📖Jesse Livermore

Quality at a Fair Price

🌿 Intermediate★★★★★

Seek quality businesses at fair prices.

💬

The ideal investment is a high-quality business purchased at a fair price. Quality compounds wealth; fair prices protect capital.

— Reminiscences of a Stock Operator,1923

🏠 Everyday Analogy

Analyzing a business is like choosing a long-term partner. Temporary excitement matters less than durable character, capability, and consistency.

📖 Core Interpretation

Jesse Livermore emphasizes durable business quality over short-term noise. A strong model, real competitive edge, and disciplined capital allocation matter more than quarterly excitement.
💎 Key Insight:Quality and fair price together create optimal investments.

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❓ Why It Matters

Without business-quality filters, investors drift toward stories rather than economics. Durable cash generation is what supports long-term valuation.

🎯 How to Practice

Use a checklist covering moat, management, unit economics, and capital allocation; track long-term cash generation instead of quarter-to-quarter noise.

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

Buying narratives instead of cash-generating economics
Overreacting to short-term operating noise
Ignoring management quality and capital allocation

📚 Case Studies

1
Piggly Wiggly Short Squeeze (1924)
Livermore shorted Piggly Wiggly as it was cornered. Price was squeezed sharply higher, but he stuck to the trade as the corner unraveled.
✨ Outcome:By letting the profitable short run after the squeeze failed, he captured a large gain as the stock collapsed.
2
1907 Panic Short Positions (1907)
Sensing market weakness, Livermore built substantial short positions before the 1907 Panic. As forced liquidation accelerated, prices plunged far beyond typical corrections.
✨ Outcome:He let his winning shorts run during the panic, exiting only after a climactic selloff, earning millions and cementing his reputation.

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