My Blog
Jesse Livermore - “They Miss The Big Movements.”
One of the greatest traders in the history of the world was Jesse Livermore. He was rumored to have died broke, that is patently false. Jim Sinclair’s father, Bert Seligman, (also one of the greatest traders in history) was business partners with Jesse Livermore, and Sinclair (in one of his KWN interviews) let listeners know that Jesse was an extraordinarily wealthy man, all the way to the end of his life. Fortunately his lessons from the markets were chronicled and are available for those who are willing to learn.
September 6, 2010
Jesse Livermore from Reminiscences of a Stock Operator:
"Speculation is far too exciting. Most people who speculate hound the brokerage offices... the ticker is always on their minds. They are so engrossed with the minor ups and downs, they miss the big movements."
I wanted to highlight that particular Jesse Livermore quote today because too many KWN listeners globally fall into this trap. Many have positioned themselves in the secular bull market in gold and yet with every break in the price of gold they begin to worry.
Having said that, here is a second quote from Livermore that readers and listeners should be aware of:
"The game of speculation is the most uniformly fascinating game in the world. But it is not a game for the stupid, the mentally lazy, the man of inferior emotional balance, or for the get-rich-quick adventurer. They will die poor."
Those may seem like harsh words, but I can assure you that Jesse was trying to save people from themselves. In order to succeed at this game, you must be able to look at the big picture, always ignoring minor fluctuations or reactions in markets.
For those market veterans that trade I will leave you with this final thought for today, do not churn your accounts. Jesse Livermore:
"There are times when money can be made investing and speculating in stocks, but money cannot consistently be made trading every day or every week during the year. Only the foolhardy will try it. It just is not in the cards and cannot be done."
Remember, buy into bull markets as early as possible and hold. This is the only way to make the big money, don’t ever forget that.
Eric King
