📖Jesse Livermore

Management Evaluation

🌿 Intermediate★★★★★

Judge management by actions, not words.

💬

Evaluate management by their actions, not their words. Look for a track record of capital allocation, shareholder communication, and aligned incentives.

— 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 Management Evaluation, 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:Track record reveals true management quality.

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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
Shorting the 1929 Crash (1929)
Identified market weakness, started a core short position, then pyramided correctly as the decline gained momentum, adding to winners only when prices moved further in his favor.
✨ Outcome:Amassed one of his greatest fortunes as the market collapsed, while avoiding reckless over-sizing early.
2
Livermore Short Before Crash (1929)
Livermore shorted leading stocks as the 1929 bubble peaked. When some positions initially moved against him, he refused to add to losers, keeping risk capped.
✨ Outcome:Market crashed, his existing shorts paid off massively, validating not averaging down into a rising market.

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