Jesse Lauriston Livermore (July 26, 1877 – November 28, 1940), also known as the Boy Plunger[1] and the Great Bear of Wall Street, was an American stock trader. He was famed for making and losing several multimillion-dollar fortunes and short selling during the stock market crashes in 1907 and 1929.
During his lifetime, Livermore gained and lost several multimillion-dollar fortunes. He sometimes played hunches, famously selling Union Pacific railroad short right before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Most notably, he was worth $3 million and $100 million after the 1907 and 1929 market crashes, respectively. Adjusted for inflation, $100 million in 1929, equals about $1.38 billion in 2015.[5] He subsequently lost both fortunes. Apart from his success as a securities speculator, Livermore left traders a working philosophy for trading securities that emphasizes increasing the size of one's position as it goes in the right direction and cutting losses quickly.
Livermore sometimes did not follow his own rules strictly. He claimed that his lack of adherence to his own rules was the main reason for his losses after making his 1907 and 1929 fortunes.