Successful Stock Speculation. English-only reading by default; switch among English, Chinese, and Spanish, or compare languages side by side.
This chapter examines The Purpose of This Book, using the author’s early-twentieth-century investment framework to explain how investors were expected to judge security quality, income, risk, and market conditions. It opens from the chapter’s own discussion: This book is written for the purpose of giving our clients some ideas of the fundamental principles that guide us when we select stocks for them to buy, but these principles are valuable to every person who trades in listed stocks or in any other kind of speculative stocks. First of all, we want you to get a clear conception of the meaning of the word speculation, which is explained in the next chapter.
Readers studying financial history, investment education, and the chapter’s specific subject—listed stocks, market information, Purpose—will get the most from this section. It is not suitable as a modern trading or investment checklist.
Read this chapter as historical investment education. The market rules, disclosure practices, securities, commissions, interest-rate conditions, and investor protections around listed stocks, market information, Purpose may differ sharply from modern markets.