Book Review: To Make A Killing: Arthur Cutten, The Man Who Ruled the Markets
A few months ago, I wrote a post about Arthur Cutten. Cutten was said to be Jesse Livermore’s nemesis and, as my prior post pointed out, he was known as the “Wheat King”.
Shortly after my post, a Cutten biography (To Make A Killing: Arthur Cutten, The Man Who Ruled the Markets) was published by Robert Stephens. Had I known the biography was coming, I’d have likely held off on my prior post - but then I’d likely have never met Mr. Stephens. Regardless, this post is about the biography.
After seeing my post on Cutten, Mr. Stephens reached out and asked if I would be interested in reading a copy of his book and writing a review. As one of my hobbies has become studying great traders, I was happy to do so. It is worth mentioning I receive no compensation for writing this review aside from the copy of the book Mr. Stephens was kind enough to send over.
To cut to the chase, I definitely think Mr. Stephen’s book is worth adding to your collection as it provides insight on a legendary speculator while also providing a good story. Below I provide some of my thoughts on the book. But before I get to my thoughts, I’m going to share a few excerpts that I believe do a good job of capturing Cutten while providing a “spoiler free” overview of what Mr. Stephens’s book has to offer:
Arthur Cutten gained tremendous fortune and fame through his audacious exploits in the grain and stock markets of the 1920s.
He was a shining example of the self-made man, the hero who struggled against the odds to emerge victorious in his quest…he was the prototypical outsider, a popular rogue of sorts challenging the establishment, taking enormous risks, and doing things his way and winning.
Arthur learned the hard lessons of the markets over a period of fifteen years. It was an arduous apprenticeship, and his masters were of the old school, instilling in him the virtues of individualism, self-reliance, hard work, and steely resolve…he absorbed their teachings and he became like them.
It was a tough world, and only tough men survived.
By the scorecard of his day, he was the undisputed champion. He made a mountain of money. He bested his enemies. He had one of the most sensational runs in the history of the markets…As he had in his youth, he played for all the marbles and he played for keeps.
He was the ultimate opportunist, and he was better at it than anyone else.
With that, several of my thoughts follow…
The book was very thoroughly researched using information from many sources. Mr. Stephens told me he spent around a decade putting it together. Needless to say, I was impressed with the level of research and the vast array of sources used in telling the story of Cutten.
One thing I found particularly interesting was the difference between how Cutten thought of and portrayed himself in his autobiography and how Cutten came across as a result of Stephens’s research (which was based on very reliable information like Cutten’s own testimony in various governmental investigations).
After reading both, I’ve concluded it is likely best to reconcile autobiographies with external biographies as, at best, autobiographies are subject to someone’s perhaps warped view of themself and, at worst, autobiographies are written with an agenda. Per Stephens’s research, Cutten had an agenda for his autobiography.
As stated above, Cutten was portrayed as Livermore’s nemesis in popular media at the time (Cutten was a bull and Livermore was a bear - or so said the media despite both men spending time long and short all kinds of stocks and commodities). Yet, despite a lot of similarities, Livermore did not fade into relative obscurity while Cutten did - why?
By most accounts, Cutten should be the one we study not Livermore. In terms of why I say this:
Cutten made fortunes on par with Livermore, but Cutten’s blow ups were not as extreme as Livermore’s.
Notwithstanding some of his manipulative stock activity and at the risk of sounding judgmental, Cutten was arguably a better human being. I’m guessing 100/100 fathers facing a choice of which man to choose to marry their daughter would pick Cutten.
While there is some ambiguity as Cutten’s fortune disappeared at the end, it sounds like Cutten funneled his money into Canada thus avoiding huge end of life tax bills. In short, he likely died with more money than Livermore.
Perhaps most importantly, Cutten didn’t kill himself!
With this in mind, here are some thoughts on why Livermore is still a fixture while Cutten (outside of this recent biography) is not.
While they were both larger than life characters in their day, Livermore provides the more exciting story. Livermore’s life was a series of booms and busts with showgirls, yachts, multiple marriages, and endless drama. Comparatively Cutten went home to his farm after work. He was married once and stayed married until death.
Livermore made fortunes being short. For better or worse, traders who make big money while the rest of the world loses get special status (even if they later blow up).
Livermore provided a lot of insight on his thought process where Cutten mostly did not.
Reminiscences immortalized Livermore and it is a narrative story. It has sold way more copies than Livermore’s self-penned book on how to trade (which has always struck me as an interesting reminder that stories sell and manuals do not - in theory we like Livermore because we want to learn to get rich not to watch from the sidelines - but book sales tell another story).
Moving along…
Stephens’s biography offered insight on how Cutten traded (or at least how he said one should trade - like all traders he seems to have deviated from the plan now and then). Since this isn’t the meat of the book and I wrote about it already in my prior Cutten post, I feel comfortable adding a spoiler that Cutten preached trading principles.
Finally, the more I study historical great traders the more I find myself enjoying the study of history (which is odd to me because I never liked history much). But, in studying these characters and their lives, it provides more evidence in support of Livermore’s contention that there is, “Nothing new in Wall Street.” In reading Stephens’s book, I found myself repeatedly thinking of the famous quote, “Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.”
To Make a Killing offers insight on a great speculator while also providing lessons of history both of which can only bolster a trader’s market toolkit. I’m glad I read it and plan to revisit it from time to time for the wisdom.