by: Mark Crisp
Jesse Livermore, though he died over forty years ago, is still known today as one of the most colorful, flamboyant and respected market speculators of all time. Known by such epithets such as Boy Plunger, the Great Bear, The Wall Street Wonder and the Cotton King, Livermore both made, and subsequently lost, four multi-million dollar fortunes during his career as a speculator, which spanned three decades.
The man who was blamed for the 1929 crash and for precipitating in every market break from 1917 to 1940.
For the reader who is fascinated, as I always have been, with the life of Jesse Livermore, the King of the Speculators, I whole heartedly recommend that you read through the most sought after and best selling book ever written on the stock market,
"Reminiscences of a Stock Operator."
Read about Livermore’s rise from no-where to gain his reputation as the best speculator in ever. Read how he made and agonizingly loses his multi-million dollar fortunes, time and time again.
Ever thought where such stock market wisdoms such as:
"Fear your losses and let your profits run"
"It was never my thinking that made me money but my sitting tight"
"Markets are never wrong, opinions are"
Came from? The man himself. Read and engrave these quotes into your mind if you want to survive as a trader!
As great a speculator as Livermore was I think the greatest education one can take from this book is realize it doesn’t matter how much money you make in the markets it’s the keeping hold of it that is important. Livermore never quite grasped this part.
In my mind, Darvas was every bit as good as Livermore in making money but much more importantly Darvas realized the importance of holding onto those gains in difficult market conditions.
Another work which is available is Livermore’s 1940 classic, "How to Trade Stocks". This is his legacy to the speculator for all time, in which he states his philosophy of trading and lays down some ground rules. Rules he himself struggled to follow.