Ok, the truth is.. this is my seventh time in exploring the said book. In fact, it has been my practice to re-read this book (educational as well as leisure reading)... However, i think I really love this book. The matter of fact is I had been reading it 7 times in the last 14 years. LOL....
Second truth is... I am half dead thanks to the amazing EURO 2012... The tournament was excellent so far. Perhaps, the financial riot really helps in preventing money scam in the world of football. Sometimes, the evil mind came out ONLY when pocket is loaded... that is perhaps why we do not see any underdog so far. Last 4 teams are all worthy champions in their own way. I truly enjoy it.... Since I enjoy my football, I cannot really find myself studying a new book... as such, this is how "Reminiscences" reappear in my private library.
Ok, back to the "Reminiscences"... the reason why I read and re-read again this book is because I always found something new even though there is nothing new as according to JL and the writer, LOL. Ok, this time around; these are what I found from the "nothing new" stuff:
1. Slippage & big own sale that influences the price ~~~ "At all events, what was a perfect system for trading bucket shops didn't work in Fullerton's office... and then too, if my order was fairly big my own sale would tend further to depress the price. In the bucket shop I didn't have to figure on the effect of my own trading."
2. The money impact when you are rich vs when you are poor ~~~ "It does not take long to lose the habit of being poor. It requires a little longer to forget that he used to be rich... after a man makes money, he very quickly loses the habit of not spending. But after he loses his money, it takes him a long time to lose the habit of spending."
3. My very own definition of technical analysis too ~~~ "To read the tape is not to have your fortune told..."
4. This happens not only in the world of investment.. I think it happens everywhere regardless of industries, time zone and geographical state... ~~~ "Any accident that makes big money for a man is regarded with suspicion. when the accident is unprofitable, it is never considered an accident but the logical outcome of your hoggishness or of the swelled head."
5. The hardest part to be 'your own self' although it does make sense ~~~ "I alone suffer and I pay the bill at once... I get my pleasure out of matching my brains against the brains of other traders - men whom I have never seen and never talked to and never advised to buy or sell and never expect to meet or to know. When I make money, I make it backing my own opinions. I don't sell them or capitalize them."
6. Good manipulation (based on trading principles) succeeds, while bad manipulation (based on own principles) usually fail... ~~~ "There is no question that advertising is an art, and manipulation is the art of advertising through the medium of tape. The tape should tell the story the manipulator wishes its reader to see. The truer the story the more convincing it is bound to be, and the more convincing it is the better the advertising is... Manipulation therefore must be based on sound trading principles."
7. The real intention of technical analysis... and it is something that does not guarantee the final results ~~~ "... the greatest publicity agent in the wide world is the ticker, and by far the best advertising medium is the tape... I accomplish all these highly desirable things by merely making the stocks active..."
8. More evidence on the real intention and the final results of technical analysis ~~~ "All manipulation comes to an end when the manipulator cannot make a stock do what he wants it to do. When the stock you are manipulating doesn't act as it should, quit... Do not seek to lure the profit back. Quit while the quitting is good - and cheap."
9. So called 'experts'? ~~~ "The public should beware of explanations that explain only what unnamed insiders wish the public to believe."
Despite the "new discovery"; after 7 times on digesting this book, I still find myself trying to distance away from chapter 21, 22 and 23... The truth about an "operator" never attracted me so far. For me, it was only interesting when I treat it from the perspective of leisure reading. Educational wise, I still think this is not something to encourage about. In my humble opinion, operator equivalent to a gambler. End of the day, JL himself admitted that there is no guarantee of success in manipulating. It will still have to follow the trading principles. Chinese used to say and emphasize this... "The heaven, the earth and peoples" (天时地利人和)... At the end of the day, it was still back to the right timing, right places and right people to interact with... Compares with speculation, I myself found it hard to form a defending line (as an operator) when things not right. Having said that, I actually admired JL's latter profession. However, I really view it as a high risk job. (Higher risk compares to investors, speculators and scalpers). Something I had been pondering for so many years... perhaps, the downfall of JL was more on the manipulator role? Hmm... your guess is as good as mine...
Last but not least... the final chapter on Paul Tudor Jones plus collections of quotes throughout the book are really fantastic. Since this book was view as a textbook by traders around the world (ask Paul Tudor Jones !!! LOL), a summary is so much important! (At least to someone like me who read and re-read again, LOL)... Having say that, my rating for this book of course would not be low.. 10 out of 10? Absolutely....
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