General Discussion

UglyGreed

(7,661 posts) Mon Dec 15, 2014, 06:10 AM Dec 2014

Because a Stuyvesant Senior Made $72 Million Trading Stocks on His Lunch Break

Rumors, on wall street, can be powerful. A whisper can turn into a current that moves markets, driving a stock price up or sending it tumbling. There may be only one other place where gossip holds such sway, and that is high school.

Late last year, a rumor began circulating at Stuyvesant that a junior named Mohammed Islam had made a fortune in the stock market. Not a small fortune, either. Seventy-two million.

An unbelievable amount of money for anyone, not least a high-school student, but as far as rumors go, this one seemed legit. Everyone at Stuy knew that Mohammed, the soft-spoken son of Bengali immigrants from Queens and the president of the school’s Investment Club, was basically a genius.

As the news spread, Mo’s stock went up. The school paper profiled him, Business Insider included him on a list of “20 Under 20,” and Mo became “a celebrity,” as his friend Damir Tulemaganbetov put it on a recent Friday night at Mari Vanna near Union Square. “A VIP!”

http://nymag.com/news/articles/reasonstoloveny/2014/mohammed-islam-stock-trading/

15 replies

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Highlight:

Because a Stuyvesant Senior Made $72 Million Trading Stocks on His Lunch Break (Original Post) UglyGreed Dec 2014 OP

What portions of the are shrewdness, luck, and connections? JHB Dec 2014 #1

Your guess is as good as mine N/T UglyGreed Dec 2014 #2

This will get trotted out... Prophet 451 Dec 2014 #3

It's a modern day Horatio Alger story. LuvNewcastle Dec 2014 #4

There ya go UglyGreed Dec 2014 #5

Actually, smart investors never "gamble" brooklynite Dec 2014 #6

Well a novice like myself UglyGreed Dec 2014 #7

We don't have them either... brooklynite Dec 2014 #8

Thanks for UglyGreed Dec 2014 #9

What about ETFs. brush Dec 2014 #10

What we invest in (besides bank CDs, some specific bonds and my Apple stock): brooklynite Dec 2014 #11

New York Mag’s Boy Genius Investor Made It All Up Crabby Appleton Dec 2014 #12

Seems pretty obvious... Jesus Malverde Dec 2014 #13

Yikes! ProfessorGAC Dec 2014 #14

I'd read some of the story, and hadn't realised it was in "reasons to love New York" muriel_volestrangler Dec 2014 #15

JHB

(37,160 posts)

1. What portions of the are shrewdness, luck, and connections?

Reply to UglyGreed (Original post)

Mon Dec 15, 2014, 06:54 AM

Dec 2014

I've only seen a few articles on ths kid, and they're all puff pieces. They haven't taken a deeper look at what he did and how he did it.

He started with penny stocks when he was 11 -- that would be in 2008. That's a factor in the "luck" part: his entire run has been during recovery from deep recession.

UglyGreed

(7,661 posts)

2. Your guess is as good as mine N/T

Reply to JHB (Reply #1)

Mon Dec 15, 2014, 06:58 AM

Dec 2014

Prophet 451

(9,796 posts)

3. This will get trotted out...

Reply to UglyGreed (Original post)

Mon Dec 15, 2014, 07:41 AM

Dec 2014

...as "proof" that anyone can succeed in America and you just need to try harder and bootstraps, etc.

LuvNewcastle

(16,845 posts)

4. It's a modern day Horatio Alger story.

Reply to Prophet 451 (Reply #3)

Mon Dec 15, 2014, 07:53 AM

Dec 2014

UglyGreed

(7,661 posts)

5. There ya go

Reply to Prophet 451 (Reply #3)

Mon Dec 15, 2014, 08:15 AM

Dec 2014

Gamble your grocery money on the market, the cabbage is just sitting there waiting to be picked!!!

brooklynite

(94,552 posts)

6. Actually, smart investors never "gamble"

Reply to UglyGreed (Reply #5)

Mon Dec 15, 2014, 08:28 AM

Dec 2014

My wife and I invest regularly in a broad range of index funds; if something's going down, something else will be going up. We don't change our investment mix do to each panic, so the net effect is we're doing very well.

So are most Union pension funds.

UglyGreed

(7,661 posts)

7. Well a novice like myself

Reply to brooklynite (Reply #6)

Mon Dec 15, 2014, 08:43 AM

Dec 2014

or those who do not have a brain trust behind them as in a Union IMO it is a gamble. Like many, I can't afford a subscription to the Wall Street Journal or a broker who would be trust worthy.

brooklynite

(94,552 posts)

8. We don't have them either...

Reply to UglyGreed (Reply #7)

Mon Dec 15, 2014, 08:50 AM

Dec 2014

...Fidelity and Vanguard will provide plenty of assistance for free.

UglyGreed

(7,661 posts)

9. Thanks for

Reply to brooklynite (Reply #8)

Mon Dec 15, 2014, 08:54 AM

Dec 2014

the tip, now do you have some extra cash to lend me??? Just kidding please don't be offended.....but I'm only a train ride away

brush

(53,778 posts)

10. What about ETFs.

Reply to brooklynite (Reply #8)

Mon Dec 15, 2014, 10:29 AM

Dec 2014

Do you hold any of those?

If so, any recommendations.

brooklynite

(94,552 posts)

11. What we invest in (besides bank CDs, some specific bonds and my Apple stock):

Reply to brush (Reply #10)

Mon Dec 15, 2014, 11:07 AM

Dec 2014

iPath Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Idx TR ETN
Wells Fargo Advantage Emerging Markets Equity Fund Institutional Class
Fidelity Diversified International Fund Class K
Fidelity Inflation-Protected Bond Fund
Fidelity Spartan Extended Market Index Fund Fidelity Advantage Class
Fidelity Spartan U.S. Bond Index Fund Fidelity Advantage Class
CurrencyShares Euro Trust
Fidelity Spartan 500 Index Fund Institutional Class
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund Admiral Shares
Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares
Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund Admiral Shares
Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Class
Vanguard REIT Index Fund Admiral Shares
Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap Index Fund ETF Shares
Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund Admiral Shares
Vanguard New York Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund

Basically, all index funds in different sectors.

Crabby Appleton

(5,231 posts)

12. New York Mag’s Boy Genius Investor Made It All Up

Reply to UglyGreed (Original post)

Tue Dec 16, 2014, 09:34 AM

Dec 2014

...

Monday’s edition of New York magazine includes an irresistible story about a Stuyvesant High senior named Mohammed Islam who had made a fortune investing in the stock market. Reporter Jessica Pressler wrote regarding the precise number, “Though he is shy about the $72 million number, he confirmed his net worth is in the “’high eight figures.’” The New York Post followed up with a story of its own, with the fat figure playing a key role in the headline: “High school student scores $72M playing the stock market.”

And now it turns out, the real number is … zero.

In an exclusive interview with Mr. Islam and his friend Damir Tulemaganbetov, who also featured heavily in the New York story, the baby faced boys who dress in suits with tie clips came clean. Swept up in a tide of media adulation, they made the whole thing up.

more...

http://observer.com/2014/12/exclusive-new-york-mags-boy-genius-investor-made-it-all-up/

Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)

13. Seems pretty obvious...

Reply to Crabby Appleton (Reply #12)

Tue Dec 16, 2014, 09:36 AM

Dec 2014

They have a stellar career ahead of them in finance, a la bernie madoff.

ProfessorGAC

(65,038 posts)

14. Yikes!

Reply to Crabby Appleton (Reply #12)

Tue Dec 16, 2014, 10:25 AM

Dec 2014

They made a ton of money in video game world and it led to all this?

muriel_volestrangler

(101,316 posts)

15. I'd read some of the story, and hadn't realised it was in "reasons to love New York"

Reply to Crabby Appleton (Reply #12)

Tue Dec 16, 2014, 12:17 PM

Dec 2014

I'd just seen the '12. Because...' headline. I actually thought it was part of a "list of reasons the world has gone crazy". I read some of it, thought it sounded unlikely (things like the 'trading when 9' bit), and got bored reading it anyway. If it were true, it would be a reason to despair, not celebrate.

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