“PROFITS ALWAYS TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES, BUT LOSSES NEVER DO”: LIVERMORE’S HOW TO TRADE IN STOCKS, 1940 LIMITED FIRST EDITION, MOST RARE SIGNED BY JESSE LIVERMORE

LIVERMORE, Jesse L. How to Trade in Stocks: The Livermore Formula for Combining Time Element and Price. New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, (1940). Octavo, original blue cloth, top edge silver. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

Limited first edition, one of fewer than 500 copies specially printed on rag paper, of the only book by one of Wall Street’s most flamboyant stock traders, this scarce work featuring the first in-depth explanation of the famed Livermore Formula, his highly successful trading method still in use today, and containing 16 full color charts, signed by Livermore on the fly title.

The only book written by Jesse L. Livermore, widely believed to be the subject of Edwin Lefèvre’s fictional biography and investment classic Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. One of the most flamboyant figures on Wall Street in the first half of the 20th century, Livermore made and lost several fortunes and was even blamed for the stock market crash of 1929. Intrigued by Livermore’s career, financial writer Edwin Lefèvre conducted weeks of interviews with him during the early 1920s. Then, in 1923, Lefèvre 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 this work was published in 1940. How to Trade in Stocks offers an in-depth explanation of the Livermore Formula, the trading method, still in use today, that turned Livermore into a Wall Street icon. Published the same year as a trade edition. Although the limitation statement suggests that 500 copies of the limited edition were produced, the late collector/dealer of Wall Street books Rod Klein asserted that the true number of limited editions was probably far fewer than 500. In fact, even the trade edition sold quite poorly. Without original slipcase. This copy bears an extremely rare signature by Jesse Livermore. Livermore committed suicide the same year this book was published, too tortured by depression to enjoy the $5 million he had amassed. Accordingly, signed copies are nearly unattainable. Owner signature of Ed Titus, New York newspaperman and first husband of beauty mogul Helena Rubenstein. Toward the end of their marriage, both Titus and Rubenstein were heavily involved in the New York business world, particularly with Rubenstein selling her company to Lehman Brothers in an attempt to save her marriage and then attempting to buy the company’s stock back secretly.

Only minor rubbing to spine. A handsome copy in very nearly fine condition, rare signed.