Richard Wyckoff

Richard Demille Wyckoff (November 2, 1873 – March 7, 1934) was an American stock promoter, investor, and securities speculator, as well as a financial media author, editor, and publisher. Notably, Wyckoff founded the Magazine of Wall Street, at one point the world's most widely-circulated financial publication.

Life and career

Early life Richard Wyckoff was the son of Walter Wychoff. Walter was a financial media publisher and financier.

In 1888, Richard Wyckoff became a messenger boy for a firm of brokers, later becoming a broker and stock promoter himself before entering the publishing world in the early 1900s.

Wyckoff Estate Walter Wyckoff contracted architect Chester A. Patterson and landscape designer Clarence Fowler to build a 7600 square foot mansion on a 10-acre estate, dubbed “Twin Lindens” or the "Wyckoff Estate", next to Alfred P. Sloan’s home in a wealthy part of New York (West Shore Road, Kings Point, Great Neck). The discrepancy might stem from the fact that Richard tried to hide or protect his assets from the numerous personal and professional lawsuits he was subject to throughout the 1910s

The Magazine of Wall Street

Circulation and financial success Wyckoff founded The Ticker, of the Ticker Publishing Co., in 1907; it was rebranded in 1911 as The Magazine of Wall Street. The magazine went on to become the world's most widely-circulated financial publication in the early 1900s, surpassing The Wall Street Journal. , its value was reported to be between $39,000,000 and $117,000,000 (in 2026 USD) and it employed 200 people.

Loss of control In highly publicized initially became Wyckoff's secretary and stenographer at the magazine and took on a decision-making role within the magazine thereafter. after losing control of the magazine, focusing on a small publishing enterprise consisting of selling stock-related books, courses, a newsletter, and a magazine.

Personal life and death

Wyckoff had a daughter, Jane, with his first wife.

Soon after founding The Ticker, Wyckoff began having an affair with a young singer from Detroit, Cecilia Gertrude Shere (alternatively spelled as Cecelia). Wyckoff's then-wife, Aleminia Wyckoff, became suspicious and hired a private detective, discovered the affair, and filed for divorce. Shere and Wyckoff were married shortly thereafter, on August 26, 1913. They had two girls, Gloria Wyckoff Dennison (b. January 23, 1916) and Dorothy (b. March 21, 1918).

After Wyckoff's divorce from Shere, he married Alma Weiss, who became executor of his estate after his death.

Supporters and critics Posthumously, Wyckoff’s supporters and the promoters of his methods have stated that he is “now considered a legend” and that he began his publishing career because of the “appalling losses in securities suffered annually by millions of people who do not realize what they are risking and have an amazingly small knowledge of the market”.

In support of this assertion, Wyckoff himself stated in one of his last works, where he reveals his methods of trading and investment:“This Method is for those who have had either little or no experience operating in the stock market, or for those who have had much experience but who have never been shown the real rules of the game. Out of the very limited number who really understand the inner workings of the stock market, practically no one has been willing to show the public the real inside. I believe it is time for someone to step forward and do this. The appalling losses, in securities, suffered annually by millions of people, are enough to make the angels weep.”

Therein, Guenther accused Wyckoff of making himself out to be nobler to the public than he actually was. Guenther alleged that Wyckoff was a “hypocrite” and “scheming promoter” out to use his influence and publishing empire in order to knowingly promote failing investments to his trusting readers; the promotion of which would net Wyckoff a profit, while leaving the subscribers who invested based on Wyckoff’s advice with losses.

Wyckoff method

Wyckoff wrote about numerous trading techniques. These techniques evolved and, at times, contradicted one another throughout his decades of published works; including books, articles, and interviews. For example: Wyckoff at one point criticized charts and held that tape reading was a superior method to trading, but later admitted that he changed his mind over time.

Towards the end of his life, Wyckoff sold a multi-part correspondence course on the method he claimed to use to trade speculative financial assets. The course material was leased, not sold, at a cost of approximately $10,000 for the first, 400-page, part of the course (in 2025 inflation-adjusted USD).

Since then, this method has been dubbed “The Wyckoff Method” or “The Wyckoff Theory”. Wyckoff’s course focused on price action and some aspects of volume analysis; although Wyckoff stated that a thorough look into his style of volume analysis required an additional work, which he did not live to publish. Part of the instructional course did not disclose key details of his method of price-volume analysis, instead upselling the reader on an additional subscription service whereupon the necessary analysis would be mailed out instead.

Selected Works

Richard Wyckoff authored several books on stock market trading and technical analysis, including:

Studies in Tape Reading How I Trade and Invest in Stocks and Bonds Stock Market Technique Jesse Livermore's Methods of Trading in Stocks