and the funny part is that 75 years later, many of the things are similar. sure, the uptick rule has changed things (so shorting to push stocks down is harder). imagine shorting a stock with a few million shares in the float with no uptick rule? priced at 200? oops, that's some stocks in 99/00... the 'pools' now become hedge funds...the people who were sure of their stock coming back (like the NYSE head, not sure if he's mentioned, but also one of the banks) are now the bernie ebbers and others of today.... and the best way to manipulate a stock? activity on the tape.
yeah, that's something i don't get. for all the wise old advice he gives, it's almost unbelievable how he didn't realize that "hmm, the market's telling me it's going up -- time to lay it all (and more) on the line" isn't that great an idea... and were those trades he took in reminscences real? i find it kinda hard to believe he was scooping up tens of thousands of shares a pop in the early 20th century and only moving the price a point or two... still, it's gotta be my fave trading book.
which, when you think about it, is actually the stock itself being altered. cos, let's face it, the stock doesn't actually have a life of its own, and neither is there such thing as "the market"...sales are just the outward manifestations of the particpants hopes and fears..
yeah, i know dude, i was agreeing with you (essentially).. . (relax! can't a man post without being accused of ballbusting? ) i just wouldn't have put it as "stocks cannot be manipulated"... cos by manipulating the perceptions, you are manipulating the stock... well, at least that's how i think of it... ps - love the big OK. lol
ok, then I stand corrected. Will have to re read it again sometime. Thought he ended it all after a big loss.
He crapped out more than once. On the flip side, on the day of the Crash, his wife was worried that he lost everything. In fact, he cleaned up. This is good book to re-read about once a year. Always get something out of it. You can learn alot from other mistakes.