Jesse Lauriston Livermore
Overview
 
Jesse Lauriston Livermore (July 26, 1877 — November 28, 1940), also known as the Boy Plunger and "Great Bear of Wall Street", was an early 20th century stock trader
Stock trader
A stock trader or a stock investor is an individual or firm who buys and sells stocks in the financial markets. Many stock traders will trade bonds as well...

. He was famed for making and losing several multi-million dollar fortunes and short selling
Short selling
In finance, short selling is the practice of selling assets, usually securities, that have been borrowed from a third party with the intention of buying identical assets back at a later date to return to that third party...

 during the stock market crash
Stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors...

es in 1907
Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic, was a financial crisis that occurred in the United States when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from its peak the previous year. Panic occurred, as this was during a time of economic recession, and there were numerous runs on...

 and 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...

.
Born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 31,640 people, 12,366 households, and 8,693 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 12,696 housing units at an average density of...

, Jesse Livermore started his trading career at the age of fourteen. He ran away from home with his mother's blessing to escape a life of farming his father intended for him.
Quotations

"In a bull market|bull market your game is to buy and hold until you believe that the bull market is near its end."

"My dear boy," said old Partridge, in great distress "my dear boy, if I sold that stock|stock now I'd lose my securities position|position; and then where would I be?"

"It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting. Got that? My sitting tight!"

"Men who can both be right and sit tight are uncommon."

"The market does not beat them. They beat themselves, because though they have brains they cannot sit tight."

"He really meant to tell them that the big money was not in the individual fluctuations but in the main trend|movements that is, not in reading the tape but in sizing up the entire market and its trend."

"Obviously the thing to do was to be bullish in a bull market|bull market and bearish in a bear market|bear market."

"When your security (finance)|security is acting right, you can safely add to your line from then forward!"

"When I buy stocks for a rise I like to pay top prices and when I sell I must sell low or not at all."

"When this happens I sell the stock short that is, technically. In other words, I sell more stock than I actually hold."

 
x
OK