An Englishman running a forex fund out of Turkey sent this “apology” to his clients, before vanishing:
3 December 2014
“Dear investor, I am writing to inform you that JL Trading is ceasing to carry on business. Contrary to the impression that I have hitherto given, the business has lost almost all of its assets, and there appears no prospect of those assets being recouped.
“JL Trading ceased foreign exchange trading in 2009 following substantial losses and since that time the business has suffered further losses, which I have tried to make good through investments in a number of commercial projects. However, it is now clear that the business will not be able to recover its losses and must cease trading. This means that, contrary to what was reported to you previously, you cannot expect any payments in the future.
“I can only apologise unreservedly for any losses or unfulfilled expectations of profit. I have tried to recover the position for a considerable period of time, but it is now clear that I will be unable to do so. I sincerely regret that I have not been able to do better on your behalf.”
Note: J L Trading, the fund previously run by expat Englishman Joe Lewis (the “JL” in J L Trading), is not to be confused with JLTrader, a blog posted by a Romanian guy named Vlad Gubernat.
[QUOTE=“Arbitrager on Acid;673302”]Moral: an arbitrager on acid diversifies by spreading his/her capital across many reputable financial institutions.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for posting this Clint, maybe it will serve as a reminder that traders should be very careful before just handing cash over to others and that it is still best to keep the money in your own account(s).
Oh yes, risk diversification is the core principle used across all wise part of investors’ community. Any trading outfit, HYIP, Hedge Fund, etc. has the times of yielding profit, only time there matters. I would really vote for putting risk diversification principle as the ultimate basis of money/risk management, which would save lives of many investors, silly losing their investing, handing it over to happy thiefs:mad:
You could always trade forex on a cash basis at a bank. You don’t pay swap costs, but you have to keep the cash in a safe somewhere and the spread is a *****. Plus, you don’t have the option of margin leverage. It is at least better than going long physical precious metals and building a bunker in the Rockies while screaming “HYPERINFLATION!!!” in forums to Obama voters.
I find this letter quite amusing and sense a bit of honesty in there. According to his son, he has accumulated no luxurious assets and they don’t know where all that money went. Maybe he truely tried to trade with the money and lost, who knows but I wouldn’t expect that kind of excuse. Joe Lewis Trading was around for quite a long time. And it appears, as far as I can perceive that he was trying to impersonate another successful trader.