"The ABC of Stock Speculation"

Few investors would consider reading a book written in 1902, but in the specific case of Samuel Nelson's "The ABC of Stock Speculation" I think they might be losing something thereby. I am admittedly fascinated by old, great classics, but this one is a real find -- so much of the advice sounds just as fresh and applicable today, over 100 years later.

I'm really happy I got the Kindle edition (just $9.57 -- it's essentially an image scan of some sort, not very readable to me on my Android phone with the Kindle reader program, but just fine on my Kindle for Mac; the paperback's cheap too, $11.48 also from Amazon). Google Books also has it -- for free, and with a plain-text version that makes it a joy to copy and paste (which the Kindle editions -- and the paper ones -- don't;-). So, consider, for example (from the end of chapter XII)...:

If people with either large or small capital would look upon trading in stocks as an attempt to get 12 per cent. per annum on their money instead of 50 per cent. weekly, they would come out a good deal better in the long run. Everybody knows this in its application to his private business, but the man who is prudent and careful in carrying on a store, a factory or a real estate business seems to think that totally different methods should be employed in dealing in stocks. Nothing is further from the truth.

Isn't this condemnation of the "get rich quick" approach to the stock market just as true and fresh today, as it was when written, over 100 years ago?-)

Nelson's analysis of stop-loss orders (essentially: a good idea if you're wildly speculating on a stock you actually know little about, based on "stock tips" [[which he calls "points"]] and/or overtrading compared to the amount of capital you can really afford to risk -- very bad idea if you have an investment position in a stock of a company you know well, and are trading well within your means... IOW, a bad idea if you're investing as you SHOULD be, rather than just gambling!-) is also pretty much immortal. I can't recommend this book highly enough!