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It was written by Frederick N. Chase

I curate additional material on either Jim Sinclair or Bert Seligman in this open directory. That material pertains to trading, not truthiness.

“Reminiscences of a Stock Operator” by Edwin Lefèvre is in a somewhat more legitimate posture than other deceptions, with respect to its truthiness.

The main character, Larry Livingstone, is clearly intended to “be” the famous securities trader Jesse Livermore, to whom the book is dedicated.

Any reader with enough curiosity to read the preface learns that Edwin Lefèvre is not a pseudonym for Jesse Livermore but rather the actual name of the journalist who, though never involved in the markets, was remarkably able to get interviewees to open up. Lefèvre “spent several weeks interviewing Livermore”. He “produced 8 books” including “Reminiscences of a Stock Operator” and “The Making of a Stockbroker” but “was never involved in the markets (beyond a few isolated investments over his lifetime)”.

The preface merely asserts that “To readers who have trading experiences, the book rings remarkably true”.

That is, it can be expected to confirm a reader's prejudices.

Where the reader is ignorant, s/he must trust that Lefèvre's dramatization drew carefully from good notes he took when interviewing Livermore. If not, that part is just good fiction.

Lefèvre began publishing his fictionalized account of Livermore’s exploits in a series of articles for The Saturday Evening Post in 1922.

The book is described as a “fictionalized biography”, “The Investment Classic”

Even Jim Sinclair, one of the very most honest and public-spirited financial operator/analysts, offers a “quote from Jesse Livermore” on his website without any indication that it's unlikely that Jesse Livermore said exactly that. Why not say “quote attributed to Jesse Livermore”?? Perhaps Jim is affected by the fact that his father, Bertram J. “Bert” Seligman, was “a partner in deals and trading operations with Jesse Livermore”. Or perhaps he just wants to turn myth into fact, when it seems to confirm a truth percieved to be important?