The Stock Market Sucker Test – 5 Questions – Jesse Livermore
1. Market commentators say money’s going to be made by anyone who goes long volatility. You decide it’s time to:
Find out what “going long volatility” means.
Look in the atlas. You know where Long Island is, but you’re not sure about Long Volatility.
Ignore them.
Sell options.
Buy options.
2. Tomorrow is your birthday and you’re feeling good. To celebrate your birthday, you’re going to:
Buy of copy of How I make a million bucks a day without really trying by trading the Bolivian Corn Exchange by S. Nakeoil
Buy a copy of Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. It’s time you found out what all the fuss is about.
Write How I make a million bucks a day without really trying by trading the Peruvian Corn Exchange.
Run some computer simulations of your new trading model.
Day trade and use the profits to buy yourself a spectacular birthday present.
3. It’s vacation time. You’re on a tropical island and a street vendor offers you a bag of peanuts for 50c. You:
I’m too busy trading for vacations.
Buy the nuts for 50c.
Force the guy down to 25c – these vendors are always pushing their luck.
Force the guy down to 25c and sell him a copy of How I make a million bucks a day without really trying trading the Bolivian Corn Exchange for twice the cover price.
Offer him $1 and tell him to keep the change.
4. Selling short is inherently riskier than going long because:
If the trade moves against you, your position size rises instead of falling.
Short-term trading is riskier than long-term investing.
Jesse Livermore was famous for short selling.
Nobody likes to get the short straw.
Futures markets are invariably hedged against short positions in overseas commodities.
5. The 3-6-3 rule is:
An old saying about banks – 3 percent interest is paid on savings accounts, 6 percent is charged on loans and the bankers are on the golf course by 3pm.
A rule of thumb from the nineteen-twenties for trading the bull market. Go short 3 days, long 6 days, then exit the market for 3 days.
A publisher’s rule for writing stock trading books. 3 chapters of well-worn market history, 6 chapters of statistically insignificant evidence and 3 chapters of sales blurb.
One of Jesse Livermore’s favorite rules for pyramiding into a stock.
An old saying about stockbrokers before internet trading – 3 percent fees on the purchase, 6 percent interest on margin, and 3 percent fees on the sale equals 363 days a year of good living. (No-one seems to know what happened on the other days.)
Your answers reveal you are probably:
Check out what sort of trader you are on Spot the Sucker.
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The Stock Market Sucker Test – 5 Questions – Jesse Livermore
