Interview  |  APR 2004

Interview: Short-Term Trader Jeff Cooper by Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan

Stocks & Commodities V. 22:4 (66-73): Interview: Short-Term Trader Jeff Cooper by Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan Few people have succeeded in trading the way Jeff Cooper has. His first book, Hit And Run Trading, is often referred to as the bible of the short-term trader. His other work, including Hit And Run Trading II, has further given insight into his ability to spot unique trading setups that over time profitably repeat themselves. His next book (with partner David Reif), Wheels Of Time And Price, will be published in 2005 by Traders Library. Cooper is a regular contributor to TheStreet.com, where he also offers his Trading Report subscription service. Currently, he manages money at www.MutualMoneyFlow.com. STOCKS & COMMODITIES Editor Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan interviewed Cooper on February 10, 2004. Q: How did you get interested in the financial markets? A: My father operated one of the first private hedge funds in the 1960s, and as a teenager I was always fascinated that his decisions were basically intuitive and instinctive, in the sense he was a tape reader. He didn’t come from a background of academia, he didn’t have an MBA. In college, my majors were cinema and literature, so I was more right-brain than left-brain oriented too. I think that led to my interest in trading psychology and the way the market seemed to repeat certain patterns, and traced out fractals of patterns on different time frames. I was also intrigued that I saw my dad sitting at his own desk, and he was his own boss, but without any inventory. He was more or less a short-term trader. In my naïveté, it seemed to me he was able to make money with little effort.

by Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan