Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

(The Library: Book Review) Pragmatism, discipline and keeping a cool head are often cited as hallmarks of successful stock traders. It's also true for crypto. This particular book, published in 1923 by Edwin Lefèvre examines multiple events in the life of a character inspired by Jesse Livermore. There was some entertainment and some people praised the book as being full of inspirational quotes. But I still don't recommend it!

Pros

• Gives a good perspective of trading during the early 20th century

• Good to read if you want to know history about bucket shops, brokerage, markets,...

Cons

• Not applicable to today's trading environments

• Not enough emotional attachment to the character / author

The author allows you to live this historical perspective on the world of trading. I had to push myself to finish it. I did not get a lasting memory of any particular principle in that book. However, there are multiple quotes you could extract from here. One famous is such as : "Bulls and bears make money; pigs get slaughtered" alluding to over-leveraged traders as pigs. But beyond the quotability, you do not get much emotional attachment to the character. Maybe because he makes money somewhat quickly but then plateaus a little from there. Meaning with today's perspective on what trading has become, his perspectives are not that inspiring and he proceeds to lose and gain back his money. So without the emotional attachment to a character fighting for a just cause or trying to solve a certain predicament, or in love, instead what this book brings is a succession of events with trading and business deals with brokerages firms. I don't recommend you to read it. Just if you want for entertainment or for some of the reasons I have listed above in the Pros. But in my opinion, these are more important to read:

• Siddhartha

• Dracula

• Frankenstein

Thanks for reading!