5 ms·

Either really good math or really good insider trading.

by insiderthrow 7y ago

bhouston 7y ago
If you watch Billions it seems to be a combination of the two in some firms.
- throwawaymath 7y ago
  The hedge fund featured in Billions is entirely unlike typical quant trading firms in culture and operation, let alone RenTech.
  - bhouston 7y ago
    It seemed that all hedge funds in Billions were trading in insider information. It does seem prevalent, but I am not personally in the industry at all: https://medium.com/@malwarwick_98471/insider-trading-in-the-hedge-fund-industry-a5ec5aae2d62 https://medium.com/@malwarwick_98471/insider-trading-in-the-... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_A._Cohen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_A._Cohen
    - nabla9 7y ago
      You can also see them trading on non-public information they get trough other channels. I think that's more normal. In real life you can't run a fund by finding insiders willing to commit crimes routinely. But you often can get the same information by other means by collecting intelligence. Observing traffic, the flow of materials, following people and finding who meets who.
      - throwawaymath 7y ago
        Yes^. RenTech and lots of other funds routinely source non-financial data to back out nonpublic information. It's not illegal and it's not unique to them. Examples are things like real estate documents, weather data, public activities of executives, satellite imagery, credit card transactions (Second Measure), DNS data, location data (Thasus, Foursquare), etc...
      - tomp 7y ago
        > Observing traffic, the flow of materials, following people and finding who meets who. IANAL, but I’d imagine that then it’s no longer non-public information (at least in the US).
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
s_dev 7y ago
Heres Numberphile interviewing James: https://www.youtube.com/watch?src_vid=gjVDqfUhXOY&v=QNznD9hMEh0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?src_vid=gjVDqfUhXOY&v=QNznD9hM... He's a MIT/Berkley Math professor.
- dhruvmittal 7y ago
  I met him a few times when I was a grad student at Stony Brook (Physics). I can't speak for his particular math skills, but he's in possession of an incredibly sharp mind. The Simons Center for Geometry and Physics has an art gallery and an associated lecture series, and James often shows up to participate in these events. Luckily, these events are free to enter for all graduate students. At one of these events, I'd commented that a particular piece reminded me of a crystalline structure I was interested in studying (as a li-ion cathode). James overheard me and came over to quiz me on some of my group's work. About 8 months later, I ran into him at another lecture. While he didn't remember my name, he asked how my hollandite simulations had turned out. This anecdote doesn't really prove anything, other than that Dr Simons is a pretty cool dude.

Either really good math or really good insider trading.

bhouston 7y ago

If you watch Billions it seems to be a combination of the two in some firms.

throwawaymath 7y ago
The hedge fund featured in Billions is entirely unlike typical quant trading firms in culture and operation, let alone RenTech.
- bhouston 7y ago
  It seemed that all hedge funds in Billions were trading in insider information. It does seem prevalent, but I am not personally in the industry at all: https://medium.com/@malwarwick_98471/insider-trading-in-the-hedge-fund-industry-a5ec5aae2d62 https://medium.com/@malwarwick_98471/insider-trading-in-the-... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_A._Cohen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_A._Cohen
  - nabla9 7y ago
    You can also see them trading on non-public information they get trough other channels. I think that's more normal. In real life you can't run a fund by finding insiders willing to commit crimes routinely. But you often can get the same information by other means by collecting intelligence. Observing traffic, the flow of materials, following people and finding who meets who.
    - throwawaymath 7y ago
      Yes^. RenTech and lots of other funds routinely source non-financial data to back out nonpublic information. It's not illegal and it's not unique to them. Examples are things like real estate documents, weather data, public activities of executives, satellite imagery, credit card transactions (Second Measure), DNS data, location data (Thasus, Foursquare), etc...
    - tomp 7y ago
      > Observing traffic, the flow of materials, following people and finding who meets who. IANAL, but I’d imagine that then it’s no longer non-public information (at least in the US).

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

s_dev 7y ago

Heres Numberphile interviewing James: https://www.youtube.com/watch?src_vid=gjVDqfUhXOY&v=QNznD9hMEh0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?src_vid=gjVDqfUhXOY&v=QNznD9hM... He's a MIT/Berkley Math professor.

dhruvmittal 7y ago
I met him a few times when I was a grad student at Stony Brook (Physics). I can't speak for his particular math skills, but he's in possession of an incredibly sharp mind. The Simons Center for Geometry and Physics has an art gallery and an associated lecture series, and James often shows up to participate in these events. Luckily, these events are free to enter for all graduate students. At one of these events, I'd commented that a particular piece reminded me of a crystalline structure I was interested in studying (as a li-ion cathode). James overheard me and came over to quiz me on some of my group's work. About 8 months later, I ran into him at another lecture. While he didn't remember my name, he asked how my hollandite simulations had turned out. This anecdote doesn't really prove anything, other than that Dr Simons is a pretty cool dude.