How much do you actually know about some of the biggest trades in history? By this time, you should all have realized that trading is not a guaranteed ticket to Lamborghinis for Penthouse views. But the history of trading in the stock market is in fact filled with stories of traders who struck it big. And it wasn't just luck, these greatest traders in history have shown that with a perfect timing, the right amount of conviction, and the due diligence that they put in, it was possible to make billions of dollars in one trade. Welcome back to another humble Trader video.

Let's talk about Trader Psychology Today and what it really takes to make it big in trading. we're going to review some of the greatest trades in history and ones that shook the financial world. As always, my goal is to make these complicated trading stories and topics fun and entertaining for you to watch. So I hope we can all learn from these big trades and improve our trading executions and mindsets.

And of course, I'm going to be sprinkling some of my lame jokes along the way. so make sure to smash the like button and let's go. The Greatest Trade Number One: George Soros on the Bank of England Okay, first up, we have a Trader who's practically legendary in the world of trading by the name of George Soros The Men Who Decided to take on entire nations currency. Picture this, it's an early 1990s and the United Kingdom is all cozied up with an Ern European exchange rate mechanism which is a monetary system designed to keep all the European currency exchange rates fixed and in check.

So the British Pound, which is our protagonist in this epic tale is living it up and pegged to other European currencies at a fixed exchange rate against the German Mark. The reason the British government decided to join the ERM is that they were hoping they can benefit from lower interest rates, lower inflation, and a stronger currency. But this one man who saw through the glitz and glamor of this financial masquerade his name is George Soros He's a Hungarian American hedge fund manager and a legend in the world of trading. George had a hunch that the British Pound was living a lie and that the UK's economic conditions and the fundamentals were as shaky as a House of Cards.

So what did he do? He decided to do the unthinkable. He bet against the British pound with his hedge fund Quantum fund George Soros opened a 1 billion dollar short position. Okay, now you must be scratching ahead wondering how one guy could take an entire nation's currency I was wondering about that too. So hold on to your trading hat because here's where it gets very interesting.

Soros built a massive short position against the pound. basically in playing English he borrowed a ginormous pile of British pounds and then exchanged them for other currencies, all while crossing his fingers that he could pay back those loans with much cheaper pounds down the line. I mean this is the exact same structure as short selling stocks. you're selling a stock high and trying to cover and buy it back much lower later on.

But here's the kicker: Soros Didn't keep his Ambitions plan a secret. He boldly criticized the UK government's policy of defending the pound's exchange rate. He went on air and talked about his views through various media outlets and he made public statements that would make anyone's palms sweaty if you were holding a lot of British pounds. And because of that, other speculators and Traders decided to join on this trade as well.

It was like the wildest Financial contrarian party. Fast forward to September 16, 1992, a day that would go down in history as black Wednesday The pressure on the British pound was hotter than a jalapeno on the summer day. In their last effort to save the currency, the UK government announced that they will crank up interest rates to a mind-blowing 15 percent. The British government had thrown in billions of pounds in order to buy the currency to prop up its value.

but despite their best effort, the selling pressure on the pounds was like a rock rolling down hill. Nothing nothing else could stop it. So on that day, the British government realized that they cannot afford to keep buying British pounds at a fixed exchange rate and decided to withdraw out of ERM. The result: The pound crashed out of the ERM and its value plummeted like a meme stock selling off with no bottom in sight.

Now here's where the story get: it's very juicy: George Soros along with his Quantum fund and other speculators, they wrecked in a colossal Prophet. From the short position, we're talking about billions of dollars of profits here and Sorrows along is estimated to have made around 1 billion in profits from the Epic trade himself. The aftermath of this financial earthquake was just a scripting. The British government's reputation was left tethered and torn and the UK had to leave.

Erm. As for George Soros he became a legend in the world of Finance known for his big bets and his uncanny ability to move markets with his words and actions and guess. While on the surface, it's very impressive to see a trading profit this size I mean this billions of dollars were talking about here, but it's also a trade that made George Soros Infamous Us: The man who took down the entire nation's currency or the man who broke the bank of England I did it in order to make a profit. Sure, and to expect Market participants to to be concerned about the social consequences of their action is putting the emphasis in the wrong place.

Many criticize him for exploiting the weakness in the system and profiting from the pain of the Common People the declining economy and high unemployment because after all, his selling pressure on the British pound aided the currency's big crash. So it is worth it for us to pause for a second and really take a moment to think about the effects of these big bets. I know for myself: I Don't think I would be able to execute a trade like this I Think it's one thing to show itself. meme stocks, you know I Know these stock prices have no business being that high, but on the entire nation's currency and that has the potential to affect 99 of the people's livelihoods, it's very difficult to pull that off.

So let me know. what do you think Do you think you will be able to pull the trigger on a short bed like this one? The greatest Trade number two Gym channels and Enron The second greatest Trade features gym channels also known as the Scenic in Greek because of his hedge fund Kanikos. Associates This guy has been around the block, but it was the Enron tray that took him to the big leagues in Finance. It all started with a very simple phone call.

A friend tipped him off to an eye-opening article in a Texas Wall Street Journal. The article spilled the beans on how some big energy companies managed to twist the Sec's arms into adopting some very Creative Accounting practices. These companies were essentially cooking the books. Not me though I don't cook anything essentially with this method.

Mark To model accounting, they were hiding their losses and making their profits look like a feast. So Gym Channels and his clinicals crew decided to put on the detective hats and dig into Enron's financials. And though boy do they find some red flags. and ROM was basically playing hide and seek with a real financial situation while the stock price is skyrocketing, something definitely smelled fishy.

But then the plot thickened. Enron CEO Jeff Skilling Dropped the bombshell saying he was resigning for family reasons and to Gym Channels that sounded like the alarm bells in a sinking ship in November 2000 with Enron stock pricing around a jaw dropping ninety dollars with a Target price of 130 dollars. Kanokos finally pulled the trigger and initiated the short position and what followed was a financial roller coaster and wrong once adorning on Wall Street Came Crashing Down The truth about the company cooking the books was out and the stock price nosedive faster than you can say and run. Scandal Gym Channels and his Konokos fund.

They didn't just spot red flags, they took action and by the time Enron was a smoking crater at the very bottom, he had raked approximately 500 million dollars in profit. Yep, that's right, that's half a billion dollars today. Gym Channels is still a heavyweight in the finance. World He's got a nose for sniffing out the fishy stuff, especially in places like China He recently set his sights on Alibaba raising some serious questions about the accounting practices with Kanikos betting against them.

Could we be looking at the next and wrong? I Guess we'll just have to wait and see. So what's the lesson here? Traders It's all about due diligence, skepticism, and having the guts to go against the crowd when your analysis tells you to. This is definitely a contrarian trade that Gym Channels took. Essentially, he didn't drink the Kool-Aid when the Enron stock price went to New highs.

but while many people can Delta company's success and ask a lot of questions, not a lot of people actually will take action and pull the trigger. And a 500 million dollar trade like this before we move on to the third greatest trade of all time. If you're enjoying the video so far, please remember to smash the like button down below. Greatest Trade Number Three Michael Berry On the Housing Market Another epic trade I have for you today is a very famous One Dr Michael Berry The Man Who Saw The Housing Market Crisis Coming before anyone else did I mean this guy's contrarian bet was so epic that they made a whole movie about it.

Call the big short and fun fact That's one of my favorite movies of all time. Extremely educational and funny at the same time. Okay, picture this, it's 2005 and Dr Michael Berry A hedge fund manager is like hmm something smells fishy about the housing Market, so he rolled up his sleeves and started digging into the financial instruments tied to the real estate market. You know those mortgage-backed Securities and collateralize debt obligations or Cdos? For short, you know those extremely boring something but important things that no one thinks to look at.

And what did he find? Well, it's a ticking. Time Bomb Home buyers were snapping up adjustable rate mortgages with these irresistible low teaser rates which would later hike up into much, much higher rates. These mortgages were bundled up in the Securities and sold to investors. But here's the kicker: Michael Berry Realized that if interest rates go up or people start defaulting on their mortgages, these Securities will crash and burn.

and this is where it gets very juicy instead of sipping on the housing market. Kool-Aid Like everyone else, Michael Berry Decided to make a legendary contrarian move. The dude basically goes all in and buys credit default swaps CDs on the subprime mortgage. Bonds In simple terms, he's betting that the housing market is going to implode and these mortgage bonds are gonna go poof.

But can you imagine the looks he got from his investors and colleagues? They were like Mike what the heck are you doing? Who in the right Minds were bet against the housing market? but Dr Michael Berry Did not back down. He stuck to his guns and even doubled down with he saw more signs that the housing bubble was gonna collapse mostly years. Went by 2006 2007. the housing market was still partying like it's 1999.

his hedge fund Zion Capital was bleeding money quick. Everyone including the investors were telling him to pack it up and drop those CDs You can call him stubborn or call this a conviction but Dr Michael Berry did not back down. He basically ignored every Investor's cries and held on to his losing positions. In the movie, he famously said I'm not wrong I'm just early watch it will pay I may have been early but I'm not wrong And then in 2007 and eight it finally happened.

The housing bubble collapsed and it's like the financial doomsday out there. And guess who's profiting from this collapse? That's right. Dr Michael Berry and Zion Capital His CDs positions paid off big time and the financial institutions that laughed at him once many years ago they were now knocking on his door asking for advice on how to save their own behinds. So you made a ton of money, made a ton of money much more than I ever imagined you know I'd ever have.

Barry's foresight and the conviction to swim against the tide made him and his investors more than 800 million dollars. and you know what's icing on the cake. His story became the star-studded movie called The Big Short based on Michael Lewis's book. I Mean when they are making Hollywood Blockbusters about your contrarian investment strategy and having Ryan Gosling star in it, you know you've done something legendary.

So what can we learn from the story? Well, it's all about independent thinking in a jaw-dropping rewards of going against the crowd when everyone else is just following the herd. There are so many more legendary traits I Would love to share the stories with you such as Paul Tudor Jones 1987 trade, John Templetons.com Bubble Trade and Jesse Livermore's Trade in 1929. If you enjoy these three stories of the greatest trades of all time, remember to smash the like button for me and let me know if you want to see another. Trader Psychology and story session like this I Hope you enjoyed this roller coaster ride through the world of high stake.

Finance Stay humble and stay curious and I'll catch you in the next video over here.