There are common-sense rules for even the most daring investment speculation, even in a precarious economic environment... as in the wake of the dramatic stock market crash of 1929.This guide to smart speculating offers sound advice on determining whether you're really cut out for speculation, what warning signs in your financial situation should steer you toward safer investing, the best way to use margin trading, how to find reliable information on stocks, why you should shun all tips, why you should be a "bad loser," and much more.Not just a historical guide to one of the most unstable periods in American economic history, this is a useful primer for today's investor, too.

Haphazard dabbling in stocks by amateur traders undoubtedly is dangerous. The odds are all in favor of losing money. The risks can be greatly reduced if the trader only would make some attempt to learn the rules of the game. Driving an automobile is dangerous, and few people attempt it without first learning something of the mechanism of the car. But any death-dealing machine can be made safe through knowledge of its working parts and possibilities. -from the Foreword There are common-sense rules for even the most daring investment speculation, even in a precarious economic environment... as in the wake of the dramatic stock market crash of 1929. This guide to smart speculating offers sound advice on determining whether you're really cut out for speculation, what warning signs in your financial situation should steer you toward safer investing, the best way to use margin trading, how to find reliable information on stocks, why you should shun all tips, why you should be a "bad loser," and much more. Not just a historical guide to one of the most unstable periods in American economic history, this is a useful primer for today's investor, too.

Philip L. Carret (1896-1998) was a famed investor and founder of The Pioneer Fund (Fidelity Mutual Trust), one of the first Mutual Funds in the United States. A former Barron’s reporter and WWI aviator, Carret launched the Mutual Trust in 1928 after managing money for his friends and family. The initial effort evolved into Pioneer Investments. He ran the fund for 55 years, during which an investment of $10,000 became $8 million. Warren Buffett said of him that he had “the best long term investment record of anyone I know” He is most famous for the long successful track record he achieved investing in Common Stocks and for being one of Warren Buffett’s role models. This book comprises a series of articles written for Barron’s and published in book form in 1930.—Print Ed.

Expert advice in a back-to-basics handbook on how to beat the market-the classic way In Investment Psychology Explained Martin J. Pring, one of the most respected independent investment advisors in the world, argues that in the revisionist '90s there are no quick, magical paths to market success. Rather, he emphasizes the timeless values of hard work, patience, and self-discipline-and much more. Drawing on the wisdom of creative investors such as Jesse Livermore, Humphrey Neill, and Barnard Baruch, as well as his own experience, Pring shows how to: * Overcome emotional and psychological impediments that distort decision making * Map out an independent investment plan-and stick to it * Know when to buck herd opinion-and "go contrarian" * Dispense with the myths and delusions that drag down other investors * Resist the fads and so-called experts whose siren call to success can lead to disaster * Exploit fast-breaking news events that rock the market * Deal skillfully with brokers and money managers * Learn and understand the rules that separate the truly great investors and traders from the rest Reading Investment Psychology Explained will give you a renewed appreciation of the classic trading principles that, through bull and bear markets, have worked time and again. You'll see, with the help of numerous illustrative examples, what goes into making an effective investor-and how you can work toward achieving that successful profile.

Born in 1877 Jesse Livermore began working with stocks at the age of 15 when he ran away from his parent’s farm and took a job posting stock quotes at a Boston brokerage firm. While he was working he would jot down predictions so he could follow up on them thus testing his theories. After doing this for some time he was convinced to try his systems with real money. However since he was still young he started placing bets with local bookies on the movements of particular stocks, he proved so good at this he was eventually banned from a number of local gambling houses for winning too much and he started trading on the real exchanges. Intrigued by Livermore’s career, financial writer Edwin Lefevre conducted weeks of interviews with him during the early 1920s. Then, in 1923, Lefevre wrote a first-person account of a fictional trader named "Larry Livingston," who bore countless similarities to Livermore, ranging from their last names to the specific events of their trading careers. Although many traders attempted to glean the secret of Livermore’s success from Reminiscences, his technique was not fully elucidated until How To Trade in Stocks was published in 1940. It offers an in-depth explanation of the Livermore Formula, the trading method, still in use today, that turned Livermore into a Wall Street icon.