Born in 1877 Jesse Livermore began working with stocks at the age of 15 when he ran away from his parent’s farm and took a job posting stock quotes at a Boston brokerage firm. While he was working he would jot down predictions so he could follow up on them thus testing his theories. After doing this for some time he was convinced to try his systems with real money. However since he was still young he started placing bets with local bookies on the movements of particular stocks, he proved so good at this he was eventually banned from a number of local gambling houses for winning too much and he started trading on the real exchanges. Intrigued by Livermore’s career, financial writer Edwin Lefevre conducted weeks of interviews with him during the early 1920s. Then, in 1923, Lefevre wrote a first-person account of a fictional trader named "Larry Livingston," who bore countless similarities to Livermore, ranging from their last names to the specific events of their trading careers. Although many traders attempted to glean the secret of Livermore’s success from Reminiscences, his technique was not fully elucidated until How To Trade in Stocks was published in 1940. It offers an in-depth explanation of the Livermore Formula, the trading method, still in use today, that turned Livermore into a Wall Street icon.
The Success Secrets of a Stock Market Legend Jesse Livermore was a loner, an individualist-and the most successful stock trader who ever lived. Written shortly before his death in 1940, How to Trade Stocks offered traders their first account of that famously tight-lipped operator's trading system. Written in Livermore's inimitable, no-nonsense style, it interweaves fascinating autobiographical and historical details with step-by-step guidance on: Reading market and stock behaviors Analyzing leading sectors Market timing Money management Emotional control In this new edition of that classic, trader and top Livermore expert Richard Smitten sheds new light on Jesse Livermore's philosophy and methods. Drawing on Livermore's private papers and interviews with his family, Smitten provides priceless insights into the Livermore trading formula, along with tips on how to combine it with contemporary charting techniques. Also included is the Livermore Market Key, the first and still one of the most accurate methods of tracking and recording market patterns
Livermore started trading in securities when he was fourteen years old. He made his first thousand when a mere boy. He has practiced every device known to the active speculator, studied every speculative theory, and dealt in about every active security listed on the New York Stock Exchange. He has piled up gigantic fortunes from his commitments, lost them, digested, started all over again—and piled up new fortunes. He has changed his market position in the twinkling of an eye—sold out thousands of shares of long stock, and gone short of thousands of shares more on a decision which required reading only the one word, “but,” in a lengthy ticker statement. If his later experiences were not enough to catch the public fancy, Livermore would have won it by his greatest feat of all: beating the bucket shops. Beating the cheaters, in fact, was Livermore’s pet plan after things had gone against him and he was forced to start anew on a small-lot basis.
"An excellent read." —Ace Greenberg, Chairman, Bear Stearns Richard Smitten's Jesse Livermore is the first full biography of the legendary trader profiled in the bestselling Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (Wiley: 0-471-05970-6). Although he died more than half a century ago, Livermore is considered by today's top traders as the greatest trader who ever lived. An enigmatic loner, misanthrope, and notorious miser, Livermore revolutionized the profession with his innovative timing techniques, money management strategies, and high-momentum approach to trading stocks. Smitten provides a vivid portrait of Livermore and the times in which he lived and operated. He deftly combines eyewitness accounts of those who knew Livermore with fascinating stories of sensational love affairs, shootings, and suicides, and a detailed exploration of the trading strategies that made Livermore several fortunes in his lifetime. Richard Smitten (Key West, FL) is the author of several books, including The Godmother, the critically acclaimed story of a famous woman criminal.
The secret to Jesse Livermore's legendary trading success Although he began his career in 1892, Jesse Livermore is still considered to be one of the world's greatest traders. In life and in death, Livermore has always been a controversial figure and his methods held up as a model for traders of all generations. Through 45 years of trading and market observation, Jesse Livermore determined that stocks and stock markets move in a series of repetitive patterns. He then developed a series of unique tools, using secret formulas and equations that allowed him to identify and interpret the movement in stocks with uncanny reliability. In Trade Like Jesse Livermore, author Richard Smitten explores the technical aspects of Livermore's trading approach and shows readers how they can use these techniques to garner the success Livermore once did. Trade Like Jesse Livermore covers every aspect of Livermore's trading methods, from discerning market behavior and trends such as top-down and tandem trading to paying close attention to indicators such as one-day reversals and spikes. With this book as their guide, readers can learn how to trade profitably without fear or greed. Richard Smitten (New Orleans, LA) is the author of numerous books including Jesse Livermore: World's Greatest Stock Trader (0-471-02326-4), The Godmother, Capital Crimes, and Legal Tender.
For the first time, these two works attributed to the great Jesse Livermore are presented together in one volume with a new foreword by Juliette Rogers. Both contain interesting insights into Livermore's life and times as well as the reasons for his success. They remain classics and must reads for every new aspirant in the world of speculation. The two books in this volume were written in the early 1920s, when Livermore was already famous but still ascending to the peak of his wealth. The nightmare of World War I was fading, and the United States had successfully transitioned from a wartime economy into a peacetime powerhouse. Americans became enamored of cars, telephones, radios, and movies. A newfound fascination with celebrities extended beyond film stars and athletes to the rich and powerful. People wanted to know how Wall Street wizards like Jesse Livermore spun their magic. The first book, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefèvre, offers keen insight while at the same time adding to the Livermore enigma. Reminiscences is the first-person narrative of a fictional speculator named Larry Livingston, whose life events happen to match precisely those of Jesse Livermore. As a financial journalist, biographer, and novelist, Edwin Lefèvre gave his readers their much-desired glimpse into the lofty world of Wall Street elites. He wrote eight other books, but none matched the success of Reminiscences, which has remained in print since 1923 and been translated into numerous languages. Even the understated former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan once called it "a font of investing wisdom." In true Livermore fashion, the book itself remains something of a mystery. Specifically, over the decades many readers have wondered if the book's author was not Lefèvre, but none other than Jesse Livermore. The two men were long acquainted and may have traded useful information over the years. A 1967 biography claims that Livermore, shortly before his death, acknowledged writing Reminiscences with guidance from Lefèvre, who served as "editor and coach." This revelation came to the biographer secondhand and without confirmation, so the mystery continues. However, attentive readers may note the narrator's especially gleeful tone whenever windfalls are made or old scores are settled, suggesting a connection more personal than professional. In the years following these publications, Livermore continued to burnish his legend. A 1924 run-up in wheat prices squeezed him out of $3 million, but the following year he recovered his losses and added tremendous profit when the wheat market collapsed. Of course, in this era of modest regulation, markets were vulnerable to manipulation and Livermore--by now nicknamed the "Great Bear of Wall Street"--did not eschew such tactics.
Boy Plunger is the first full-length biography of the legendary share trader, Jesse Livermore, the most successful stock and commodities trader in the history of the stock market. He became famous in the summer of 1929 when most people believed that the American stock market would continue to rise forever as Wall Street was enjoyed an eight-year winning run. Jesse Livermore started a process that would see him sell $450 million of shares short inside a four week period. As he had forecast, the three 'black' days, Thursday 24th October, Monday 28th October and Tuesday 29th October, saw the market drop dramatically and in a week Wall Street lost $30 billion of value. Livermore made nearly $100 million and overnight became one of the richest men in the world. It remains, adjusted for inflation, the most money ever made by any individual in a period of seven days.
The Stock Market Trading Secrets of the Late Jesse Livermore by Carlo Maria Flumiani is one of a series of books by C. M. Flumiani about securities trading in the stock market. This particular book is about the legendary securities trader Jesse Livermore, known as "The Boy Plunger" or "The Wolf of Wall Street". This book is a summary of the principles set forth in a longer book by Livermore himself, "How to Trade in Stocks; the Livermore formula for combining time element and price". Widely regarded as a leading stock market theorist, Dr. Flumiani has infused the study of stock market motions and their anticipation with new challenging dimensions rich with significant historical psychological and philosophical ramifications. The creator of the Cylinder theory, discoverer of new, stimulating meanings to be attributed to chart formations, dramatic teacher, lecturer and writer, Dr. C. M. Flumiani is the author of a series of books and monographs which have been accepted by students of the sock Market and of investing problems as the most original and penetrating which have been published in recent years.
