"The book can be divided into three parts: (1) 1890-1910: Livermore was able to make easy money by taking advantage of the bid–ask spread on inactive stocks with leverage of 100-to-1 at bucket shops. (2) 1910-1920: Livermore was a stock trader on the New York Stock Exchange, where he went bust over and over again because he used too much leverage. (3) 1920s: Livermore engaged in market manipulation, charging fees of 25% of the market value of the manipulated stock. This was before the creation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 1934.

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is a chronicle of Jesse Livermore's life, one of the 19th century's most famous traders. His fame was resides in the fact that he earned millions on the market several times, just to go bankrupt quickly after."