When people who are starting to get involved in the markets, whether as professionals or investors, ask me what books I suggest they read, this is the first one I always mention.
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is a quasi-biography of trader Jesse Livermore, who went from early 1900’s bucket shop speculator to master trader, having won and lost large fortunes along the way in everything from stocks to cotton futures.
As surely as day follows night, in a bear market environment, you will repeatedly hear the clarion call to “get defensive,” or to buy “consumer staples”. Ignore this call, individual investor, as it is merely a b-school trope that all the talking heads like to trot out in tough times to justify what they’re doing…
Is there anything more off-putting than the sight of a chef, clad in his whites and houndstooth trousers, looking emaciated and sickly thin? If he’s even an adequate cook or at least a lover of food, should the chef be anything but well-fed?
I would say that investment professionals should be held to a similar standard. If someone holds themselves out to the public as a brilliant stock picker, a steward of capital, or a talented manager of money and assets, should we not inquire as to how much of their own capital is at risk in the same investments or strategies that they are propounding or endorsing?
