All the more reason, says Lemont, to join up and mirror a top trader like the one who gained 460% over the same time period (see chart below).

FORBES: Facebook Meets Forex

Lex van Dam, former top trader at Goldman Sachs and head of hedge fund, Hampstead Capital, takes a dim view of the over-hyped reactions of the Wall Street bosses.

FORBES: Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down

Tepper, who Trader Monthly Magazine recognized as a Top 100 trader about the time he first showed up on the FORBES billionaire list in 2005, had built a reputation as a balls to wall investor, who when he believes in a idea tunes out pundits who scream otherwise.

FORBES: Hedgie David Tepper stands up for Vulture Investing

Among the top nominees is UBS rogue trader Kweku Adoboli.

FORBES: UBS Rogue Trader Up For London's Best-Dressed Banker

The main way in which hedge funds are seeking to convince investors that they are not the creature of a single star trader is to hire top Wall Street types to run the business side.

ECONOMIST: Hedge funds

For guidance on how to make sense out of the maze of ETF funds on the market, read top-ranked Hulbert Digest newsletter AllStar Fund Trader.

FORBES: GLD Envy: iShares' IAU Is Cheapening Itself

On top of all this, one U.S. trader of platinum group metals cited a stronger gone in the U.S. dollar, which tends to hurt commodities generally by making them more expensive in other currencies.

FORBES: FOCUS: Platinum Slides To Five-Week Low As Other Metals Fall, Amplats Workers Return

The move from bank prop trader to hedge fund manager is one several top traders have made over the last couple of years in response to new regulatory rules that forbid banks from trading with their own funds.

FORBES: Top JPMorgan Prop Trader Leaves To Launch Hedge Fund

At the top of this emerging field is Currensee, founded by an Israeli currency trader and his tech-savvy partner in 2009 as a social network for people interested in Forex.

FORBES: Facebook Meets Forex