Jesse Lauriston Livermore (July 26, 1877 - November 28, 1940) was an American investor. Livermore was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts to a poverty-stricken family and moved to Acton, Massachusetts as a child. He started his trading career at the age of fourteen. With his mother's blessing, Livermore ran away from home to escape a life of farming his father intended for him. He then began his career by posting stock quotes at the Paine Webber brokerage in Boston. His first big win came in 1901 when he went long Northern Pacific stocks hoping to capitalize on the prevailing bull market. He turned his stake of $10,000 into $50,000. The trading principles which Livermore established continue to be studied and absorbed by modern day traders. Some of Livermore's trades have become legendary and have led to his being regarded as arguably the greatest trader who ever lived. On November 28, 1940, Livermore fatally shot himself in the cloakroom of the Sherry Netherland Hotel in Manhattan.
