Top 30 Most Famous Day Traders and Their Secrets to Success

Most famous day traders who work in trading advance their careers in secret. But a few of them have managed to become extremely well-known. 

Their stories are full of hard effort, unwavering loyalty, and enduring hardship. They are powerful individuals whose choices affect the industry as a whole.

Throughout history, there have been well-known traders who have gone on to pursue other lines of work. Two prominent personalities, Jimmy Wales and John Key, jointly held the position of New Zealand's 38th prime minister during their time in office.

This detailed guide will discuss the 30 most famous day traders and their secrets to success. Let's dive into the discussion below. 

1. Ross Cameron

Ross Cameron is a skilled day trader who made a total of $222,244.91 in 2016. Yet he is modest about his achievement and realizes that the amount might just as quickly have been higher or lower.

Because he is so active in promoting different ways that other people can trade as he does, it should not be difficult for you to find out more information about him online.

Warrior trading is a chat room formed in 2012 specifically for day traders. It was a medium to communicate and learn from one another. Cameron is the inventor of this chat room.

Warrior trading presently has 415,045 subscribers on YouTube and over 500,000 active followers across all social media platforms.

Trading momentum on firms with a price less than $20 is the central tenet of Cameron's strategy. Cameron emphasizes the following four takeaways from his experience that you should consider.

Day traders must first have a thorough understanding of their limitations. They need to have the ability to recognize when they are becoming worn out and know when to stop trading. This is because continuing to do so would have a negative influence.

In addition, they can determine the times of day during which they are most and least productive. 

Cameron found that he was able to achieve the most success in his trading between the hours of 9:30 and 11:30 in the morning. Therefore, he decided to limit his trading to just those hours.

2. Brett N. Steenbarger

The concept of trade psychology is at the heart of many works authored by Brett N. Steenbarger, PhD.

Steenbarger has a doctoral degree in clinical psychology and a bachelor's degree. He is not only a passionate trader but also an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at SUNY Upstate Medical University.

His trading advice may be found on his active blog, TraderFeed, which is a valuable source of information. Not only does Steenbarger engage in trading and writing, but he also acts as a mentor to traders working for investment banks and hedge funds.

All traders can benefit from adhering to the tenets that form the basis of Steenbarger's trading approach. The best way to break bad trading habits is perhaps one of the most important lessons that Steenbarger teaches.

3. Sasha Evdakov

Sasha Evdakov is the man behind the creation of Tradersfly and the author of several books on trading. Since 2013, he has contributed to more than ten publications.

Through Tradersfly, Evdakov has uploaded a large number of different YouTube videos. These videos address a diverse selection of issues about trading. As this article was published, he had 123 628 subscribers to his channel.

He is a fantastic educator and an educational entrepreneur, and his method is logical and straightforward. Evdakov asserts that swing trading is where one can make "real money," and this is the direction in which his perspective is primarily focused. 

Evdakov mentions that he occasionally partakes in day trading when the current market conditions call for it. He sometimes engages in day trading for a few months before shifting his focus to swing trading.

He makes his point clear by stating that day trading, not swings trading, is the strategy that should be utilized whenever market circumstances are good.

4. Rayner Teo

Rayner Teo has a busy schedule, and his marketing strategy has garnered great attention.

He brings a considerable portion of his time to post videos on YouTube; some of those videos have garnered more than 500,000 views each.

A wealth of trading tactics may be found on Teo's website, TradingwithRayner, which has caught the attention of more than 30,000 traders. He is candid with his audience about the fact that he does not have a million dollars in the bank.

Instead, he places a greater emphasis on preventing traders from incurring financial losses. He makes this happen by pointing out the faults they are making and offering solutions in the videos and on his website.

Teo is exceptional in educating traders, not about the fundamentals of trading. He also explains the functioning of more complicated trading components, like Sasha Evdakov.

It would be best to follow him because the information he shares in his films regarding price action trading benefits day traders.

5. Nick Leeson

The phrase "renowned and accomplished day trader" may not be the most appropriate way to describe Nick Leeson. Instead, the word "notorious" may be a more suitable choice.

Leeson received a lot of unwanted attention as his actions led to the failure of Barings Bank. This was one of the oldest financial institutions in the UK. 

The private Barings Bank was well-known for its extensive history of catering to affluent customers in the United Kingdom.

When Leeson started working for Barings, he was employed by J.P. Morgan. Thus, it was quite a shock to him to see how out of touch with the former company's real world had become.

Leeson chose to take advantage of the situation rather than find a solution. At long last, he was allowed to establish himself on the trading floor by being sent to Singapore.

Following a spate of losses, he opened a second account to disguise them and lied to Barings, saying that the money in the report was client loans. He then continued to experience losses.

Leeson also shows the importance of accepting our losses by showing that he did not do so. This indicates the worth of doing so.

6. William Delbert Gann

William Delbert Gann is a well-known trader who can instruct us a great deal about the use of mathematics in forecasting market movements.

He had achieved such a level of success in trading stocks and commodities that he was able to launch his stock brokerage.

In later years, Gann penned several trading books, contributed several pieces to newspapers offering investment guidance, and led educational seminars. 

Hence, there is insufficient evidence to back Gann's claims of success. But, still, Gann established some beneficial procedures and was a pioneer in the field of technical analysis.

7. Andy Krieger

Legendary trader Andy Krieger made $300 million for Bankers Trust. He made this happen by selling short New Zealand dollar futures. 

While the bulk of dealers at the time was only allowed to trade up to $50 million at most, Krieger could transact up to 750 million dollars. 

Kreiger quickly noticed that many traders exchanged substantial money into other currencies. This happened when the value of American stocks dropped to new lows. He made this observation as the value of American equities collapsed to new lows.

He skyrocketed to stardom after completing a single trade that was worth $300 million. How he conducted others swiftly replicated business. This resulted in a significant problem for the New Zealand economy.

The significance of monitoring price action is another aspect of his technique that he emphasizes. It appeared that funds were being misappropriated from one location and moved to another. 

He also considered this an opportunity to hunt for prices that were either inflated or undervalued. On-balance volume indicators might be utilized to accomplish this goal.

8. Timothy Sykes

Timothy Sykes shot to prominence in the world of day trading after he earned a profit of $1.65 million off of an initial investment of $12,415. This happened over three years while he was a student at Tulane University.

The story of Sykes, a trader in penny stocks, serves as a reminder that it is possible to build something substantial from almost nothing. Additionally, Sykes is highly active online. And his websites include a plethora of information for visitors to peruse.

Day traders can gain a significant amount of knowledge regarding how to trade by following their social media platforms. These online resources include websites such as Profit.ly and Investimonials.

Sykes provides several valuable insights regarding trading. One of the essential things that he taught me was that great day traders should never turn a trade into an investment. This is because it goes against their plan. 

Instead, they should concentrate on making small gains over an extended period rather than large profits.

9. Andrew Aziz

Andrew Aziz is a well-known day trader who has achieved extraordinary success. He is even the author of various books on the topic. But he did not always work in the trading industry.

Before entering the business world, Aziz earned a doctorate in chemical engineering. He also worked in various research scientist positions within the clean technology industry.

Additionally, he co-founded Bear Bull Traders with several other investors who shared a similar outlook on the market. In addition to that, they have a YouTube channel with 13,824 subscribers.

Aziz places a lot of emphasis on the fact that traders shouldn't make their strategy too complicated. He acknowledges that it's vital to be familiar with candlestick patterns. 

Aziz engages in support and resistance trading by locating potential support and resistance areas before he begins trading. He looks for periods of indecision that are accompanied by high trading activity.

10. Lawrence Hite

In the beginning, Lawrence Hite, also known as Larry Hite, was passionate about music. At one point in his trading life, he even worked as an actor and a screenwriter. After a specific point in his life, he rethought his objectives and began trading money.

He began his reading career with books on trade but later shifted his interest to books on probability, many of which were written with a gambling theme. 

One of these publications was entitled "Beat the Dealer." The foundation of Hite's trading philosophy was an examination of probabilities and odds, as well as strategies for making the most of these factors.

In light of this, he advocated maintaining a fundamental approach to trading. There is no need to have any sort of knowledge of the instrument. This is because he is concerned with the odds of you winning or losing the trade. 

His approach to trading is based more on what you can afford to lose than on how much money you hope to make, which is an important distinction.

11. Paul Rotter

A well-known scalper named Paul Rotter, also known as "The Flipper," is reported to have made between 65 and 78 million dollars over ten years. His earnings are estimated to have been in the range of.

Thus, Rotter did not have a specific encounter that ignited his interest in trading. He did compete in trading competitions while he was in school.

The well-known quote from Rotter is as follows: "It is more difficult to recover from a losing position the stronger your opinion is, so a trader should not have one at all."

He is also known for simply placing buy and selling orders simultaneously to the scalp in several extremely liquid marketplaces. However, he acknowledges that these orders sometimes return zero.

Although he knows this goes against human nature, Rotter also recommends that traders be aggressive when they are winning and scale down when they lose. This is something that he says goes against human nature.

12. Mark Douglas

He has made an enormous contribution to society by bringing attention to the significance of trader psychology. This was a subject that was seldom ever discussed in the past.

It was believed that careful market analysis was directly correlated with a person's ability to make successful or unsuccessful trades. People were made aware that it is possible to make questionable business decisions if one does not have the appropriate frame of mind.

You could lose money by entering or exiting a deal at the incorrect time and then having an adverse reaction to your failure.

Throughout his career, Douglas worked closely with several of the most prominent traders, hedge funds, and money managers.

Douglas started serving as a mentor to traders in 1982. And since then, he has amassed a wealth of expertise regarding the best ways to assist traders in adopting the appropriate mindset.

13. Mark Minervini

Mark Minervini is widely regarded as one of the most successful day traders still active in the world today. And he has an impressive record of some trading accomplishments.

He was the victor of the United States Investing Championship. Well, he was earning an amount that was almost twice as much as the runner-up. Plus, he is the administrator of his website, Minervini Private Access.

According to him, it is difficult to forecast when prices will reach their lowest point. And once they reach that point, they can remain there for a long time.

Minervini recommends that investors try to enter trends rather than wait for the market to reach its lowest point before investing.

Thus, Minervini recommends that investors keep an eye out for price fluctuations that institutions also impact. They frequently act as trail leaders, allowing merchants to follow in their footsteps and ride beside them.

Another insightful point he makes is that traders must put their egos aside to succeed.

In conclusion, Minervini also has a lot to say regarding managing risks.

He says traders should search for lesser gains and tighten their loss margins when the market enters unfavorable conditions. In tandem with that, the size of the position itself ought to be reduced.

14. Jack Schwager

Jack Schwager is widely considered one of the industry's most well-known authors. He has produced enough books to fill a whole library.

In addition to his trading talents as a writer, Schwager is also one of the co-founders of FundSeeder. The company's mission is to find the next generation of "Market Wizards." They make it happen by supporting them in bringing together traders and investors.

He also discusses the traders who focus on fundamental analysis and those who focus on technical analysis, who are the complete opposites of one another. One of his most important lessons is not to let your ego get in the way.

In the same vein as many other traders, he emphasizes the significance of avoiding financial loss more than achieving financial success. 

In conclusion, the markets maintain their fundamental consistency despite the constant upheaval. Despite advances in technology, human nature remains essentially unchanged.

15. Victor Sperandeo

He has 45 years of expertise trading on Wall Street. Well, he is recognized by his trading name, Trader Vic. He focuses primarily on trading commodities.

Like many other day traders featured on this list, Schwager mentions him in his book The New Market Wizards.

Sperandeo once noted, "The ability to successfully trade while maintaining emotional control is essential." 

He means that it is not so much a matter of how intelligent you are as it is of how well you can keep your emotions under control when engaging in financial trading. If the intellect were the factor determining success or failure in trading, many more individuals would be doing well at it.

In addition, Sperandeo has written a significant amount on the subject of trading psychology. In particular, he highlights how remaining consistent might assist traders in experiencing increased confidence levels.

16. James Simons

James Simons is an additional candidate for having the life that is the most intriguing. Simons is well-known for his work as a manager of both quant and hedge funds, and he has many achievements to his credit.

For day traders, Simons is an invaluable source of information. He underlines that you should not confuse good fortune with intelligence. He even explains that you should not believe you are bright simply because you have had good luck.

Simons is an advocate for maintaining rigorous standards in one's personal life as well as one's professional endeavors. You should always improve your trading skills to become the best trader. 

Another thing that we may learn from Simons is the importance of being able to challenge conventional wisdom. It's essential to have strong opinions that differ from those of other people sometimes.

17. David Tepper

David Tepper, a hedge fund manager, investor, and businessman, is the wealthiest person in New Jersey. It is located in the United States. Tepper's estimated net worth is $5.5 billion.

During his trading career, Tepper has held positions at several of the most prestigious financial institutions in the world, including Goldman Sachs.

He is most successful in trading in volatile markets with great uncertainty. Being greedy while others are fearful is a trait that Warren Buffett shares with other successful investors. 

Tepper once stated that "the only way to learn from your mistakes is to repeat losses in your head" as the means to do so.

In the same vein as the previous traders on this list, he emphasizes the significance of gaining knowledge from past mistakes. 

18. Steven Cohen

It is estimated that Steven Cohen, one of the most well-known managers of hedge funds, has a net worth of approximately $12.8 billion.

As a result of playing poker throughout high school, he gained a wealth of knowledge about effectively managing risks, which sparked his interest in the trading industry. 

In the late 1970s, he got his first job on Wall Street and made $8,000 on his first day on the trading job.

According to Cohen, market movements account for forty percent, sector movements for thirty percent, and individual stock movements for thirty percent of total stock movement. 

This is extremely necessary because even if your stock is doing well, its performance won't improve if the market and industry are performing poorly.

First, consider the market, then the sector, and last, focus on the stock.

His top trader has a winning percentage of 63% on average. According to him, most traders are successful between 50 and 55% of the time. This rate is outstanding, given that there is no way that you can win 100% of the time.

To turn a profit from this endeavor, you will need to minimize your losses while simultaneously increasing your profits to the greatest extent possible.

In conclusion, you have no influence over the market but control how you react to it.

Cohen implies that you need to have a flexible mindset by saying this. Your trading strategy should never go against the market's flow but rather operate in tandem with it.

19. Robert Dennis

The story goes that Richard Dennis became a millionaire at 26 after turning a trading account worth $400 into $200 million in ten years.

Dennis is well-known for his trading strategies, which he refers to as "Turtles." He believes traders should approach the market by looking for entry points and riding trends, and he employs trend-following strategies in his trading. 

In addition, he adheres to the basic theory that the market may be poised for a decline when everyone starts talking about a particular instrument and the price is growing. This principle states that the market may be poised to decline when the price rises.

Additionally, Dennis believes that newcomers to day trading should begin with minimal investments. He says this because he knows that now is the time when you will be performing at your absolute worst.

20. Ray Dalio

Ray Dalio, a legendary figure in the world of trading, is the founder and chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates. It is a hedge fund that is widely acknowledged to be among the largest in the world.

Dalio had a never-ending thirst for knowledge. This was an admirable quality in a trader and something he pursued throughout his life.

Dalio believes that the key to this best success is to fail strategically since it is possible to get a great deal of knowledge from unsuccessful investments. 

When discussing the collapse of markets, he believes that when everyone bets on the same thing, it usually affects the price, and you shouldn't gamble on it because of this effect.

21. Alexander Elder

Alexander Elder might be considered one of the most interesting people on this list. He also gives trading instructions and blogs frequently.

He is a doctor of psychology licensed to practice and specializes in the mentality of day traders. The most important thing for traders to do, according to him, is to devise a plan for money management. 

Within the context of this approach, long-term survival should come first, followed by sustainable expansion.

Elder firmly believes that one should acquire as much knowledge as possible. He also explained the importance of maintaining an attitude of persistent critical skepticism about everything one encounters. Never take everything you read or can also hear at face value.

Mental models for trading winners and losers are very different from one another. According to him, you must adjust how you think about the market.

22. Ed Seykota

According to the book Market Wizards written by Jack Schwager, Ed Seykota purportedly was able to turn a trading account worth $5,000 into $15 million in just 12 years.

He systematically monitors trends and provides wealth management services to private clients. In addition to that, he is a private dealer.

Seykota lives alone, only occasionally opens up about his life, and is not known for his outgoing personality. 

First, he recommends making purchases at a higher price than the market at a time when you believe it will increase. This reduces risk while simultaneously increasing the possibility of a profit being made. The term "break out" is used by traders to describe this event.

Seykota is credited with saying, "The trend is your buddy except at the end where it bends," which is a profound and insightful quote. A sage saying that should be kept in mind when trading market patterns.

If you are already riding one and the price keeps increasing, and you want to get more, buy less the next time because it is less hazardous. This is another tip that is currently riding the wave of popularity.

23. Martin Schwartz

Martin Schwartz, also known as Marty Schwartz and "Buzzy," is considered one of the most successful day traders in history.

He is well known for his trading approach of entering and quitting positions as quickly as possible. This is a necessary ability for any experienced day trader to have. He has gained a lot of recognition for this trading strategy.

Schwartz is a successful horse owner as well. Plus, Schwartz is someone that a lot of people look up to as the ideal day trader, and he has a lot to teach us.

He emphasizes why working harder does not always correspond to working more brilliantly, and he believes the contrary is the case.

24. Bill Lipschutz

Bill Lipschutz is regarded as one of the most successful traders in history. He has a wealth of knowledge regarding the trading of currencies.

Math was one of Lipschutz's favorite subjects in high school. He got his start in the trading industry when his grandmother left him a $12,000 inheritance in the shape of shares of stock. Lipschutz has since become a successful trader.

According to Lipschutz, you have to learn how to succeed even if you are only 20% to 30% correct to increase the value of your portfolio to $250,000. Lipschutz was successful in increasing the value of his portfolio to $250,000.

It is challenging for day traders to win every one of their transactions consistently. Instead of considering a loss the worst thing that could occur, traders should view it as a natural and expected part of the trading process.

When you trade, you can lose more money than you make. The important thing is to simply ensure that your wins are more significant than all your losses combined.

25. Jesse Livermore

Jesse Livermore rose to prominence due to two stock market crashes: the first occurred in 1907, and the second in 1929. 

Despite the vast challenges he has faced throughout his life, he is one of the world's most famous and studied day traders.

His writings have a significant influence, and he is widely considered the trader who has been cited frequently. In addition to this, he was an early advocate and pioneer in the field of market cycles and trends. 

His understanding of them enabled him to profit from the catastrophe in 1929.

Livermore, who was decades ahead of his time, was responsible for creating many rules governing trading. Even after a century, his statements are as relevant as ever.

Day traders can learn a lot from his cotton deal, but the two most important things they should take away are to diversify their risk and to avoid basing their decisions on the opinions of others.

26. Paul Tudor Jones

Paul Tudor Jones shot to prominence as a day trader in the 1980s. This happened after accurately predicting the catastrophic event known as "Black Monday." Following is how Jones described the collision that occurred:

The documentary Trader, which Jones produced in 1987 and offered a plethora of information regarding his trading strategy, was made available to viewers. 

Jones has, in the time since then, made it a goal to acquire each copy of the documentary. Additionally, Jones is discussed in the book Market Wizards, written by Jack Schwager.

Jones's education has included a significant focus on managing financial resources. Jones asserts that he is exceedingly careful and only occasionally takes minimal risks. 

In addition, he will only seek opportunities with a risk-to-reward ratio of one to five. With this strategy, he will still be ahead financially even if he is wrong four out of every five times.

27. Jean Paul Getty 

Getty is extraordinarily frugal and even refuses to pay a ransom for his grandson. 

He is widely known being the founder of trading and is famous for saying, "I buy when everyone else is selling." He is also credited with effectively coining the phrase "buy low, sell high."

Starting your own business, which is precisely what you are doing as a trader, is one of the first pieces of advice that J. Paul Getty gives for accumulating wealth. 

Then he offers two pieces of advice almost diametrically opposed to one another: practice frugality while being willing to take risks.

Another important takeaway from Getty is the importance of patience and finding healthy ways to deal with stress.

If you want to be genuinely best and successful, you need to keep an eye out for sources of stress and figure out how to capitalize on them. Profit is comparable to risk because there can be no genuine profit without it.

Trading can also be a very stressful endeavor. And if you don't learn how to deal with that tension, it will be challenging for you to be successful.

This is beneficial to know. If you don't understand anything, you won't be able to figure out how to take advantage of it.

28. George Soros

George Soros is the most well-known and prosperous trader in the history of the globe.

When Soros started working in the London office of the merchant bank Singer & Friedlander, he was swiftly promoted to the arbitrage division of the company. This was the beginning of Soros's involvement in the financial industry. 

In the middle of the 1960s, Soros transferred to New York City, where he immediately began engaging in arbitrage trading with a primary concentration on European companies.

Soros has been a survivor throughout his whole life. This is the best quality he initially honed as a child and used in his day trading career.

We can fully understand how important it is to identify inflated assets. Andy Krieger and George Soros were both aware of the severe overvaluation of the British pound.

29. Jim Rogers

On October 18, 1942, James Beeland Rogers Jr. entered the world. He is a chief commercial officer born in the United States and headquartered in Singapore. 

Rogers is known throughout the business world as a wise investor and writes and analyses financial data as a financial writer and analyst.

He formed the Quantum Fund as a worldwide investment partnership with his business partner George Soros, a highly successful entrepreneur.

When I am trading or investing, one of my favorite quotes to utilize is one from Mr. Rogers, which is as follows:

Even those who have lost money in the stock market will comment, "I'll wait till the money is in the corner, and all I have to do is go there and recover it. I'm not doing anything now." No, you don't; you must wait until you discover something before you can do anything else.

30. John Paulson

John Paulson became famous worldwide for shorting the US housing market when he saw a subprime mortgage crisis and betting on mortgage-backed securities by investing in credit default swaps.

Paulson's company, called the biggest in history, made money, and he made more than $4 billion from that company. Here's an interesting quote by John Paulson:

"Many investors make the mistake of buying when prices are high and selling when prices are low when the right thing to do is the opposite."

If Jones were to sell futures and make $100 million while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 22%, he would make three times as much money as he would have otherwise. 

It seems counterintuitive that riches thrive in an environment where many other things succumb to ruin.

Bottom line

The profitable experiences of these well-known traders serve as a source of motivation for us. They all give us a timely reminder that everybody has the potential to sell stocks, currencies, commodities, or financial items to generate income.

If the lessons you've learned from them inspire you, there's a good chance you'll be the next person on the list.