Following the publication of The A B C of Wall Street there were many requests for a book dealing with the principles governing stock speculation. This Book Contents advice for investment and trading that have remained unchanged over 70 years.
Introduction:
If there is one man better qualified than another to produce such a book that man is Mr. Charles H. Dow. Several attempts were made to have him write the desired volume but they were unavailing. From time to time in his Wall Street career, extending over a quarter of a century, Mr. Dow has carefully evolved his theories of successful stock speculation. They are to be found in Chapters IV to XX, inclusive, and can be commended to any one interested in stock speculation as Temarkable for their grasp of a subject about which so little has been written and so much misinformation is gratuitiously offered the public.
In the preparation of this little volume thanks are also due to the Wallr Street Journal, the Evening Post, the Dow, Jones & Co.’s News Agency, Mr. Alexander Dana Noyes, Mr. Daniel Kellogg, Mr. E. W. Harden, and a number of brokers and speculators. The reader of course understands that there is no royal road to success in speculation. It would be fallacy to undertake to show how money· can be made. No infallible plan has yet been discovered. Experience and observation when intelligent, however, are valuable, and we are of the opinion that the average spec:ulator will find a study of the following pages to be useful and profitable.
Contents:
- Origin of Stock Brokers, Stock Exchanges anrl Stock Speculation
- Stock Speculation
- Stock Speculation and Gambling
- The Morality of Wall Street
- Scientific Speculation
- The Two General Methods of Trading
- Three General Lines of Reasoning
- Swings Within Swings
- Methods of Reading the Market
- The Operation of Stop Orders
- Cutting Losses Short
- The Danger in Overtrading
- Methods of Tradlng
- The Out of Town Trader
- The Short Side of the Market
- Speculation for the Decline
- Concerning Discretionary Accounts
- The Liability for Loss
- The Recurrence of Crises
- Financial Criticism
- The Physical Position of the Stock Speculator
- Temperament and Equipment
- The Broker and his Client
- The Bucket Shop
- The Speculator and the Consolidated Exchange
- The Tipster
- Conclusions of a Speculator
- Successful and Unsuccessful Speculators
- An Interesting Inquiry
- Stock Market Manipulation
- The Record of Five Panics
- End of Several ” Booms”
- Dealing in Unissued Stocks
- The Tipster’s Point of View
- Wall Street Points of View
The ABC of Stock Speculation By S. A. Nelson PDF The ABC of Stock Speculation By Samuel Armstrong Nelson PDF
Karsyn O’Connor (verified owner) –
The original Dow Theory articles by Charles Dow combine an odd mix of topics: cutting losses; letting profits run; averaging down, buying “value” on the dips; and market manipulation.
Dow frankly states that “the markets are always more or less manipulated.” But then later he admits… “…people in Wall Street…do not know what the market will do with any regularity…”
He advocates averaging down a few times, which is odd, considering what he wholeheartedly endorses several times…
Dow mentions cutting losses short and letting profits run more than any other single idea. It appears in almost every article.
On bear markets… “There will be a sifting of the better from the worse, visible enough at a distance, but not conspicuous at any particular stage in the process.” Sounds like the “narrow advance” of today…the pinnacle market?…
One of the articles involves a description of discretionary accounts (managed accounts) that makes the swindling operators of them sound like the guys who are running LTCM (see WSJ 5-20-99, page C-1). They take your money and tell you it wasn’t their fault when the market kills them. The only (possible) difference is that many of the swindlers of earlier this century never actually invested the money they received. They just took it and ran.
An interesting read. Buy a copy of S.A. Nelson’s The ABC of Stock Speculation. That’s where I read these articles.
Drew Parrish (verified owner) –
Great read!
Charli Friedman (verified owner) –
This book is a must read for those interested in the market and the why’s of the market.
Karsyn Lu (verified owner) –
Good for the price
Elliott Woodward (verified owner) –
Great foundational and empirical history book if you’re interested in learning about stock market.
Darwin Miles (verified owner) –
The book’s advice is still valuable after all these years. There are pockets of wisdom and the book is worth your time.