[Audiobook]
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre “Told through the fictional Larry Livingston—inspired by legendary trader Jesse Livermore—the book chronicles decades of Wall Street triumphs and disasters”
This book, over a hundred years old though it may be, is still referred to by many investors as a classic, an inspiration for their careers.
There are three parts, bucket shops, trading floor and market making, all of which have changed significantly since publication.
He cut his teeth in the bucket shops, where he learned to read the tickers and understand how stocks were going to move, then he moved to a trading floor where he got know about how the market was moved and some of the strategies used by other investors, finally he took on some market manipulation on behalf of some people who needed to move large amounts of stock.
The enduring nature of this book comes down to the detail it includes, not only what happened, but some explanation of his motivations. So although bucket shops don’t exist any more, we no longer have trading pits and market manipulation is illegal, there is a surprising amount of still-relevant information here.
What could easily have been three hundred pages of bragging is tempered by frank admission of failures, he busts out of the market several times and struggles to find a way back in, often treading on the toes of those who control his access.
Classic context for aspiring quants, although it won’t tell you how to run the numbers in the modern world.