the small investor WIPED OUT

So here's an interesting book for any would be investor. If you are neophyte learning about the stock market or aspiring to become a day trader or perhaps even a delusional self taught money manager hoping to make a solid gain because of your superior intellect, then maybe this book is for you. It describes the lamentable attempts of an intelligent man who desperately tried to improve his financial well being by making bets in the stock market of the late 1950s and early 1960s. In those days one was reliant on the services of a broker who placed all your trades, unlike today where anyone with an internet link can buy and sell securities from a cellphone. Amazing advances in technology have made it so easy for us to emulate this poor bastard's experiences if we so choose.
The author is unknown, perhaps to save face. But the fact that he was willing to describe his trades and the reasons for them is insightful for us today. He did seem to be overly greedy according to his own admission. Who isn't obsessed with making a killing in the markets at some point, even if we realize that it is pure fantasy. Imagine having bought Apple stock at the outset and having watched it increase until it reached the $500 plus value it holds today. It seems daunting however, in light of the vast amount of information available today, that an amateur investor could make any sort of informed decision regarding an investment back then. Despite his best intentions, his picks went from bad to worse the longer he tried to remedy his investment decisions. From the cover's flap: ...from the temporary gain to the big loss- here is the real thing. For the first time we have the full, personal, unvarnished story of a man who has acted out, to the hilt, an all too common form of speculative behavior. Read and take heed.