Why are value investor types so rigidly opposed to TA?

[DesertCat]

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How come there are value investors in the Forbes 400 but no TA types?

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John Arnold for one. Youngest on the Forbes list, was a trader for Enron and now has his own hedge fund.

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He's in commodities, which is different than stocks because commodities don't really have intrinsic values, so traditional FA isn't possible. But just because he's called a trader doesn't mean he uses TA.

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Arnold said he looks to place bets when he thinks a market has become "biased," moving prices away from what he considers fair value, according to a February report about the annual meeting by Platts Power Markets Week.

marketwatch article


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He places bets when price is different from value, that's more FA like than TA. He takes on contracts based on risk analysis, using a full time meteorologist on staff to help, that's FA. At Enron, he made almost risk free money as a market maker, i.e. arbitrage, i.e. FA.

And remember, Brian Hunter at Amaranth was also a top trader and headed for billionaire status until he blew Amaranth up. Whatever his techniques, Arnold needs to stand the test of time before we can crown him.