Is it accurate to say that the reason for Amaranth's devastating losses was because the chief trader

and CEO just did not understand the derivatives markets in which they were trading?

What will be an ideal response?

No, this would be an inaccurate characterization. Brian Hunter had an advanced understanding of the natural gas derivatives markets, and Nick Maounis understood perfectly well the strategy that Brian Hunter had employed. The problem with Hunter's strategy (however sophisticated) was that it was based on price and spread movements
that did not occur. Amaranth's positions were too large and leveraged for the company
to withstand the cash outflows from these disadvantageous price and spread movements.