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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do the banks ask Livingston to not do during the panic of 1907?

2. How much money did Livingston make on the Union Pacific sell off?

3. Why did Livingston refuse the offer of partnership with Percy?

4. Who convinces Livingston that Union Pacific is manipulating him?

5. What does Livingston say will happen in a stock or commodity if a surprise event occurs?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens in October of 1907?

2. What kind of hunch does Livingston talk about in Chapter VI?

3. How did Livingston make a lot of money in cotton?

4. What does Livingston say must be available in order to sell a stock and why?

5. How much regulation is there in the stocks in Livingston's era and how did that affect the stocks?

6. What kind of trader does Livingston hear had a bad loss and what does he do about it?

7. Why does Livingston return to Boston and what happens when he does?

8. What commodities has Livingston been trading and how is that going?

9. What does Livingston say one should do in a rising or falling market?

10. How long does Livingston stay in Boston and then what does he do?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Further, bankers beg Livingston not to sell any more stock, as it might increase the general panic, throwing the whole system into irrecoverable disarray. Livingston knows this would make it impossible for him to translate his profits into cash. Livingston sends in orders to buy a vast amount of stock, beginning a market recovery.

1. Given what you know of Livingston's character do you think buying stock in this situation was self motivated or was there an altruistic component? Why or why not?

2. Why do you think the bankers asked Livingston not to sell anymore stock? How would that relate to the creation of the 1930 depression? Use examples from the book to support your answer.

3. Do you think, given what happened in 1930, the market system could ever be thrown into irrecoverable disarray? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

This book is a work of fiction yet also a thinly disguised biography. Can a book be both fiction and non-fiction?

1. Would you classify this book as a novel or a biography? Why?

2. Research biography and fiction. Write a short essay explaining the difference.

3. Do you think a novel can have so much of the truth in it that it could be classified as non-fiction? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

The young Livingston is fascinated by patterns in the tape and has an excellent memory for numbers. He is able to remember the patterns various stocks normally exhibit well enough to predict their behavior or notice if they act strangely. He records his predictions and compares them to the actual performance of the stocks. Livingston trusts his observations more than tips from others.

1. What would you say about Livingston as a person based on the above paragraph?

2. Livingston is 15-years-old when the book opens. Describe the characteristics you see in Livingston that you would consider typical for a 15 year old and the ones you consider more adult like.

3. Livingston from the brief description above seems like a very organized, possibly even obsessive individual. Discuss the ways you believe this type of personality might do well as a stock broker.

(see the answer keys)

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