Chapter I Summary and Analysis

Livingston has a job as a quotation-boy at a "bucket shop" in Boston. Quotes for stocks are called out as they come across the ticker tape, and are written on a large board. Customers place bets on whether stocks will go up or down and can bet on the margin if the house allows it. The bucket shops are not legal but are tolerated. 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. There is very little regulation and the volume of trades is small...