jesse Livermore treated the market nothing but speculation or gambling 'addict' that killed him or cost him to go bust a few times.
He lived a very lavish lifestyle and left his sons a fortune. Most famous traders went bust a few times before hitting their stride. How he died does not detract from his accomplishments. He was 63 when he died and was still very wealthy even tough he had given back a lot of his gains. He was a risk taker - the best speculator the world has ever seen and passed on valuable lessons he had learned from which helped forge the next generation of famous traders. He was not a gambler - there is a big difference. 'I would distinguish between speculative and gambling. Gambling involves, in my view, the creation of a risk where no risk need be created.' - Warren Buffet
I think Jesse was a brilliant trader. I read his book in the early days of my trading beginnings. Imo, we need to seperate his trading accumen from his demise. To be successful in life there needs to be a total package which means imo having a functional life style. Jesse suffered from weakness's that were probably not trade related. Women along with a strong sex drive and infatuation, possibly attempting to impress with the trappings of wealth, these things can easily create distractions. I've said this a number of times over the years, trading is sort of a single man's (or single woman's) game.