Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

Edwin LeFevre

This incredible book was first published in 1923. It is the fictionalized or embellished story of one of the great speculators of all time, Jesse Livermore. Times have changed since Livermore, "The Boy Wonder" worked his way up from the bucket shops to the big board and the commodity markets. However, markets remain the same, because psychology is a constant. Practically every veteran Wall Street investor and trader has read this book. I credit this book with saving my financial life. I first read this book in the mid–1980's, and I found it so useful I decided I would re–read once per year, a practice I followed for about 10 years. I had it with me when my wife and I left for Hawaii on Friday October 16, 1987. We "celebrated" Black Monday in Maui. Not only did I lose most of my money in the crash, I thought that the future looked bleak for me as an institutional stockbroker for Montgomery Securities. I was devastated and depressed, not to mention being very isolated from my colleagues and clients. I had no idea what I was going to do. But I was reading Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, and Jesse Livermore had gone broke many times. Each time he recovered and became more and more prosperous. Not only was I inspired by his resilience, I learned how he did it. That is what makes this books so very special, it teaches you how to think, and once you know how to think, you can think through any and all situations and often come up with the correct, and winning, strategy. So, if you aspire to make money as speculator: Read this book!!

Review by Len Oppenheim.