Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

Of all the books about trading written over the decades, perhaps none is still so beloved, revered, and followed as this 1923 classic by journalist Edwin Lefèvre. Although technically a work of fiction, the book really is about the life and trading style of one of the greatest speculators of all time, Jesse Livermore (told under the guise of “Larry Livingston”).

What makes this book such a treasure is not just its fun prose, and interesting glimpse into what the process of investing in old exchanges and “bucket shops” was over a century ago, when ticker-tape and board boys with… show more.

One of the best ways to understand the psychology of trading is through storytelling, seeing it through someone else’s eyes.

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator tells the story of Jesse Livermore who is considered one of the best traders to have ever lived. 

This book helped me understand the emotional gravity of what I was getting myself into. The book shares Jesse’s journey from starting in bucket shops to cornering the cotton market, to going broke and coming back and going broke again! 

If you’re going to get involved in trading, you need an understanding of not just the strategies… show more.

This a market classic - one that I read decades ago trying to understand the manipulations in the stock market.

It is my understanding that Edwin Lefevre is a pseudo-name for Jesse Livermore. Jesse Livermore was a stock trader that amassed a huge fortune worth $100 million ($1.5 billion in today's money) at his peak in 1929. Livermore traded on his own, using his own funds, his own system, and not trading anyone else's capital.

I felt a strong affinity with this book because my stock market mentor, Roger Cole, had described his relationship with Jesse Livermore and I felt… show more.

This is the most famous book on trading, the story of Jesse Livermore. It shows how he watched the patterns on the ticker tape, developed his trading style, and became rich. It is the book that all traders read when they go through a period of uncertainty. It is an uplifting story.

If you want to be a trader, you have to start thinking like a trader. And that is what this book does – after you read it a few times, you will start to think like a trader. I re-read this book probably once a year, and every time it gives me fresh insights into my own trading. It is strange and ironic that a book written generations ago could be so timely for today’s trading world, but this book will definitely make you a better trader.

Cited by many traders as their favorite, this book spoke to me and changed my thoughts on the market.  Lefevre wrote this book after interviewing Jesse Livermore and in Reminiscers of a Stock Operator, he reveals the tactics and mindset of one of the greatest traders of all time. An enduring classic filled with countless lessons, this is a book I cannot recommend enough. 

This interview with Jesse Livermore is both entertaining and instructional. Any mistake a trader could make, Livermore made that mistake twice. From his recounting of various trading campaigns, I learned key concepts in trader psychology as well as learning to avoid the pitfalls that ruined one of the Twentieth Century’s biggest speculators, namely, failure to manage risk.