Chapter II Summary and Analysis

When Livingston discovers no-one in Boston will take his bets anymore, he goes to New York to trade on Wall Street. He has $2,500 of his $10,000 original stake. No one should trade every day, just for the sake of trading—the excitement leads speculators to place bets even when nothing is really set up right. This has cost him and others large amounts of money. Having patience and waiting until the right moment is an important aspect of successful trading.

Livingston makes his way to New York, where bucket shops are mostly shut down. He has no way to increase his stake, and Wall Street requires a greater amount of money to buy in. He starts trading, but is broke in six months. Trading on Wall Street is not like trading in bucket shops—it is actual trading...