Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is a 1923 novel by American author Edwin Lefèvre

Edwin Lefèvre

Edwin Lefèvre was an American journalist, writer, and statesman most noted for his writings on Wall Street business.Lefèvre was born George Edwin Henry Lefèvre on 23 January 1871 in Colón, Colombia , the son of Henry Lefèvre , who was for many years the general agent of the Pacific Steamship...

 which is the thinly disguised biography of Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Jesse Lauriston Livermore

Jesse Lauriston Livermore , also known as the Boy Plunger and "Great Bear of Wall Street", was an early 20th century stock trader...

. The Wall Street Journal described the book as a "classic", it was ranked #15 on 'Fortune's 75 The Smartest Books We Know', and Alan Greenspan

Alan Greenspan

Alan Greenspan is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. He currently works as a private advisor and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC...

 said it is "a font of investing wisdom."

The Art of Speculation

Speculation

In finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...

 

First published in 1923, Reminiscences is a fictionalized account of the life of the securities

Security (finance)

A security is generally a fungible, negotiable financial instrument representing financial value. Securities are broadly categorized into:* debt securities ,* equity securities, e.g., common stocks; and,...

 trader

Trader (finance)

A trader is someone in finance who buys and sells financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, commodities and derivatives. A broker who simply fills buy or sell orders is not a trader, as they are merely executing instructions given to them. According to the Wall Street Journal in 2004, a managing...

  Jesse Livermore. Despite the book's age, it continues to offer insights into the art of trading

Trader (finance)

A trader is someone in finance who buys and sells financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, commodities and derivatives. A broker who simply fills buy or sell orders is not a trader, as they are merely executing instructions given to them. According to the Wall Street Journal in 2004, a managing...

 and speculation

Speculation

In finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...

. In Jack Schwagers

Jack D. Schwager

Jack D. Schwager is the author of the books Market Wizards, New Market Wizards, Stock Market Wizards, and Getting Started in Technical Analysis...

 Market Wizards

Market Wizards

Market Wizards is a book written by Jack D. Schwager and published in 1988 in which he interviews a wide range of traders with excellent track records of profitability.The book contains four parts covering interviews with traders in a wide range of markets...

, Reminiscences was quoted as a major source of stock trading learning material for experienced and new traders by many of the traders who Schwager interviewed.

Plot

The book tells the story of Livermore's progression from day trading

Day trading

Day trading refers to the practice of buying and selling financial instruments within the same trading day such that all positions are usually closed before the market close for the trading day...

 in the then so-called "New England bucket shop

Bucket shop (stock market)

As defined by the U.S. Supreme Court a Bucket shop is "[a]n establishment, nominally for the transaction of a stock exchange business, or business of similar character, but really for the registration of bets, or wagers, usually for small amounts, on the rise or fall of the prices of stocks, grain,...

s," to market speculator, market maker, and market manipulator, and finally to Wall Street

Wall Street

Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...

 where he made and lost his fortune several times over. Along the way, Livermore learns many lessons, which he happily shares with the reader.

In Print

The book remains in print as of 2008, (ISBN 0471770884). In December 2009, John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons, Inc., also referred to as Wiley, is a global publishing company that specializes in academic publishing and markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and...

 published an Annotated Edition in hardcover

Hardcover

A hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...

, ISBN 0470481595, that bridges the gap between Lefèvre's fictionalized account and the actual exploits, personalities, and locations that populate the book. Page margins in the 2009 edition explain the historical setting and the real companies, individuals, and news events to which Lefèvre alludes.

Quotes

External links

• Reminiscences of a Stock Operator at Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
  The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
  
   (full text)
• "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator", Fool.com book review, October 26, 2006
• Small Mistakes = Small Consequences
• Review (TraderKnowledge)
• Review (MarketThoughts)
• Vague Reminiscences of a Stock Operator