Review of Fifty Years in Wall Street

Henry Clews was a 19th C broker who wrote an account of the personalities he met during his 50 years in Wall Street. He writes in that peculiarly convoluted style that was obviously natural in those years but which makes the text difficult to "scan" in 2011. I enjoyed this book overall, but skipped some half-chapters and probably didn't absorb as much as a I might have.

What's amazing is just how blatantly corrupt the whole scene was at the time: stock manipulation was apparently rife, with concert parties, insider dealing and "bought" judges. Crises were frequent, with individuals, brokers and sometime banks "failing". Investigations were often held; but then as now, the fat cats were rarely brought to book. Greed was as strong a driving force in those days as it ever has been, and fraudsters often were the beneficiaries:

It is marvellous how the idea of large profits, when presented to the mind in a plausible light, has the effect of stifling suspicion.

The book is heavily abridged, but could have benefited from some notes to explain the context of the economic and financial events. No doubt a contemporary reader would have been more familiar with the crashes and events that are discussed (1876, Black Friday, Erie, etc.). I, however, often failed to understand the significance of characters mentioned in passing who played significant roles in this or that role. We learn very little of the author himself.

Clews firm was Livermore, Clews & Co. Presumably the Livermore was Jesse, who was almost certainly the later author of a much more compelling narrative, "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator". Read that first.