How To Make $3 Billion A Year
By Bigg Success Staff
01-23-08
Success Story
Unless you’re the Wall Street-type, you’ve probably never heard of John Paulson. You may be familiar with Henry Paulson, the United States Secretary of the Treasury. Well, they’re not related.
We’ll bet that you are familiar with the subprime mortgage mess. John knows it well. He manages his own hedge fund, which made huge bets in the subprime market last year.
In 2007, he made over $3 billion! Yes, we wrote that right. BILLION!
Gregory Zuckerman wrote an excellent article for The Wall Street Journal Online called Wall Street Trader Paulson Made Billions on Subprime. He does a fantastic job describing the details of how John made his billions. It’s definitely worth the read, particularly if you’re a serious investor.
Going against the grain
John bucked the herd mentality with his subprime bet. Most people in the business were still very upbeat about the market. John believed that he had a lot of upside potential with very little downside risk. It turns out he was right.
The biggest winners are often “contrarians”. But be careful – find ways to minimize your risk without sacrificing your reward too much.
The outsider’s perspective
John wasn’t an expert in the subprime market. They were all still highly optimistic. Because John was an outsider, he was able to see an opportunity that the insiders missed.
Usually it pays to have special insight into your market. However, sometimes 136 insiders know too much]. That’s when outsiders find opportunities because they’re looking at things with a fresh set of eyes.
Pay the price
John worked long and late, pouring over data to confirm his suspicions. He had a hunch – but he didn’t just play it. He continued looking at the evidence.
You have to pay the price if you want to make millions … or billions! Learn about the market. Look for inconsistencies. But then you have to …
Go!
John had a bigg idea. It turns out that it was a $3 billion idea! But it’s not the idea that made him the money. He had the courage of his convictions. 130 He took action]!
This is one of the hardest parts of success. You have to put yourself out there. You have to take risk. You’ll never get anywhere until you 144 take a step].
Persist
John placed his bet … and he lost money! His advisors 166 discouraged him from pressing on]. They reminded him that experienced traders were still very enthusiastic about the market. John didn’t listen – he invested more!
You will face obstacles on your path to success, just like John did. If you’re confident in your idea, you have to find a way to push on. It won’t always work out …. but, you never know, you might just make $3 billion!
The rest of the story
At times during this ride, John faced so much stress that he just had to get away from it all. He went on long runs. Find a way to relieve your stress so you can keep going. Get away from it all somehow.
John started his firm with $2 million under management. Now, from his success last year, new money has poured into his firm. He is now managing $28 billion, becoming one of the world’s largest fund firms. Everybody loves a winner!
