America 1919

By the second year, Hein Howell redoubled his efforts, becoming a star broker on Wall Street.

At this time, Morgan extended an olive branch to this newcomer who had joined Wall Street just two years ago. Without any hesitation, Hein switched to Morgan and in less than five years, he had become the manager of a Morgan department, managing tens of millions of US dollars.

Hein Howell said, "I believe Jesse cannot have more insider information than us, so neither market analysis nor policy changes can affect the stock price of Sinclair Oil Corporation. Moreover, according to Jesse's previous operating habits, under such circumstances, he would not possibly short sell Sinclair Oil Corporation!"

Harry Sinclair thought Hein Howell could offer him some effective advice.

Now, hearing only an analysis of Jesse Livermore's motivations, he said somewhat dissatisfied, "No matter what he thinks or how he operated before, the key issue now is that he is already doing it. If it weren't for his involvement, the stock price of Sinclair Oil Corporation might have already broken through 50 cents!"

Hein Howell did not deny Harry Sinclair's statement; he had also been following the United States' oil stocks closely lately, and according to the current trend, oil stocks should all be going up in price.

"Harry, if we could know the reason Jesse is doing this, even if Jesse doesn't meet with us, we could solve this trouble!"

Maciej Buck suddenly said, "Manager, I just found out something strange!"

Hein Howell asked, "What is it?"

Maciej Buck replied, "As we all know, due to the issue with Thomas, Jesse now tends to trade alone, and even his assistant merely plays a supporting role. But today... not today, actually, I noticed when Jesse came to the exchange the day before yesterday, he was followed by a very beautiful girl. And while Jesse was trading, that girl just kept watching silently, without any action!"

"What's so strange about that? As a multi-millionaire, it wouldn't surprise me if Jesse Livermore had a few pretty girls around!"

Harry Sinclair said, very displeased.

Hein Howell said with a somewhat serious expression, "It's not like that, Harry. You're not often in New York, so you don't really understand about Livermore!"

Indeed, after Jesse Livermore became famous in the futures market for the short selling of cotton, he got to know Thomas, a major player in the futures market of the United States at that time.

Thomas was a man of great personal charm, especially persuasive when speaking, and this was particularly true for those with achievements. Listening to him, you would feel that everything he said was correct.

Before meeting Thomas, Jesse Livermore was a very confident person, and all his trades were based on his own analysis.

However, since meeting Thomas, every time Jesse Livermore made a trade, he couldn't help but think of what Thomas's view would be, what he would do.

This state was extremely dangerous for Jesse Livermore. At this point, he had completely lost his judgment and analysis and was wavering in his own market theory and beliefs.
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No matter how he traded, he lost money, eventually losing almost all of the millions he had earned, leaving only a little over a hundred thousand, and went bankrupt again.

This experience led Jesse Livermore to reflect. He considered it the most painful period of his trading career, learning a fatal life lesson at the cost of millions: "The most lethal enemy to a trader, are the enthusiastic persuasions of your smart and charming friends. Never listen to them."

"That is also why, after this event, Jesse Livermore always operated alone in any trade, and his assistants only helped collect some of the information he needed. That's why Buck said it was strange just now!"

With that, Hein Howell suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "I've got it!"

Harry Sinclair asked, puzzled, "Got what?"

Hein Howell said excitedly, "We've been hung up on the idea that this was Jesse Livermore's own operation, because his reputation is so great, it caused us to forget something important. That is, the actual person carrying out this operation is not Jesse Livermore himself, but someone who has hired Jesse Livermore to do this!"

Harry Sinclair still didn't quite understand and asked, "Why would Jesse Livermore, already a millionaire, work for someone else?"

Hein Howell laughed and said, "Then it must mean that the other party offered a substantial price, one that Livermore couldn't refuse!"

After saying this, Hein Howell immediately realized his expression would certainly not please Harry Sinclair, so he immediately composed himself and asked Harry.

"Harry, I'm more inclined to believe Livermore has been hired by someone. So now the problem is simpler. Think about who you or Sinclair Oil Corporation recently had a disagreement with, and that caused them to start shorting your company's stock in the market!"