Figuring out who to include on our "Traders to Watch" list was no easy task. We decided to focus on hedge fund traders because that's where traders — young, old, novice or veteran — can launch something new and be directly accountable for its success or failure. And the six traders we've chosen have been nothing but successful, generating outstanding returns, which is particularly noteworthy in the current tumultuous market.

All of the traders highlighted in our cover story also manage their funds. In addition to considering the returns they've generated and limiting the prospects to funds that have been open to investors for no longer than three years (in order to ensure that the traders could be categorized as "emerging"), we delved into their backgrounds to better understand where they've been, how they fared at other funds and who has influenced their careers.

In two cases, the traders had strong academic backgrounds — John Moody earned a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton and served as a faculty member in the computer science department at Yale, and Marco Bitran earned an electrical engineering degree from MIT and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. We felt this gave them an edge, considering that algorithms and quantitative skills are such a big part of trading today. But as you'll notice in the profiles, the traders' backgrounds are as varied as the trading strategies they pursue.

There is one constant among our honorees, however: None of the traders are just out of the gate with their first funds. While we originally envisioned highlighting rookie traders, the more research we did, the more we realized that no one is turning extraordinary profits for his first fund. Rather, it appears that the second or third time around is the real charm. With this experience under their belts, the traders discuss how they came to launch their current funds, how they trade and the technology they use, and their goals for the future.

The "Traders to Watch" feature is new this year, and we plan to make it an annual special in future issues. Please recommend any traders you think should make our watch list in the future. (You can E-mail me at kmassaro@cmp.com.)

Also new this issue is our Derivatives section, which will run throughout the year. The market has seen unprecedented growth in derivatives, and technology is growing more and more important to traders of these products. Check out our report on HSBC's automated liquidity management system — Ken Yeadon, HSBC's chief enterprise e-trading strategist, likens the firm's new processes to just-in-time manufacturing in the auto industry.

We'll continue to bring you information on new technology advancements in derivatives, as well as the rest of the industry, and, more important, we'll keep a close eye on our six traders to watch in 2008. DE Shaw and Renaissance watch out!