| 1. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” ~ Mark Twain 2. “The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.” ~ John Maynard Keynes. 3. “I never buy at the bottom and I always sell too soon.” ~ Baron Rothschild 4. “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” ~ John Maynard Keynes 5. “Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it.” ~ Warren Buffett 6. “It is not our duty as speculators to be on the bull side or the bear side but upon the winning side.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator 7. “The principles of successful speculation are based on the supposition that people will continue in the future to make the mistakes that they made in the past.” ~ Thomas F. Woodlock 8. “It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It was always my sitting tight. Got that?” ~ Mr. Partridge in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator 9. “They say you never grow poor taking profits. No, you don’t. But neither do you grow rich taking a four-point profit in a bull market.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator 10. “Remember that prices are never too high for you to begin buying or too low to begin selling. But after the initial transaction, don’t make a second unless the first shows you a profit.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator 11. “A loss never bothers me after I take it. I forget it overnight. But being wrong – not taking the loss – that is what does the damage to the pocketbook and the soul.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator 12. “If a man didn’t make mistakes, he’d own the world in a month. But if he didn’t profit by his mistakes, he wouldn’t own a blessed thing.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator 13. “The man who is right always has two forces working in his favor – basic conditions and the men who are wrong. In a bull market bear factors are ignored.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator 14. [What advice would you give the novice trader?] – “First, I would say that risk management is the most important thing to be well understood. Undertrade, undertrade, undertrade is my second piece of advice. Whatever you think your position ought to be, cut it at least in half.” ~ Bruce Kovner in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards 15. “There is probably no class of trades with a higher failure rate than impulsive trades.” Jack Schwager in Market Wizards 16. [What is the most important advice you could give the novice trader?] – “Trade small because that’s when you are as bad as you are ever going to be. Learn from your mistakes.” ~ Richard Dennis in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards 17. “The elements of good trading are: (1) cutting losses, (2) cutting losses, and (3) cutting losses. If you can follow these three rules, you may have a chance.” ~ Ed Seykota in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards 18. “Charting is a little like surfing. You don’t have to know a lot about the phsyics of tides, resonance, and fluid dynamics in order to catch a good wave. You just have to be able to sense when its’s happening and then have the drive to act at the right time.” ~ Ed Seykota in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards 19. “I have two basic rules about winning in trading as well as in life: (1) If you don’t bet, you can’t win. (2) If you lose all your chips, you can’t bet.” ~ Larry Hite in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards 20. “Perhaps the most important rule is to hold on to your winners and cut your losers. Both are equally important. If you don’t stay with your winners, you are not going to be able to pay for the losers.” ~ Michael Marcus in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards 21. “Lose your opinion – not your money” ~ Unknown |
Archives of “jessie livermore” tag
rss21 Quotes for Traders
1. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” ~ Mark Twain
2. “The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.” ~ John Maynard Keynes.
3. “I never buy at the bottom and I always sell too soon.” ~ Baron Rothschild
4. “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” ~ John Maynard Keynes
5. “Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it.” ~ Warren Buffett
6. “It is not our duty as speculators to be on the bull side or the bear side but upon the winning side.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
7. “The principles of successful speculation are based on the supposition that people will continue in the future to make the mistakes that they made in the past.” ~ Thomas F. Woodlock
8. “It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It was always my sitting tight. Got that?” ~ Mr. Partridge in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
9. “They say you never grow poor taking profits. No, you don’t. But neither do you grow rich taking a four-point profit in a bull market.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
10. “Remember that prices are never too high for you to begin buying or too low to begin selling. But after the initial transaction, don’t make a second unless the first shows you a profit.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
11. “A loss never bothers me after I take it. I forget it overnight. But being wrong – not taking the loss – that is what does the damage to the pocketbook and the soul.” ~ Jessie Livermore in Edwin Lefevre’s Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (more…)
Jesse Livermore :The Legend
The legend and romance surrounding the famed stock plunger Jessie Livermore has long held a fascination among traders. Livermore has become somewhat of a cult in recent years and there are several books that purport to reveal his secrets for making a fortune in the stock market. None of them can hold a candle to the book which Livermore himself commissioned (written by journalist Edwin LeFevre) entitled Reminiscences of a Stock Operator.
This book is essentially an autobiographical account of Livermore’s trading career as told to LeFevre. It chronicles his meteoric career starting with his early days as a small time operator in “bucket shops” and culminating with his heyday as a big Wall Street mover and shaker. Market students have for years combed this book hoping to find the “hidden secret” to Mr. Livermore’s successful career as a speculator but their efforts have largely been in vain. Livermore left no abiding set of rules for consistently beating the stock market. In fact, he himself fell victim to Mr. Market as he won and lost a fortune on more than one occasion. His life and career came to an inglorious end when he killed himself in the cloakroom of a Manhattan hotel at the age of 63.
The fact that Livermore was never able to crack the secret code of the stock market hasn’t stopped his legions of fans from their endless pursuit of the market’s “Holy Grail.” Had they listened to Mr. Livermore himself, however, they would realize that there is no Holy Grail when it comes to forecasting the stock market with consistent accuracy. (Tragically, Livermore himself seems to have forgotten his own advice on occasion). (more…)
The Gods are Human
Idolization is a basic function of human nature. I don’t think it has to be proven any more. From the little child that looks up to his or her older sibling or parent, to the full grown man sitting down on any given weekend watching his favorite sports figure in a state of awe, we all seem to idolize someone. In my case any one of Jack Schwager’s personalities mentioned in his “Market Wizards” books, Jessie Livermore, or any number of not so popular yet successful traders such as Chris Lori or Carolyn Boroden. To distort Dylan’s words: “it might be the devil, it might be the lord but your gonna have to <idolize> some one”.
In our natural idolization we forget that these extraordinary people are after all just people. Even though in many cases they have been able to accomplish extraordinary things, in the end they are subject to the same influences to which we are subjected. Though it may be hard to believe at times, yes they all put their pants on one leg at a time.
What the heck does this have to do with trading? I’m glad you asked.
I notice that our trading terminology is littered with idolized lingo. We talk of “smart money”, “institutional investors”, “market makers”, and such. When we talk of these folks it’s as if they are gods that are somehow immune to the effects of human nature such as fear and greed. I believe that it’s not so much that they are immune, as it is that they have learned to subdue and control their reactions. They are active thinkers, not reactive thinkers. Even then, they do all they do in a human body, with a human mind, that has human constraints and habits.
This tells me that even the “smart money” or the “institutional investor” is subject to patterns in his thinking and behavior. The smartest of money managers goes to sleep at certain times of certain days of the week and is trading at certain times of the day. Institutional guys have to create and deal with the markets patterns and behavior within the constraints of their own daily routines. This creates opportunity for those willing to sit back and try to think about it. (more…)