Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre

This book was recommended to me and is a revelation if you wanna understand the stock market. Its a semi-fictionalized biography of Jesse Livermore, a notorious stock & commodity player of the early 20th Century.

I learned 3 things from the reading:
1. The market exists to separate a fool from his money.
2. The market never changes.
3. And every rule, regulation, and nice idea from the government reinforce Rules 1 and 2.

The book exposes all the shenanigans you suspect.

 

[Songcatcher]

Stage: Waterloo-the British beats Napoleon


Stage: London market- Rothchild sells British bonds (He knew the Brits won through the best intelligence souces money can buy.) The market reacts, and sells off the British bonds (thinking Brits lost). Rothchild, in turn, buy up British bonds on the cheap.

The news of British victory arrives.

The price of British bonds rockets.

Result: the Bank of England (Rothchild).

 

[trysail]

Livermore was a scoundrel; that's not news.


Wall Street will always have an informational advantage; if it didn't, it couldn't and wouldn't exist.


The way to reap the rewards of the stock market ( and it is a positive sum game— a host of studies have shown that the PRETAX TOTAL RETURN over long periods of time has exceeded both inflation and bonds ) is to be a long term investor ( i.e., the antithesis of a trader ).


If you try to trade, all you will succeed in doing is giving your money to someone else.


There is good reason that both Buffett and Bogle advise the average person to own stocks through low cost index funds ( and nobody does it better than Vanguard ). If you're not willing to be an owner for at least twenty years, don't bother.

"In Wall Street, the one with the money usually ends up with the experience and the one with the experience usually ends up with the money."
-Warren Edward Buffett

The media, as is so often the case, is worthless. It generally serves as a mouthpiece of Wall Street and has spread more misinformation than I care to contemplate.

"If you don't know who you are, Wall Street is an expensive place to find out."
-"Adam Smith" (nom de plume of George Gilder)
The Money Game
New York, 1967.

 

[Songcatcher]

Livermore was a scoundrel; that's not news.


Wall Street will always have an informational advantage; if it didn't, it couldn't and wouldn't exist.


The way to reap the rewards of the stock market ( and it is a positive sum game— a host of studies have shown that the PRETAX TOTAL RETURN over long periods of time has exceeded both inflation and bonds ) is to be a long term investor ( i.e., the antithesis of a trader ).


If you try to trade, all you will succeed in doing is giving your money to someone else.


There is good reason that both Buffett and Bogle advise the average person to own stocks through low cost index funds ( and nobody does it better than Vanguard ). If you're not willing to be an owner for at least twenty years, don't bother.






The media, as is so often the case, is worthless. It generally serves as a mouthpiece of Wall Street and has spread more misinformation than I care to contemplate.

I sum up the what is what in clear, precise English, and you spit on it.