12 Best Victor Sperandeo Quotes For Traders
Published: September 1, 2025
Victor Sperandeo, known as “Trader Vic,” is a legendary trader with over 60 years of experience in financial markets. Featured in Jack Schwager’s “New Market Wizards” and ranked among the top 10 traders of all time for both performance and career longevity, Sperandeo has built a reputation as one of Wall Street’s most accomplished professionals.
Starting his career on Wall Street in 1966, Sperandeo quickly established himself as an exceptional bear trader during the challenging market conditions of the late 1960s and early 1970s. His expertise on the short side made him well-known throughout the industry, leading to his recruitment by George Soros in 1981 to manage the short side of the legendary Quantum Fund. For seven months, Sperandeo served as Soros’s hedge, managing a substantial portion of the fund with strict risk parameters—including automatic termination if he lost 5%.
Sperandeo is the author of “Trader Vic: Methods of a Wall Street Master” and has developed innovative trading concepts including the “2B” pattern, which remains widely studied by technical analysts today. His approach emphasizes the integration of fundamental, technical, and macro analysis—a methodology he learned while working alongside some of the greatest minds in trading.
Beyond individual trading, Sperandeo attempted to systematize his methods by training 39 traders, an experience that taught him valuable lessons about the emotional aspects of trading success. This led to his insight that “it isn’t in the knowledge, it’s in the emotions”—recognizing that some people simply aren’t emotionally equipped for trading regardless of their technical skills.
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In his later career, Sperandeo transitioned from day trading to algorithmic strategies, developing rules-based systems that leverage his decades of market research. His systematic approach includes strategies tested over 60+ years of historical data, incorporating sophisticated concepts like volatility balancing across multiple asset classes.
Sperandeo advocates for intellectual independence in trading, emphasizing the importance of reading educational books rather than relying on financial media. He follows Austrian school economic principles and maintains a skeptical approach to government economic data and Federal Reserve policies. His long-term investment philosophy includes a core position in gold held since 1994, based on his fundamental view of fiat currency systems.
Throughout his career, Sperandeo has demonstrated the ability to adapt his methods while maintaining core principles of risk management, systematic execution, and the critical importance of integrating multiple forms of market analysis.
12 Victor Sperandeo quotes for traders and investors.
“I taught everybody the same way, the same principles, the same tactics… But the problem is it isn’t in the knowledge, it’s in the emotions. And some people are just not emotionally set up to be a trader. Their fear clouds their judgments.”
Victor Sperandeo
“The way you do this is you determine in advance where you are wrong. So let’s say you buy a stock at 50 and the last previous low was 47… if it trades at 46.99 you sell. It’s that automatic and in doing that you will succeed because your winners will be bigger than your losers by definition if you follow that.”
Victor Sperandeo
“The sizing of positions is what made Soros one of the greatest in the world in trading because he made so much money when he was right because he took outrageous sized positions… The key is when one [fundamental and technical] doesn’t match, your position should be much lower.”
Victor Sperandeo
“If something is supposed to happen and doesn’t happen, that should make your antenna go up as soon as possible… If something is supposed to be and it isn’t, then the reverse will occur.”
Victor Sperandeo
“Be cynical and prove it to yourself that something stated is true… You got to be mistrustful and you got to be cynical until you prove it yourself. If it works, you find the answer to it and you’ll be a lot better off.”
Victor Sperandeo
“You should never ever listen to the people on CNBC or Fox News… They are all positioned to be propagandists for the products they sell… You can watch them, but you shouldn’t use the information to make money or lose money. You got to get that from books.”
Victor Sperandeo
“Traders should and investors should incorporate both fundamental and technical analysis. Now, I’m a macro trader as well… The key here is to integrate. And that’s a key word that I hope your listeners write down – to integrate the fundamentals with the technicals.”
Victor Sperandeo
“Most people lose money because of lack of emotional discipline – the ability to keep their emotions removed from investment decisions.”
Victor Sperandeo
“In my view, the way to build wealth is to preserve capital, make consistent profits, and wait patiently for the right opportunity to make extraordinary gains.”
Victor Sperandeo
“To be a successful trader, you have to be able to admit mistakes. People who are very bright don’t make very many mistakes. In a sense, they generally are correct. In trading, however, the person who can easily admit to being wrong is the one who walks away a winner.”
Victor Sperandeo
“Investing in the market without knowing what stage it is in is like selling life insurance to 20 year olds and 80 year olds at the same premium.”
Victor Sperandeo
“The essence of success and happiness results from actualizing your potential, which requires a constant process of learning and growing, as well as the recognition that making mistakes is an inevitable, even essential, part of life.”
Victor Sperandeo
