What are you presently reading?
- Thread starter mikeriley
- Start date
I read that book and was VERY disappointed. Though I didn't really expect to learn much, because it's been around a while.
LeFevre's book was so much better, but ironically, it wasn't Livermore he was interviewing- which is quite the mis-conception that still goes around.
And as a final note, even Niederhoffer trashes Livermore's stuff very often in interviews, and says it's good examples on what NOT to do when trading.
LeFevre's book was so much better, but ironically, it wasn't Livermore he was interviewing- which is quite the mis-conception that still goes around.
And as a final note, even Niederhoffer trashes Livermore's stuff very often in interviews, and says it's good examples on what NOT to do when trading.
If not Livermore, then whom was he interviewing? I'm 100% positive these interviews were with Livermore, especially since so many of the experiences of Larry Livingston were straight from Livermore's reality.
I have the original book and I have kept it as a reference. I have never read the Richard Smitten edition, but I have heard many negative reviews of his rendition of Livermore's work.
I read multiple sources disputing the fact that LeFevre interviewed Livermore for the book. The name of the trader escapes me now, but cross referencing the names of certain places in the book by details and timelines narrowed it down by more than one expert on the subject which knows a lot more than you or I on the issue. Livermore, was not the person in question.
I may have to go through a lot of my older archives again, which will be quite a task at the moment.
I may have to go through a lot of my older archives again, which will be quite a task at the moment.
If it weren't Livermore then it would be easy to find the name of the "real subject." Very easy. Exceedingly easy. Everyone would at least be aware of the theory.
Sounds like you may have bitten into a weird conspiracy theory. But, if you show up with links, I'd be happy to take a look at the receipts, should there be any.
It's unfortunate that only thing people remember about Livermore is that he declared bankruptcy and, in the end, ultimately committed suicide. While those are facts, there were many other spectacular success in the interim. For instance, he's the towering figure when it comes to tape reading (or what we would call price action or reading order flows). I would go so far as saying that everything that's largely disseminated on the topic of trading, especially on the web, goes back to Livermore.
That's not to say what you read in "his" books (or rather books about him) isn't questionable. I think most of them were simply made up. For instance, in the above book, the author is cross-referencing Livermore's strategies and thoughts to what had happened in the aftermath of the Nasdaq bubble. And some of the things sound like they came straight out of William O'Neill's books. If you don't already know, William O'Neill is the founder of Investor Business Daily and a great trader/investor himself.
Many great financial successes were first bankrupts. PT Barnum, Milton Hershey, Walt Disney, Dave Ramsey, HJ Heinz, Clarence Saunders, William Durant, Donald Trump (multiples) and my favorite and most successful bankrupt of all, Henry Ford.
Two groups tend to be overly represented amongst bankruptcy filers: Spendthrifts living beyond their means, and entrepreneurial risk takers.
His wife was a bitch who spent his capital quicker than he could grow it. He made the only decision a man could make under the circumstances.
Well, most of them had nothing to do with stock market. Perhaps an exception is Bernard Baruch, who was a contemporary of Livermore. He also made a great fortune in the market and kept most of it. What's more, he went on to provide public service under Roosevelt's presidency.
As such, I think Livermore's biggest blunder was that he knew how to make money but didn't know how to spend them.
While that might be true, we don't really have any details to back that up. From what I've read, Livermore had what we know today as clinical depression, which in its severe form can and usually do make people suicidal.
Well, when he died he had more debts than he had in assets. He was in his older age, and no one was going to give him a stake again.
From my understanding, it's still a mystery on how he lost his last major wealth accumulation. However, two things come to mind for me personally.
He primarily made his $ shorting the markets. But ever since the 'big one' the government has continually added more and more forces in order to penalize short-selling. What used to work, failed to work. Some traders can't adapt.
Even in modern times, we've continued to add more elements such as circuit breakers and other rules to hurt the short side. We've been continually biasing things toward the bullish side.
That's one biggie. The other, and this is just a theory, he may have been swindled again by trader(s) like he got burned before in commodities trading.
It's possible...? He may very well have done something not very legal, which is why it wasn't really talked about.
From my understanding, it's still a mystery on how he lost his last major wealth accumulation. However, two things come to mind for me personally.
He primarily made his $ shorting the markets. But ever since the 'big one' the government has continually added more and more forces in order to penalize short-selling. What used to work, failed to work. Some traders can't adapt.
Even in modern times, we've continued to add more elements such as circuit breakers and other rules to hurt the short side. We've been continually biasing things toward the bullish side.
That's one biggie. The other, and this is just a theory, he may have been swindled again by trader(s) like he got burned before in commodities trading.
It's possible...? He may very well have done something not very legal, which is why it wasn't really talked about.