How to Trade In Stocks

I don't think there are any books out there comparable to this one. This book is in a class of its own. Let's suppose that you can only choose one trading book to familiarize yourself with trading operation and your initial trading commences tomorrow morning. With such a restrictive and urgent condition, this book should be the one to choose if your are wise. No theoretical conjectures in this book. Just pure grass roots trading treatise.

When Jessie Livermore authored this book in 1940, charting was a manual process performed using graph paper, pen and pencil. The methods he describes in the book are based on plotting price movements onto paper using a combination of red ink, black ink and lead pencils to chart price changes and hence trading opportunities using his "Livermore Market Key". The charts published in Jessie's original 1940 version (reprinted in its entirety a few times until the early 1990's) were his own annotated records of the price movements for two stocks - US Steel and Bethlehem steel - circa 1938/39/40. I personally found studying his annotated records and charts utterly fascinating. It took me several re-reads and weeks of trial and error before I could truly apply this technique. Only by working through his examples was I able to appreciate the sheer genius behind his pre-charting software methods and understand exactly how Jessie traded in stocks. Please note - if you purchase the Richard Smitten "revised version", you will only be able to read 50% of the original Livermore writings. The rest is Smittens attempt to "improve" on Livermore and "modernise the methods". I trust Smitten had more than merely a profit motive in "improving" on the original great work believing his modern interpretations would help people. Cynics could claim that Smitten did not understand the methods, hence he was unable to replicate them. This is possibly why he publishes the "Smitten Way" of trading in the "revised version" of the book and removes all of Jessies original material. The original book is truly great. If out of curiosity you insist on buying the Smitten edition, do so with open eyes knowing you will learn the "Smitten interpretation of Jessies method of Trading" - which although is not terrible - is just not the original. If you are comfortable with reading a revised edition (and won't feel ripped off), read and enjoy Smittens book, else try and find a copy of the uncut and brilliant original writings.

If you want to sit in on a seminar with one of history's greatest speculators, this book and reminiscences of a stock operator are as close as you will get. There are many golden nuggets of trading philosophy and method in this book. If you can grasp what livermore says in this book, and as he says actualy have the patience and discipline to follow it you will be well on your way to success in the financial markets. It is important to realize that this book was written 17 years after the other great book on livermore ( reminiscences of a stock operator was wriiten in 1923) This book was written in 1940, the last year of Jesse livermores life after spending 40 plus years as a professional speculator. If the wisdom of a 4 decade plus career of making and losing multiple fortunes in the stock market (which in my opinion is what this book captures)does not help you, you are most likely not cut out for success in speculation. Understaning and applying the lessons of this book will cut the learning curve of becoming a succesful speculator. As for any skeptic who is critical of this book as being old and outdated, this is simply not true. If you will read this book you will understand that the workings of the financial markets never realy change because human nature never changes, and the financial markets are a representation of human beings opinions in action. This book is not the only book you need, but in my opinion it should be in your trading library. Keep in mind that all reviews are only opinions, and as jesse livermore says in this book, "Opinions are often wrong, markets never are" so find out for yourself whether this book can help you and do not mistake an opinion for a fact.

I know Jesse Livermore from the book by Bill O'Neil of Investor's Business Daily.After I got this book, I can not stop reading it until I finish it.It is the best book I have ever read about trading.Although it is not perfect because of three chapters removed by Richard Smitten, but you can learn much more than you anticipated. Timming,money management,emotion control,always are the key to successful trading.

This is the best book I have ever read on trading, period! And i have read at least 20 of them. Even though this book was written more than 50 years ago (written in 1940!), it is still quite relevant today. (Which goes to show that nothing new ever happens in the stock market) It never ceases to amaze me how much wisdom Jesse Livermore has packed into almost every page of this book. I like to re-read this book every 6 months or so; to remind myself of the simple but un-intuitive rules of trading. Buy this book, read it several times and see the difference in your trading results. No kidding.--Olu Emuleomo