Customer Reviews

Lessons from the Greatest Stock Traders of All Time

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an "ok" book that describes supposed trading methods of some "old master" traders in terms of an event-based trading model. This model requires buying upside breakouts from congestion areas on increasing volume during bull markets. This is a good method if one's disposition can withstand generally high-volatility trades. However, to claim that this mode of trading was actually used by Livermore, Baruch, or Loeb is perhaps claiming too much.

Livermore was highly secretive about his trading. Although he discussed his psychology of trading in LeFevre's work, he did not go into much detail about his actual trading method. He later claimed that industry changes wrought by the SEC in the early 1930s made the markets less amenable to his brand of analysis. He made and lost four fortunes and ended his career and life by suicide in 1940.

Baruch made a significant portion of his trading gains by means of London - New York arbitrage. There is further evidence that he traded, scalped, value invested, growth stock invested, etc. The trader, Baruch, described in this book is only a microcosm of this highly complex, and multi-faceted individual.

Loeb was in, out, and sometimes back in again on a single day on a particular stock! He was a feverish trader! He seldom held a stock for the intermediate-term, and almost never for the long-term. To trade in his manner, one has to be correct a minimum of 30% of the time, and be capitalized enough to bear heavy trading expenses.

Nicolas Darvas wrote two books, "How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market," and "Wall Street: The Other Las Vegas." They are both must reads for the aspiring trader, and best exemplify the event-based model covered by this book under review. Darvas claimed that his trading account went into a nosedive when he continued to use this method during the advent of a bear market.

All of O'Neil's works are excellent. Since he is well-known and active today, I will not comment upon the section of the book devoted to him.

The method presented is useful if one: 1) is adequately capitalized; 2) exercises tight loss control; 3)has an effective selection filter; and 4) is psychologically equipped for active trading (not many people can successfully do this). The book itself, is written in a breezy, narative style, and makes for a quick, pleasurable read.

Notwithstanding the author's substandard writing and analytical skill reflected by the passages/chapters in concluding the rules, strategies and, similarities of the five legends, the material available to the chef (author) is just so superb that the dish is still too good for any trader to miss. I dont mean to undermine the author in whatever sense. However, I had read at least two whole books about each of the five gurus (except Nicholas Darvas, which I had read only one) that the impression of copy and paste is really strong. In fact, I had read six out of the 12 books marked in the Bibliography section and it's so hard for me not to get that uneasy feeling of plagiarism.

In case you had not heard of those gurus before, this book will be a huge treasure to you. If you had heard the great names but read only bits and pieces of them, this book will do you much good. If you had read books including "Reminiscences of a stock operator" about Jesse Livermore, "My own story" by Baruch, "The battle for investment survival" by Gerald Loeb, "How I made $2 million in the stock market" by Nicholas Darvas and any book by William O'Neil, your liking of this book will drop inproportionately.

p.s. I strongly recommend readers to buy and read the titles I mentioned above. The return on the money and time invested will be over a hundred fold.

Having been an avid trader for some years now, and a huge follower of William O'Neil I decided a book such as this could give me some insight into the mind of the other great traders outlined here. What you gather out of these five gentlemen's stories is the common themes of: Volume is the most important indicator, Buy stocks at all time highs, Add to positions thru pyramiding, and while all of these principles are common, and shown thru in the book, the author misses in providing examples for concrete evidence. Throughout the book there are maybe 7 charts, and most all of them devoted to the O'Neil section, and for that you will need to select from the selected reading section at the end to better understand how each of these individuals bought their winners.
This book is a great starter in learning who the men are, and their life stories, but you have to dig outside this publication to really get the how behind their success.

Can ordinary people really make money in the stock market? The five famous traders author John Boik profiles here would probably answer "yes," but it would be a qualified yes. Beating the market requires more than just following a trading formula, as the stories of these traders' lives make abundantly clear. To win at the great game of Wall Street, a trader must learn from experience, and that means spending long hours studying. The trading rules and strategies in this book are enlightening, but most of them involve judgment calls that could only have been made by someone familiar with the daily rhythms of the market. Though the careers of the subtitle's "Greatest Stock Traders of All Time" span more than a century, their personalities and strategies are strikingly similar, a fact that Boik highlights well. Their similarities suggest that successful traders may be born with the necessary high risk tolerance, but that to become sustained victors, they need to develop strong work ethics, cultivate independent minds and never give up. We suggest this book to active traders, not buy-and-hold investors - those with low risk tolerance need not apply.

I have been investing in the market for many years and have made most of the mistakes one can make, and then some. This book is a must read for new and old investors. It highlights some of the greatest traders of all time and gives you some insight into their way of thinking and investing in the market. The most interesting thing is, they all had very similar characteristics about cutting losses early and pyramiding your purchases on the way up. Even the seasoned investor will gain something from this book. It will make you focus more closely on your individual stocks and watch the general market trends, to help you know when to buy and sell. It is written so that the novice investor can understand but gives insight into investing methodologies that the expert can learn from or at least be reminded to keep their focus and to study the market.

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?

In his book John Boik describes the trading styles of five traders: Livermore, Baruch, Loeb, Darvas and O'Neil.
The quality of the chapters varies: While he does a good job describing Livermore and Darvas, waking the appetite of the reader to want to learn more, the sections on Baruch and Loeb are very superficial and bland. After reading the Baruch and Loeb chapters I asked myself why Boik had included them in the book. Maybe he thought that basing a book just on three traders would be too little? I hadn't known Baruch and Loeb before reading this book (and I have been investing for the last 10 years), and I won't remember much about them after reading this book.
The biggest chapter was dedicated to O'Neil, and for some reason Boik seems to be very obliged to O'Neil, or even admiring him. He is advertising O'Neil's CAN SLIM system, seminars, databases and newspaper (IBD). This chapter suffers a little from this lack of distance.
The best thing about this book is that Boik identifies the similarities between five traders who span a 100 year period. Surprising to me was that all five bought stocks on new highs. They don't follow the rule: "Buy low and sell high" but instead "Buy high and sell a lot higher!" Also surprisingly, they do not diversify but invest in only a fistful of stocks at any given time. And of course they obeyed the evergreen: "Cut your losses!"
While Boik shows clearly when these five traders bought stocks he was vague about their selling tactics.
This book is a good introduction to a successful trading style, but it can just scratch the surface on its 150 pages. The interested reader will have to consult the original literature of these traders which is cited by Boik in the bibliography.

This may become my "trading" bible. I read this while logged into my brokerage site. I did what Boik said: reviewed my accounts, wrote out my trading logs, and just plain followed the "rules" and guess what happened? I learned. I learned how long I'd been holding some non-performing old favorites...how I had too many positions...how to actually read those darned "customized charts" and most important, that, like these guys, I am willing to do the homework, and ready to venture in the water again, better armed than 1999. Thank you for keeping it simple!

Thanks for bringing back to life the great traders of Loeb and Darvas. Great link to the similarities of the best traders over 100 years. Excellent profiles of the legends and how their strategies are the ones to use to profit in stocks.

When I first this book at my local bookstore, I could not believe it. During the past ten years, I have read many financial publications and books including each one of those covered in "Babe Ruth of Trading" in John Boik's book. Indeed, I agree, the five listed - Livermore, Baruch, Darvas, Loeb and O'Neil - are the greatest. Though some may wonder what about Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Sir John Templeton or Bill Miller, John Boik's picks each went a step further to summarize their trading behaviors. Boik's book is not geared on the many details, which is a plus, but rather on the overriding theme and concepts regarding each trader. Great book on such timeless rules!