April Classic of the Month: One-Way Pockets by Don Guyon

"The circulation of a mere rumor that the Morgan interests are accumulating Steel or that the Standard Oil crowd is getting out of St. Paul is sure at any time to create a market following. Most of the tips that are hawked about the Street are based on the supposition that somebody-or-other of consequence is buying or selling certain stocks. I do not know of a single case where anyone has been able to make money consistently by following information of this character, even when the information comes to him first hand.

--from A Speculative Decision

In honor of tax refunds coming our way, we are highlighting One-Way Pockets: The Book of Books on Wall Street Speculation by Don Guyon as our April Classic of the Month.

In 1917, an insider at a Wall Street brokerage firm took a close look at his company's most active traders and analyzed their trades to glean the secrets of their success... and what he found is still applicable today.

Writing pseudonymously, he here offers a wide range of sage advice about: 

- buying on the way down

- determining trends

- how a bull market starts 

- the correct use of stop orders

- when and what to sell short 

- and much more

"Studies in Tape Reading" Still Relevant in Today's Market

"One cannot become a Tape Reader by giving the ticker absent treatment; nor by running into his broker's office after lunch, or seeing "how the market closed" from his evening newspaper.... He should spend twenty-seven hours a week at the ticker, and many more hours away from it studying his mistakes and finding the "why" of his losses." - from Studies in Tape Reading

This fabulous classic was recently referenced and quoted Wyckoff on a well-known trading blog, thedangerpoint.com, saying "to understand the present, we need to understand the past: especially with stock market activity."

A 1910 classic of technical stock-market analysis, this is considered the most important work of one of the great market watchers of the early 20th century. It covers: stop orders and trading rules, volumes and their significance, market technique, "dull markets" and their opportunities, and much more. Nearly a century later, this primer on the basic laws of the market is still an invaluable resource for the broker or serious individual trader. 

About the Author

Richard D. Wyckoff (aka Rollo Tape) was publisher of Ticker Magazine, later known as The Magazine of Wall Street.