Bondurant: Trading on Old Man River

摘要

John Bondurant planned on a career in law despite a family legacy of speculating in the futures markets. Bondurant's father was a cotton merchant who was a member of the New York Cotton Exchange and an active speculator in softs. When Bondurant was heading back to college in the summer of 1963, his dad gave him a tip: "My father told me to buy sugar futures. I did and made $1,000 in a week, and [I decided] to become a speculator," Bondurant speculated so well the next 41 years that he recently closed to new investors his Memphis-based commodity trading advisor, Mississippi River Investments, which has $60 million under management. The CTA has earned 30% through September of this year and has a compounded annual return of 18% over its 19-year track record. Building the successful fundamentally based CTA was not as simple as acting on a good tip, however.