There are traders who are either admired or not spoken at all. Such a figure in the world of trading was Livermore Jesse Lauriston. At one time it was incredibly popular, and today remains a reference figure for many traders.
Biography of J. Livermore
He was born in the small town of Shrewsbury in 1877. His father was a simple farmer, which meant that Jesse’s future was destined.
But he did not want to become a farmer, work in the field did not attract a young man. Then he decides to escape. His mother helps him in this. He drops out of school and, having five dollars in his pocket, leaves his hometown.
There is a beautiful legend that the bus in which Livermore was traveling stopped just in front of the doors of the brokerage company Webbers Boston.
The owner of this company needed a guy who had to record changes in the share price on the board, which is what Jesse began to do. Over time, he became interested in making his own predictions. He started writing them down in a notebook.
Later, a friend advised him to invest his savings ($5) in the deal. At that time Livermore made a profit of $3, but such a small amount and became an impetus to work with the stock exchange.
During Livermore’s formation as a trader, working on the stock exchange was very similar to working with a bookmaker. Traders had only to guess the direction of the price. Jesse had a good advantage – he had a great memory and he understood the math. In a fairly short period of time he was able to increase his capital and began to think about moving to the heart of the financial world – in New York.
At twenty, he decides to move again. But this time he has several thousand dollars in his pocket. Brokerage offices of New York a little disappointed the young trader – transactions on them were held with a delay and very often not at the current price.
At first, Jesse increases his net worth to the mark of 50,000 dollars, but very quickly loses it and even borrows. Fortunately for him, this failure was a challenge for him.
After this story, he changes his tactics – he begins to focus on minimizing losses and preserving his own capital.
In 1906, Livermore managed to make several big enough deals to become famous and rich. After that, he begins to apply fundamental analysis together with technical analysis. He becomes a professional in the “bear game.” Slowly but surely, he takes the place of one of the influential figures on the currency exchange.
In 1929 there was a tipping point – he took a chance, but luck was not on his side. After that, he managed to regain capital, but he lost it again and again.
His life was a whirlpool of holidays and social events – he did not deny himself anything. But the end of his story is sad.
Jesse Livermore Lauriston could not survive a lot of setbacks that fell on him. He commits suicide at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel in New York City.
Books by Jesse Livermore
After himself Livermore left not only an invaluable contribution to the development of the financial market, he wrote and published several books. And today two of his financial masterpieces are in demand. These are “Stock Trading” and “Memories of a Stock Speculator.” The latter was written by Edwin Lefebvre based on Jesse’s interview.
- Jesse Livermore Stock Trading Download
- Jesse Livermore Memories of stock speculator download