Martin Kronicle

I think everyone who made the decision to be in this documentary probably regrets it. Granted they’re young, but some of them are pathetic and entirely clueless.

I have two versions of Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (Illustrated), and I’ve read and re-read it more than a dozen times over the last 20 years.

For all the book’s wisdom, I’ve begun to wonder if Jesse Livermore is more Madoff or Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. than a hero to the trading community. All of the aforementioned are known market manipulators and as men, were less than scrupulous. Kennedy took a stroke and eventually died of natural causes, Livermore killed himself, and Madoff should.

I rather recommend you follow in the footsteps of an unknown trader who remained emotionally stable, produced consistent annual returns, and acted within the best ethical practices of the day. You have the letter of the law and the spirit of the law, and there’s a big difference spiritually between the two.

What are your thoughts? Do you forgive Livermore all his demons and poor choices? Do you really want to trade like Jesse Livermore? Email me in confidence if you want and we’ll get a discussion going on this.

Helmut Weymar (Hell-MOOT WHY-mar) had the great fortune of having two legendary economists help him during his years at MIT. One was Paul Cootner, the second was the late Nobel laureate Paul Samuelson. You’ll recognize several of the other speakers.

Weymar, the founder of Commodities Corporation, was asked to speak at a memorial service for his mentor at MIT. There are no “bylines” in the video as the speakers were announced at the very beginning of the ceremony. You can fast-forward to Weymar’s comments, which begin at the 73:50 mark. He’s in the green bow tie.

Among his remarks about Samuelson is his original objection to Frank Vannerson’s TCS for trading commodities with CC cash.

Everyone needs a mentor. Many of the best traders in the world have mentioned that their careers were influence by someone early on.

Paul Tudor Jones
Ed Seykota
Bruce Kovner
Helmut Weymar
Victor Sperandeo

Weymar is featured prominently in Sebastian Mallaby’s great new book More Money Than God in the chapter, Paul Samuelson’s Secret.