Lessons from the Greatest Stock Traders of All Time Paperback – May 21, 2004

I really wish I had read this book earlier in my studies on trading stocks. The author does an excellent job bringing together the greatest stock traders of all time in one place. It is hard to argue with the results of these men, making millions in the markets several times over 40-50 years. Jesse Livermore made over $100 million during the crash of 1929 by being short in stocks, Nicholas Darvas made $2 million in 18 months part-time. I had already stumbled upon Jesse Livermore, Nicolas Darvas, and William O'Neal, and read each of their books. They have all taught me a great deal and their teachings have lead me to profits in the market. I love the way the author has shown the similarities in all these great traders and condensed the lessons to be learned from them in the final chapter. All these great traders bought into the strongest stocks, they did not look for bargains. They believed in buying high and selling higher. They believed in buying stocks with great fundamentals and technical strength. They looked for large price increases on strong volume, they captured there profits on the rise at the first sign of weakness. Thanks to this book I will read the books by Gerald Loeb and Bernard Baruch and continue with my growth as a trader. I will also read all the books about these great men recommended at the end of the book. This book would have helped me focus on what books to read when I began learning years ago. Who better to learn from than the best there ever was?

The author did a great job of staying on point, showing the similarities and the differences between 5 of the best traders known to the public. I like how the author picked traders from different eras and as Livermore said " what happened before will happen again and again". That is the beautiful part about the stock market, it provides traders an opportunity to use human nature and markets to make a huge living. As the author states the basic trading styles of each you realize how similar they are and the main thesis are basically the same. A very good book to help remind the trader of great principles and if you are just starting to trade, you can't go wrong with this one.

I really enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it for anyone interested in investing in the stock market. I wish I had read it before I started trading.

This book is very easy to read. It describes the top rules of the disciplined, successful investors in a simple way. Not too much details. good book.

I read this book while working as a buy-side equity analyst and it inspired me to speculate in the stock market on my own. It is geared to aspiring stock speculators who want to make big money when the overall market is in an uptrend.A few caveats: It is NOT for day traders nor buy-and-hold, long-term investors. It will NOT provide detailed trading rules. And, as the author freely admits, the book is highly influenced by William O'Neil's trading philosophy.It is a short book that summaries the achievements of five legendary US stock speculators - Jesse Livermore, Bernard Baruch, Gerald Loeb, Nicolas Darvas, and Bill O'Neil. These legends span modern US financial history from the early twentieth century to the 1990s. While each had their own strengths, the author emphasized these common factors:- Patience and discipline to wait for strong uptrending markets- Focus on high-potential growth stocks- Skill and emotional discipline to identify and obey sell signals (while others are hoping and praying their stocks will go to the moon) and get out.They truly are role models for beginners who aspire to make a fortune in the stock market by following timeless principles.I have returned time and again to this little book and it continues to motivate me to stay on the right path.

It took 26 years for me to make REAL money in my account and i attribute this success to having followed the two rules repeated in this book and shared by the 5 greatest investors profiled. Along with the online edition of Investor's Business Daily i was able to resurrect a failed wall street career and regain a sense of independence along with an incredible return on my stock portfolio this past year. Buy this book and keep it near somewhere on your desk. Finally you will understand how to make and preserve your capital and those funds entrusted to you.Furthermore you will find the two rules so simple to enact and explain. Thank G-d this book found its way to me and to the author, John Boik my most heartfelt appreciation.

The author has created a well written & concise book, distilling the philosophies of great traders to a few dozen pages. Of course, you can follow his bibliography to get the details. As I've read several of the books sourced, I can appreciate the concise summaries. Now if I could only stop losing money in the market....

Wealth of knowledge for the individual investor. Amazing the uniformity of strategies transcending time, industry advancements and availability of data.