Jesse L. Livermore

Jesse L. Livermore rose from a humble farming background to become a stock trader in Boston. Over the course of his career, he won and lost several fortunes in many arenas. A self-made man with no formal education or trading background, Livermore focused on making money from the overall market directions and not concentrating on individual stocks. His strategies were based on a combination of price patterns and volume analysis.

Jesse L. Livermore lived from 1877 to 1940. He espoused the strategy of buying and holding during bull markets and selling when market momentum began to shift. He believed that effort was a key component that separated the winners and losers in the investment world. "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator," written by Edwin Lefevre, is one of the most widely read books on investing. Livermore also wrote books about his life and methods including "How to Trade Stocks" and "My Life in Wall Street and How I Made Three Fortunes in the Stock Market."