/USD and the EUR/USD pairs. I tend to use a mix of fundamentals and technicals in my trades (rojak =P)!

Mid-week USD outlook: Bullish

A further tightening of the US monetary policy is expected. Greenspan's clear announcement last week that the tightening rate will continue (i.e. increasing interest rates thus giving the USD a firm tone, reinforcing the USD's yield advantage), underpinned by waves of bullish data this month (e.g. today's Durable Goods data was stronger than expected) has made traders to be in favour of the USD.

Also news that IBM is planning to repatriate about USD$9B usd in foreign earnings, taking advantage of the temporary repatriation incentive from the American Jobs Creation Act is holding the USD up.

Today's US Federal Reserve's Beige Book is expected to paint a rosy picture of economic conditions across the country, and to cement expectations of further interest rate hikes to come. Watch out for this Friday's Real GDP figures though!

Now to the currency pairs, outlook for this mid-week onwards:

GBP/USD - Bearish!

Recent terrorist attacks, expectation of an interest rate cut in August, slowdowns in UK spending, stagnating housing market prices, cooling in the labour market and contracting manufacturing sector - things don't look too good for the mighty British economy!

Analysts have expected the rate to go under 1.70 in Auguest if this conditions continue. Technicals seem to suggest the same sentiment as well.

EUR/USD - Neutral

The pair was fighting it out at the 1.20 level yesterday and even with a strong German IFO business sentiment survey (which suggested that the worst may be over for the EU economy) which causes a sharp hike for a moment resulted in a drop down again to the 1.20 zone. Also somewhat in an odd way, the ECB reported a substantial forex reserves decline of EUR$1.2B without any explanations - huh? Could be the summer effect, traders get a bit disoriented during this harsh period =)

Hard to pinpoint any direction from technicals/fundamentals, so I'll have to say it's neutral.

On the Ringgit issue, read this well-written article: Link

Finally to end on a funny note, with the Yellow/White/Pink/Purple bands you see around to promote something, check the Greed Band out! Yes - like Gordon Gecko said "Greed is Good"!

DISCLAIMER: All this are only boringest's views/opinions and do not qualify as investment advice/recommendations. It is not a production of my employer, and is unaffiliated with any FX broker/dealer. The information on this site is provided for discussion purposes only, and are not investing recommendations. Under no circumstances does this information represent a recommendation for FX trading.