Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (Edwin Lefèvre)

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Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
“I learned early that there is nothing new in Wall Street. There can’t be, because speculation is as old as the hills. Whatever happens in the stock market today has happened before and will happen again. I’ve never forgotten that. The fact that I remember that way is my way of capitalizing experience.”
—From Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

First published in 1923, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is the fictionalized biography of Jesse Livermore, one of the greatest speculators who ever lived. Now, more than 70 years later, Reminiscences remains the most widely read and highly recommended investment book ever written. Generations of investors have found that it teaches them more about themselves and other investors than years of experience in the market. They have also discovered that its trading advice and keen analyses of market price movements are as relevant today as in 1923.

Jesse Livermore won and lost tens of millions of dollars playing the stock and commodities markets during the early 1900s, once earning the then-astronomical sum of ten million dollars in just one month of trading. So influential was he as a market force that, in 1929, he was widely believed to be the man responsible for causing the Crash. This forced him into seclusion, and he had to hire a bodyguard.

Originally reviewed in The New York Times as a nonfiction book, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator vividly recounts Livermore’s mastery of the markets from the age of 14. Always good with numbers, he learned early on that he could predict which way the numbers would move. Starting with an investment of five dollars, he amassed a fortune by his early twenties and established himself as a major player on Wall Street.

He made his first big killing in 1906 by shorting Union Pacific stocks. He later cornered the cotton market and experienced a million-dollar day. Bullish in bear markets and bearish among bulls, he claimed that only suckers gamble on the market. His advice was to protect oneself by balancing investments and selling big on the way down.

Livermore went broke three times, but each time he returned stronger, viewing each failure as a valuable learning experience. Offering profound insights into the motivations, attitudes, and feelings shared by every investor, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is a timeless instructional tale that will enrich the lives—and portfolios—of today’s traders, just as it has for generations past.

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Critical Praise…

“In my interviews with over 30 of the best traders of our time, there were some questions I asked in every conversation. One of them was: Are there any books you found particularly valuable and would recommend to aspiring traders? By far, the most frequent response was Reminiscences of a Stock Operator—a book that was over 70 years old!”
—From the Foreword by Jack Schwager, author of Market Wizards and The New Market Wizards

“Although Reminiscences… was first published some 70 years ago, its take on crowd psychology and market timing is as timely as last summer’s frenzy in the foreign exchange markets.”
—Worth magazine

“The most entertaining book written on investing is Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, by Edwin Lefèvre, first published in 1923.”
—The Seattle Times

“The best book I’ve read is Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. I always keep a copy available for people who come to work for me.”
—Martin Zweig

“After 20 years and many re-reads, Reminiscences is still one of my all-time favorites.”
—Kenneth L. Fisher, Forbes

Offering timeless lessons about the market and investor psychology, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator has enriched the lives of generations of investors and continues to be the most widely read and celebrated investment book ever written.

Author Biography

EDWIN LEFÈVRE was trained as a mining engineer at Lehigh University but became a journalist at the age of 19. Over his 53-year writing career, he produced eight books, including The Making of a Stockbroker.