The investor earned $350 million in two weeks practically from scratch. It's true?

Updated November 9, 2023

The investor had only a few hundred dollars and turned them into $350 million in two weeks. We analyze whether this story is real, whether it is possible to earn so much in a short time.

The Incredible Success Story of a Wall Street Trader investor

In the early 2000s, the internet was blown up by an amazing story: a certain Andrew Karlsin turned $800 into $350 million in two weeks. He traded in the stock market, and all of his 126 high-risk trades were successful. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suspected the 44-year-old man of illegal insider trading: Karlsin's accounts were frozen, and he himself was detained by the FBI.

The suspect's interrogation lasted a full four hours, and his confessions were very interesting. He claimed to have traded so successfully because he came from the future. Specifically, from 2256.

According to Karlsin, he applied his knowledge of the history of the stock market to trading on the stock exchange. At the beginning of the century, major US indices fell, and then began to rise again, wrote (https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2003/11/25/the-best-stocks-of-2003.aspx) Motley Fool. The publication noted that the economy was dispersed by "huge amounts of fiscal and monetary stimulus" from the US government - tax cuts and interest rates.

Karlsin admitted that he could not resist and returned to the past to make money on the stock exchange. "I planned to make everything look natural: lose a little here, a little there, so that it doesn't seem perfect. But I got carried away ", - published his words Weekly World News.

"We don't believe this guy's story. He is either a madman or a pathological liar, "the publication quoted a source in the SEC. However, the authorities did not find any records of the existence of a man named Andrew Karlsin before December 2002, the newspaper wrote.

In total, the trader spent over a month in prison. However, on March 29, 2003, an unknown person paid a bail of $1 million for Karlsin, so he was released from prison. Andrew was scheduled to meet with a lawyer on April 2 to prepare for the trial. But the trader did not come to him and has since disappeared.

investor earned $350 million

This story is a beautiful fake

This incredible news first appeared in late February 2003 on the Weekly World News tabloid. The publication noted that it received more than 5 thousand letters from readers, most of whom believed in the possibility of time travel and justified Karlsin.

The story was reprinted by Yahoo News in the entertainment news and gossip section, and then it was scattered across other media and forums. But not everyone paid attention to where this news came from.

The Guardian published (https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2003/apr/01/features11.g2) the story on April 1 - especially on April Fool's Day. And he made an ironic signature: "Those of you who deliberately indicate the date in the upper right corner of this page are mistaken. This is a true story found on the internet where, as we all know, truth is revered as sacred. "

Reading the story of time travel, it immediately comes to mind that this is a fiction, worthy of a Hollywood movie. However, not only this plot is incredible here. It is hard to imagine that anyone could have made $350 million in two weeks without making a single mistake in their transactions. And even more so - initially with only $800 in his pocket.

"I very much doubt the veracity of this story. I don't know a single person who would have earned $350 million in the stock market with $800, " said (https://www.scotsman.com/news/anyone-can-be-fooler-world-2463575) Bill Carter, FBI spokesman in Washington, DC.

Those who start with such a small amount and make millions take a lifetime. For example, the secretary Grace Groener, who bought three shares of Abbott Laboratories for $180, and 75 years later her fortune exceeded $7 million.

The SEC spokesman also called the story about Karlsin "pure fantasy", in which there is not a grain of truth he said.

Do not be fooled by the promises of "mountains of gold"

It is helpful to remember that stories of quick earned millions and endless success are rarely true, as are the promises of scammers to increase your capital by 300% per year. Believing in the tempting promises of the "golden mountains", you can lose everything.

Important information: Derivatives trading provides a high level of return on investment, but is also associated with the possibility of losing your investment. Before starting trading, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the trading conditions presented on the broker's website.

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