Background
Larry Williams won the 1987 World Cup Trading Championship turning $10,000 into $1.1 million in one year — a 11,376% return that remains one of the greatest verified trading performances in history. He invented the Williams %R indicator (adopted by nearly every charting platform), developed seasonal trading systems for futures, and has been active for 50+ years. His daughter, actress Michelle Williams, later entered and won the same championship.
Core Methodology
Williams combines seasonal/cyclical analysis with his proprietary indicators to trade futures markets. His core thesis: markets have repeatable seasonal patterns (e.g., grains tend to rally into summer, bonds tend to weaken in Q1) that provide a directional bias, and technical tools confirm entry timing. The Williams %R oscillator (similar to Stochastic but inverted) identifies overbought/oversold conditions for timing.
Key Trading Rules
- Identify the seasonal tendency for the market and timeframe — this provides directional bias
- Use the Williams %R (14-period) for entry timing: buy when %R crosses above -80 (oversold), sell when crosses below -20 (overbought)
- Commitment of Traders (COT) data: follow what commercials (hedgers) are doing — they're the smart money in futures
- Large range day: if a market makes an unusually large daily range, expect a reversal the next 1-3 days
- Position sizing: never risk more than 2-3% of account on any single trade
- Combine at least 2-3 confirming factors before entering: seasonal + COT + technical
Key Concepts
Books & Resources
Long-Term Secrets to Short-Term Trading by Larry Williams. Trade Stocks and Commodities with the Insiders by Larry Williams. The Right Stock at the Right Time by Larry Williams.