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Jesse Livermore, arguably the greatest trader who ever lived, committed suicide after a long bout of depression. In his suicide note, he wrote that he considered himself to be a failure. This, from a man who was worth well over $100 million after the Crash of 1929 from nailing the short trade. Later in his life, Livermore broke his own trading rules at various times and endured massive drawdowns from his fortune.
Trading is a tough business for those of us who take it seriously. Even the best of the best routinely fall victim to the dark side of gambling. As quaint as it sounds, consistently surviving each trading session with your portfolio balance intact will put you well ahead of the game over the long run. Keep in mind, over a multi-year period over 90% of traders will be net losers. The biggest reasons for most of them losing are overtrading and routinely adding to losing positions. By far, the one technique that most traders fail to learn is that no trade is often the best trade. When it comes to the stock market, there will always be another opportunity, so a lost chance is not nearly as damaging as a loss in capital from overtrading.
Living to fight another day in the market and in life is something that Livermore forgot in the depths of his depression. You don’t make that same mistake.
Damn chess you gave us traders with a good thought to go to sleep with in our heads. There is no rush to the race of building fortune. Good Stuff !!
Channel Guy
Arguably your best post yet. Personally resonated with me.
Love it
You mean I’m exonerated from being a pussy the last month? Could not bring myself to bearshit on the market due to alien spaceship sightings over my house. Chess, what are your downside targets on the SPX before this monkey bearshit ends / When do we experience gorilla cocaine rallies for weeks on end; the kind that will make people stop talking shit about Fly’s WNR and never troll here again?
amen
Im new to trading and im glad i came across this, itll definitely be something ill be keeping in my head. Same with the comment Chris made ” There is no rush to the race of building fortune.”
thank you Chess, like the others said so well – fantastic post and thought.
Sound advice any time of the day or night.
MUST COPY PASTE PRINT AND POST TO REMIND YOU EVERY DAY. THANKS
I would tattoo that on my forehead if it wouldn’t detract from my now only marginally attractive appearance.
Nice post Chess.
Great post Chess. Every day after a long day in the corporate grind I grab myself a cold coors light and sit down to your daily recap. Soothes the soul.
Bravo Chess.
While $100 million is an amazing sum no matter how you vision it, it’s simply amazing when you consider what $100 million was worth in 1929 compared to today. Astonishing!
Chess…great post and great lesson.
Yes I always look at that figure, 100 million in 1929…simply amazing. What I love about the Livermore readings and about the Tulip Bulb mania is that even in this day and age human psychology remains the same. Forgetting about his personal problems, this is why I always love the readings of Jesse Livermore.