I’m currently reading Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. This book (the annotated version by Jon D. Markman) is so timely in relation to what is going on currently, it is unreal.
The modern day equivalents of bucket shops seem to be cryptocurrency exchanges.
And some notes on bull and bear markets and the value of sitting tight when things are in a bull market:
For all of my paranoid rantings, to exercise caution, etc., if I were to fall into a coma and wake up a couple years later, I feel reasonably confident that my portfolio would be fine. I couldn’t say the same if I held XYZCoin or shares in Zoom or Tesla.
I have this classic on my bookshelf. The backstory is fascinating. It is supposed to be based upon the life of Jesse Livermore. The thing the book doesn’t mention is that Livermore blew himself up a few times, so money management was not his forte. After the Crash and during the Depression, he was not able to recoup his fortune (the sad fate of the bullish momentum investor in the worst ever bear market). Even sadder he committed suicide in a hotel a few years later and his last words written in a note was that he had wasted his life. There are some lessons in there somewhere 🙁
My pancake flipping portfolio has certainly done better (much better) than my buy and hold portfolio over the last 5 yrs.