Larry Williams (trader)

Larry R. Williams (born 1943) is a stock and commodities trader and technical analyst. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon, with a BS in journalism. [ [http://jcomm.uoregon.edu/alum/donors/williams.html University of Oregon School of Journalism & Communication ] ]

Trading theories

In 1982, his book "How to Prosper in the Coming Good Years" was published. It forecast the largest bull market and surge of economic growth the United States has ever seen. The book was written at a time when the majority of pundits were calling for slowdown in economic growth and stock market, which is exactly the opposite of what Williams forecast.

In 1987, Williams won the World Cup Championship of Futures Trading, sponsored by Robbins Trading Company, trading $10,000 in real money to $1,147,000 in 12 months – a feat no one else has come close to matching. Williams ran his winnings to more than $2,000,000 by the end of September, dropped down to $750,000 after the October '87 crash, and traded back to the $1,147,000 mark by the end of the year.

While some claimed that Williams maintained two accounts during the competition – one for winning trades and one for losing trades – his contest account was closely scrutinized by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and National Futures Association (NFA) and this allegation was found not to be true.

Williams was the first to author books on seasonality in commodities and was the first to write on the Commitments of Trader Reports, of which he is generally considered the leading expert.

In 1997, at age 16, his daughter, actress Michelle Williams, won the same competition with exactly 1000 percent returns on her US$10,000 investment. [ [http://books.global-investor.com/pages/gurus.htm?Mode=Rules&PerIndex=1942&ginPtrCode=00000&identifier= Larry Williams page] at Global Investor] As of 2006, Larry Williams' 100-fold gain is the highest in that competition. [ [http://www.robbinstrading.com/worldcup/standings.asp World Cup Trading Standings page] at Robbins Trading Company website]

The World Cup Championship event is regulated by both the National Futures Association (on whose board Williams has served) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In 1998, he received "Futures" magazine's First Doctor of Futures Award. The following year, he received Omega Research's Lifetime Achievement Award.

He is credited with having developed different indicators including:
* Williams %R
* Ultimate Oscillator

Larry Williams and Robert Cornuke once embarked on a journey to confirm the Bible as historically accurate and detailed their findings in the books "The Mountain of Moses: The Discovery of Mount Sinai" (1990), "In Search of the Mountain of God: The Discovery of the Real Mt. Sinai" and a DVD called "Mountain of Fire" [ [http://shop.baseinstitute.org/products.sc?catagoryId=3&productId=1 Base Institute ] ] where they document what they claim to be the real Mount Sinai.

Legal troubles

In May 2006, Williams was arrested in Australia pending extradition to the United States for tax evasion. He has firmly denied any involvement in tax avoidance schemes of any sort. In March 2007, Williams won an appeal in Federal Court in Sydney, blocking his extradition to the U.S. The court found that authorities did not have enough information to properly consider the case against Williams before authorizing the extradition request. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1645604.htm Market guru Williams granted $1M bail] ] [ [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19341988-643,00.html Cloudy forecast for futures trader] ]

On August 2, 2007, three Federal Court judges dismissed William's attempt to block extradition hearings. A Sydney magistrate will consider the second U.S. extradition request, though no date has been set yet. Williams has been free on A$1,000,000 bail. [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/03/asia/AS-GEN-Australia-US-Tax-Evasion.php US stock market trader loses Australian court battle against extradition] , International Herald Times, August 2, 2007] Lawyers for Williams and two other men wanted abroad, told Australia's High Court that state magistrates did not have the legislative powers to carry out the functions of the Commonwealth Extradition Act. On April 23, 2008, the High Court ruled with a majority of six to one, that the extradition laws were constitutionally valid. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/23/2225129.htm Zentai loses High Court extradition appeal - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) ] ]

Selected bibliography

* "How I Made $1,000,000 Trading Commodities Last Year." Windsor Books, 3rd edition, 1979. ISBN 0-930233-10-7
* "How to Prosper in the Coming Good Years." Regnery Gateway, 1982. ISBN 0-89526-667-9
* "The Secrets of Selecting Stocks for Immediate and Substantial Gains." Windsor Books, 2nd edition 1986. ISBN 0-930233-05-0
* "The Mountain of Moses: The Discovery of Mount Sinai", Wynwood, 1990, ISBN 0-922066-45-0
* "Long-Term Secrets to Short-Term Trading", Wiley, 1999, ISBN 0-471-29722-4
* "Day Trade Futures Online (Wiley Online Trading for a Living)", Wiley, 2000, ISBN 0-471-38339-2
* "The Right Stock at the Right Time: Prospering in the Coming Good Years", Wiley, 2003, ISBN 0-471-43051-X

See also

*Commodity Futures Trading Commission
*National Futures Association

References

External links

* [http://www.ireallytrade.com/ Larry Williams web site]

* [http://www.traderslog.com/williams-interview.htm Larry Williams Interview 2006]