Jesse Livermore was one of the world’s most famous (or infamous) stock traders.
Now, many after his fame peaked, many people still regard him as one of the greatest stock traders ever. With this in mind, here are some ways of assessing how deeply you’ve come under the influence of Jesse Livermore.
You know you’re under Jesse Livermore’s spell when:
- You tell anyone who’ll listen that “there is nothing new in Wall Street”.
- You forget everything you’ve ever learned about position sizing and put all of your own money (and ten times more from your broker) into a single trade.
- You tell people, “never argue with the tape”.
- You tell your (male) children to keep their cash close to their balls and never let anyone near it.
- You start talking about the size of the line you’re swinging.
- You have your best ideas while big-game fishing off the coast of Florida.
- You often begin sentences with the words “There I was…”
- “There I was, once more broke, which was bad, and dead wrong in my trading, which was a sight worse.”
- “There I was, short five thousand shares of Union Pacific on a hunch.”
- “There I was on the morning of May ninth with nearly fifty thousand dollars in cash and no stocks.”
You know your wife’s under Livermore’s spell when:
- She starts paraphrasing his famous dictum “A stock can never be priced too high to buy” – but replaces “stock” with “necklace”, “shoes”, “dress”, “designer kitchen”, “bathroom suite”, or “vacation”.
- She repeatedly tells you, “there is nothing new in Wall Street my wardrobe”.
- She forgets everything you’ve ever told her about position sizing and puts all of your money (and ten times more from your bank) into her dream house.
- She tells you, “never argue with the tape me”.
- She often begins sentences with the words “There I was…”
- “There I was, embarrassed because everyone else was better dressed than I was.”
- “There I was, the only one not having an overseas vacation this year.”
- “There I was, the only one whose husband hadn’t come too.”