📖Jesse Livermore

Buy Below Intrinsic Value

🌿 Intermediate★★★★★

Buy only at prices well below intrinsic value.

💬

The cardinal rule of investing: buy only when the price is significantly below your conservative estimate of intrinsic value. This builds in protection against error.

— Reminiscences of a Stock Operator,1923

🏠 Everyday Analogy

Valuation is like buying a house: the asking price reflects mood, but true value comes from structure, location, and long-term utility. Good assets still need sensible prices.

📖 Core Interpretation

In Buy Below Intrinsic Value, Jesse Livermore focuses on the gap between price and value. Returns come from paying less than what a business is worth, not from guessing short-term market moves.
💎 Key Insight:Buying below value builds in protection against error.

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❓ Why It Matters

Ignoring valuation turns even good companies into poor investments. Overpaying compresses future returns and leaves little margin when assumptions are wrong.

🎯 How to Practice

Estimate intrinsic value with conservative assumptions, set clear buy ranges, and act only when price offers a meaningful discount with acceptable downside.

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

Confusing a low price with true cheapness
Using one metric without business context
Overly optimistic assumptions that erase margin of safety

📚 Case Studies

1
Great Crash Short Campaign (1929)
Livermore built massive short positions in leading stocks as speculative excess peaked before the October 1929 crash.
✨ Outcome:Profited enormously from the collapse, though later lost much of the fortune through subsequent trading mistakes and overconfidence.
2
Bethlehem Steel Bull Run (1915)
Livermore built an initial stake, then pyramided only as the stock advanced and confirmed strength, adding smaller tranches at higher levels to control risk.
✨ Outcome:Captured a large portion of a powerful wartime advance while limiting exposure if the uptrend failed.

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