Book Description
Harnessing the Power of Quantitative Techniques to Create a Winning Trading ProgramLars Kestner Quantitative Trading Strategies takes readers through the development and evaluation stages of today's most popular and market-proven technical trading strategies. Quantifying every subjective decision in the trading process, this analytical book evaluates the work of well-known "quants" from John Henry to Monroe Trout and introduces 12 all-new trading strategies. It debunks numerous popular misconceptions, and is certain to make waves--and change minds--in the world of technical analysis and trading.
Download Description
Harnessing the Power of Quantitative Techniques to Create a Winning Trading ProgramLars Kestner Quantitative Trading Strategies takes readers through the development and evaluation stages of today's most popular and market-proven technical trading strategies. Quantifying every subjective decision in the trading process, this analytical book evaluates the work of well-known "quants" from John Henry to Monroe Trout and introduces 12 all-new trading strategies. It debunks numerous popular misconceptions, and is certain to make waves--and change minds--in the world of technical analysis and trading.
Customer Reviews:
Not substantive enough.......2005-10-19
I must agree with reviewer Ira Balli from London below. This book lacks substantive information regarding the quantitative methods and therefore is merely an introduction to quant ideas that have been discussed in the marketplace. Of course, anyone who might have proprietary and successful quant methods would be foolhardly to disclose them, so one should not expect that from any public writer.
As an alternative, some of the chapters covering quant strategies in "Trade Like a Hedge Fund : 20 Successful Uncorrelated Strategies & Techniques to Winning Profits" by James Altucher may be easier to read as introductory work.
Don't buy this book.......2005-05-26
I am trading since 10 years, lead two hedge funds and I am about to finish my study in Msc of Mathematical trading and Finance.
This is the first review I wrote, because I always found it helpfull if somebody prevented me from buying a useless book.
This is definitely useless book!
Lars Kestners 11 new trading strategies described as "new" are at least 20 years old (moving average crossover, MACD, stochastic crossover, momentum, 3 in a row to mention some). The author has the nerves even to document how negative this straegies performed. Hence his stragies are old and were already at that time useless. The infomation content is appart from the title, the name of theauthor and the price = zero. Any novice that is able to spell "technical analysis" knows more about trading systems than this book teaches you. I don't even to mention that the this book has nothing to do with quantitative except you declare a moving average, a log function or the ADX calculation as a quantitative method.
professional.......2005-04-02
This book is written by a market professional. And it is obvious from the start. There is no hype, and the whole approach is based on maths and probability. The book is concise, and it would be very difficult to make the text shorter than it is.
Strategies presented in the book are well discussed. There is also a valuable and interesting discussion on the system's cycle. Author also presents his method of money management. And there are some ideas on quantitative investing, as opposed to trading. This may be a good way to diversify.
In general, this book is good value for money. It contains eighteen trading systems, tested on variety of instruments, fully disclosed. Some (more often useless than not) trading systems are sold for several times the price of this book. It is fun to read and gives many ideas for developing your own systems.
Nice introduction to quantitative trading.......2004-04-26
Very easy reading. You will find this book quite useful if you are trading using a mechanized approach via a platform such as TradeStation. You will also find it useful if you are developing software like TradeStation that backtests trading strategies. This is why I read the book.
In part one, he describes his testing methodology and discusses the building blocks that make up the strategies that he discusses later. For example, moving averages, channel breakouts, momentum, etc. are discussed under trend following techniques and relative strength index stochastics, and MACD under price oscillators. Most importantly, he describes how to use statistical measurements to analyze the performance of a strategy.
In Part 2, he presents his results of testing the following strategies:
Channel Breakout
Dual Moving Average Crossover
Momentum
Volatility Breakout
Stochastics
Relative Strength Index
MACD
followed by some of his ideas and innovations that improve upon them. He uses 12 years of daily price data (1990 - 2001) and each strategy tests 29 different futures contracts along with 34 different stocks. He also discusses money management, which is must reading.
Although he does not provide any code (which I would have liked to have seen), he does give enough information so that you can implement any of these strategies in TradeStation or any other strategy back testing software, assuming that you have some knowledge of basic programming.
I would have liked to have seen some strategies dealing with pure price patterns. Other than that, a very well organized and thought out book. My rating for this book is 4.5 stars.
it's ok.......2004-04-23
I agree with the reviewer below. This book did not give many pure mathematical ideas. He gave some good examples that may be helpful to some but not to people who are looking for good solid mathematical strategies.
If you are just getting interested in quantitative strategy development I would suggest the book.
Amazon.com
The emergence of the Internet along with the increased volatility of the financial markets have combined to fuel an explosive growth in the interest and practice of day trading. So it should surprise no one that there's a parallel explosion in the number of books about day trading. Jake Bernstein, who has been involved in the futures industry as an author and trader for some 30 years, adds The Compleat Day Trader to this cadre. It offers a solid introduction to day trading and evaluates various techniques and strategies, including moving averages, intraday application of stochastics, support and resistance, gaps, and scalping. Bernstein spends several chapters discussing trading psychology, and he sees successful traders as developing a balance between technique and "art." He writes:
My experiences as a trader have led me to the conclusion that successful day trading is built upon a unique foundation combining art and science. If pressed to "guesstimate" as to the proper mix of both qualities, I'd say that approximately 70 percent of successful day trading consists of technique or science and 30 percent skill and/or art. This, however, would be a misleading statement inasmuch as both elements are symbiotic; without one, the other would be ineffective. The successful day trader combines both elements synergistically to produce profits, consistency and longevity.
As he does in the sequel to this book, The Compleat Day Trader II, Bernstein shows an obvious preference to futures trading, but many of the techniques described should apply to other markets as well. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
One of the best introductions to the "art" of day trading, Jake Bernstein's best-selling The Compleat Day Trader covers everything from getting started to understanding the intricacies of market analysis to tying it all together in a winning strategy.
Customer Reviews:
To much technical stuff. Needs practical ideas.......2005-05-11
The book is good if you want to depend on technical strategies to make money day trading.
The stock market is always presenting us with trading opportunities that don't neccesarily have to do anything with technical analisys.
As a day trader your homework is all about studying and testing different market strategies that will help you take advantage of stocks and at the same time protect your investments. Just always keep in mind that a good strategy is simple and practical. Complicated technical systems will always make you slow in your decision making process or confuse you right from the start.
There are very good sites on the web where you can access practical trading strategies that are easy to implement. One of those sites is Stress Free Traders ( StressFreeTraders com)
They focus on short term day trading strategies that can help you pick and approach momentum stocks while reducing your trading risk.
All in all, day trading is all about picking the best stock opportunities and deciding when to buy and when to sell with ease and simplicity. Once you learn to master your trading decisions, you can aspire to obtain consistent profitable results.
A COMPLETE WASTE.......2003-09-16
Take my word for it and save your money, the techniques in this book simply do not work!
A professional trader writes 25 books?.......2000-10-09
Trading especially short term trading need great concentration and a full-time commitment. Professional traders write few or no book.
Mr. Bernstein's books and articles are everywhere. Sometimes I came across his publications, I scanned through a few pages to see what he had to say about trading. Mr. Bernstein makes statements which are generally safe and easy to say. For example, I read his article the other day. He tells the readers "Do your homework.", "The trend is your friend." etc. Of course, these are the common rules for traders. But what are the concrete steps to implement these rules in the real-life situation? Well, I could hardly find any. On the other hand, he stated in that article: "...I maintain that a good trader can make any system works." I found this statement unprofessional and phony. The reasons:
1. Many systems on the market are just trash and can not be used at all.
2. Good traders wouldn't pick up any system and risk their money with it. Good traders are very selective and only trade a few systems that have proven record and are suitable for their individual styles.
I found similar problems in other works by Mr. Bernstein. Should I bother to buy this book? No, thanks.
I have read books from many different writers and have more than 10 year active trading experience. So I know something.
A few tips(IMO) for choosing good books on trading:
1. Only a small percentage of books on the market are good or great.
2. Popular books are not necessary good books. If you automatically think so, you've probably fallen into "Herd mentality" thinking.
3. Trading is a bottom line business. Find books written by traders who had proven long-term(5 year or more) successful trading records. They are the ones "know how".
4. Be wary of the authors who write many trading books.
Good luck.
For hardcore day traders, and straight to the point.......2000-10-08
Most books for "day traders" are so general that their techniques and advice can be successfully used by swing-traders (those who keep stocks for several days), and even by longer-term investors. This one is different. The author, Jake Bernstein, strongly advocates real day trading, when no securities ever kept overnight. Therefore, his techniques are usable for very short term trading only.
The advantage of this book is that it has very little general rhetoric and comes straight to the point, that is to the techniques which the author finds profitable. Basically, 90% of the book is about the use of technical indicators (such as various moving averages and oscillators) to determine potentially profitable entry and exit points. The topics discussed in particular detailed manner are the use of moving averages, stochastic indicator, moving average channel (MAC), relative strength index (RSI), momentum, and techniques for trading of opening gaps. The author also suggests several oscillators of his own. However, despite the simplicity of these indicators, one has to own software such as Omega Research Trade Station to calculate and plot these home-made oscillators in real time, or write a program yourself. There are also several chapters applicable to futures only (actually, the whole book is about trading in the futures market, but 95% of techniques are equally applicable to stocks).
The great advantage of the book is that it is very specific, clearly illustrated, and gives plenty of detailed technical advice and a number of potentially profitable trading techniques. Be advised, however, that those who are interested in trading but do not have enough capital to take profits from half-a-tick changes (and I, too, belong to this group) cannot really take advantage of this book. No trend and no trade longer than a few hours is discussed there! Therefore, this book is for the serious day traders, and only for them. If you are a day trader, this book is a must; if you are not, do not bother buying it but rather consider other options, e.g., the excellent book "How to get started in electronic day trading" by D.S.Nassar which is good for traders on any time frame.
Very informative & and packed with helpful information.......2000-08-14
One of the most difficult things involving the markets, regardless of what you trade is timing.With this book, Jake not only gives you suggestions for timing indicators, but he also gives you some strategies to follow and shows real time examples which are clear and very detailed. In this book, Jake share his extensive knowledge about systems, strategies, technical indicators, and trading systems. I have purchased many trading books and this one is CRITICAL for your success as a trader. One more point that I wish for potential traders to consider is the source. Jake Bernstein has been involved in commodities and futures trading for 25 years. He brings real trading experience to the table. He does not promise you guaranteed results are a "pot of gold" under the rainbow. What he does give you is the information that you will need to be successful, REGARDLESS of the time frame you are trading. Also, he is available for you. I recently e-mailed him with a question from the book and I received a detailed explanation from him the very next day! I challenge you to find any author who will do that! Good luck and good trading!
Book Description
Strategies, tools, and proven solutions for minimizing risk and volatility in option trading
The Option Trader Handbook helps readers better understand trade management by providing a thorough compilation of the numerous trade adjustments, hedges, and enhancements that can be made to stock or option positions using derivatives.
Dr. George Jabbour is the Director of the Master of Science in Finance (MSF) Program at The George Washington University as well as a professor of derivatives, financial engineering and investments. Dr. Jabbour has published various articles in professional financial journals and regularly speaks at conferences in the United States and abroad regarding option pricing models, financial management, and risk management. He also is a managing director of Global Asset Investments, LLC, an asset management and derivative consulting firm, and CEO of Global Finance Associates, Inc., a financial training, consulting and research company. Dr. Jabbour regularly conducts seminars in option trading and valuation, and is a very active equity and derivative trader.
Philip Budwick has a law degree and a Master of Science in Finance and frequently writes articles on option trading strategies and investments. Mr. Budwick is a managing director of Global Asset Investments, LLC and a managing member of Budwick InvestmentGroup, LLC, an option trading and investment software firm. He also conducts discussion groups and offers option investment training through Option Trading Coach, LLC and is an active option and stock trader.
Download Description
Strategies, tools, and proven solutions for minimizing risk and volatility in option trading
The Option Trader Handbook helps readers better understand trade management by providing a thorough compilation of the numerous trade adjustments, hedges, and enhancements that can be made to stock or option positions using derivatives.
Dr. George Jabbour is the Director of the Master of Science in Finance (MSF) Program at The George Washington University as well as a professor of derivatives, financial engineering and investments. Dr. Jabbour has published various articles in professional financial journals and regularly speaks at conferences in the United States and abroad regarding option pricing models, financial management, and risk management. He also is a managing director of Global Asset Investments, LLC, an asset management and derivative consulting firm, and CEO of Global Finance Associates, Inc., a financial training, consulting and research company. Dr. Jabbour regularly conducts seminars in option trading and valuation, and is a very active equity and derivative trader.
Philip Budwick has a law degree and a Master of Science in Finance and frequently writes articles on option trading strategies and investments. Mr. Budwick is a managing director of Global Asset Investments, LLC and a managing member of Budwick InvestmentGroup, LLC, an option trading and investment software firm. He also conducts discussion groups and offers option investment training through Option Trading Coach, LLC and is an active option and stock trader
Customer Reviews:
Good Book.......2007-04-08
I'm an intermediate level options trader. I bought this book for the trade adjustments, and it definitely delivers. I was weak on how or what trade adjustments to make. Reading this book has definitely changed the way I trade. I now have multiple strategies for locking in profits, and repairing loosing positions.
This book isn't for beginners, it's really for intermediate level options traders. I think everyone will learn something from the trade adjustments in this book. Definitely worth the money and time to read it.
solid options review.......2007-02-16
An excellent coverage of the strategy of option trades including a solid presentation of the fundamental trades. Particular presentations on what to do with a trade that is going bad is most helpful. You will find yourself making detailed sketches the risk reward plots on the side to fully understand the details of such positions as a bear call spread. It gives a depth of understanding that enables you to trade independently.
Learn it from the masters of options.......2006-03-08
Dr Jabbour is a master in this field. I had the pleasure of listening to some of his presentations in different seminars. This book sums it all. I encourage all who are interested to advance their knowledge in both, the theory and practice of options trading, to read this book.
A. Arar
Chief Investment Officer
FIMINECO, LLC
The same idea repeated many times.......2005-07-15
I was quite dissapoined when I read this book. My high expectations of it didn't materialize. I cannot recommend this book to anyone who is serious about option trading since it does not discuss greeks and how you can balance your portfolio with them. If you spend time and research components of option pricing and greeks this book becomes just a common sense repeated a hundred times.
Good book to learn but not to make money.......2004-09-20
Is there a difference between learning and making money? As a professional trader my main goal now is to find practical ideas that make money. During my first year of trading , my goal was to learn as much as I can about the business of trading regardless of how profitable the information is. As I gained experience I started weeding out concepts and techniques that are not profitable.
My experience in trading has proven to me that simple concepts applied effectively work best especially in options. In this book most concepts while understandable are elaborate option strategies with frequent position restructuring to adapt to the market. While it is always good to adapt,frequent changes cost you commissions and reduce potential profits.
In addition success in option trading highly depends on the traders ability to assess the short term movement of the underlying stock using appropriate technical indicators. It would have been of great help if technical indicators used in assessing stock movements were combined with option strategies .
AS an example. let us say you are interested in selling a covered call on your stock. The most important peice of information is not how much premium you will make if the stock moves down by a certain amount by expiration and what position changes you will need to make if the stock goes up or against you.What you really need to know is whether the stock is about to reverse down, if that is the case you sell the call and plan to buy it back when the stock falls to a certain support level as indicated by your Stock technical trading system. If not then selling the covered call is a bad idea no matter what the P/L chart says.
If you are an academic type person, a professor, college student or someone who wants to learn , this is a great book and that is why I gave it 4 stars. If on the other hand your goal is actually to make money , you need to look to other books.One I found useful is"generate thousands on your stocks without selling them" by Elias.where the concepts are less academic and more geared to making money.
Book Description
As serious and sophisticated investors know, options are a viable and increasingly popular way to enhance their portfolios. Yet even the most savvy investors need instruction.
Now in its third edition, The Options Workbook has been updated and reformatted in a larger, more convenient, and user-friendly design. Three all-new chapters explain key trading concepts-volatility, the collar, and the covered call-and show how these can be applied to mitigate risk and increase profits. What’s more, this fresh edition incorporates additional interactive content-exercises, hands-on tools, and lessons that complement the in-depth curriculum on ITI’s Web site, www.itichicago.com.
Customer Reviews:
Options workbook for Dummies.......2007-09-25
I picked up this book in preparation for an interview I was having in the equity structured products desk at Morgan Stanley. Although I had taken a Financial Derivatives class at Wharton, this book helped explain the basics. It goes through all of the fundamental and basic strategies, as well as spreads. The value in the book is in doing the examples and working out the max gains, loses, break-evens etc. It seems basic but as you begin to put together more complex trades these exercises stay with you and guide your understanding. The book also does a decent job of explaining the Greeks and volatility. You won't come away ready to put on any overly complex trades, but you might be comfortable putting on your first call back spread knowing what your risk and reward profile is.
I was confused about options until I read this book.......2007-07-16
I am an amateur stocks and options trader. I have read, and continue to read, many books about the markets, about stocks, and about options. Options are more interesting to me than any other investing medium because of the ability to make quick gains and because of the innate limitation of losses. With so many options plays in existence, it's easy to get confused.
I picked up The Options Workbook and it cleared away much of the mystery of options investing. This book outlines the most common options plays including spread concepts, butterflies, condors, and many other trading techniques. It contains a primer that teaches about the Greeks, and about how to read the fundamentals on potential investments.
I didn't find a lot about chart reading technique n this book, but you can get that from other excellent books. Part of this book's strength is found in its quick charts that show, at a glance, exactly how to execute most options strategies for upward and downward moving markets. Since I have read this book, I have traded nothing but options and have grown my portfolio steadily. I'm no longer interested in buying stocks; they are simply too expensive and slow moving.
Hope this helps.
- Craig Nybo, co-author of Total Human: The Complete Strength Training System
Excellent learning book for technical option learning.......2006-07-09
This books explains most option constructions and how to calculate there potential profit. If you need to train yourself in spreads concepts, this training manual is for you. First the spread is explained and then some calculation examples are given. Don't expect a when to use these spreads manual. It's not there. This is a excellent book for training yourself in setting up all kind of option structures and know what the costs are and profits. Also all the Greeks are explained in detail, and the first manual that makes it understandable for me :-)
Skeptical.......2006-03-03
I am skeptical over the reviews of this book. I bought it but returned the book to Borders after a surprise check on Amazon.com on the reviews by so-called "readers" here. If you look at the review dates, all were dated around May-June 2002. If you're not convinced, click on each reviewer and most of them actually did only review (5 stars) for this book. Who knows, it could be a marketing tactics? I went over to check Barnes & Noble and it was exactly the same.. reviews were all done from May-June 2002 then full-stop. So I'm not saying anything, I did buy the book for 2 days, but I was not impressed. No thanks.
Basic Simple Review.......2006-02-19
Good book for the basics of understanding the mechanics of options but not a lot of use for actual trading. It really is light on useful fundamental concepts you should use to trade - maybe that's what you get in the additional products they have for sale.
Book Description
A fresh investment approach to an ever-changing market
In this unique and engaging treatise on the art and science of speculation, expert S. A. Johnston combines the profitable elements of banking, bookmaking, and gambling-three other ways of making money with money-with trading, to provide readers with a fresh new approach to trading the market. Written by a trader for a trader,
Trading Options to Win gives readers a framework for using logical analysis to uncover profitable opportunities that they would otherwise miss. Johnston develops a speculative method that traders can use to consistently find and manage profitable trades. He then backs his talk up by detailing three months worth of trades using his successful method. For investors looking to move beyond the realms of technical and fundamental analysis, Trading Options will be the guide of choice.
S. A. Johnston is a systems analyst and designer by profession. His company, Software Systems, specializes in inventory optimization and control systems for business. Under the tutelage of Fredric B. Fitch and Richmond Thomason, he became the first graduate of Yale to receive a BA in logic.
Customer Reviews:
trading options to win.......2007-03-15
gives real trades, real numbers. this is a genuine how to book.
Writing Futures Options Strategies.......2006-05-03
This book is focused on selling options on futures. It is an excellent dissertation on risk control and profit expectancy, and is loaded with practical advice. This book assumes you have a basic idea of what a future's contract is. I recommend this book highly for anyone who wants practical advice and strategies for gaining a statistical edge in the marketplace which options afford.
Tons of very useful info and fun to read.......2004-09-23
Don't know what book Edward Lovette read, but it's pretty clear he didn't read the entire book. This is an exceptional book and anyone who trades options would be taking the short end of the bet by missing it. Johnston makes his points easily, clearly, practically, and (unusual for a book on options, which are usually dry as dust) it's very entertaining. Mainly, and again this is rare or nonexistent in the options books I've read, Johnston presents the background and the reasoning behind the trading strategies he's talking about and shows the WHY of making profits in the markets and not just the what and the how. The strategies themselves are pretty interesting. Everybody knows about straddles and strangles, but how about a "Martian ratio-spread" or a "WOOM non-seasonal?" I've traded options for a long time and read a lot of books on options, yet I never even heard of these strategies, so there's a lot of originality in this book, too. Any options trader will get a lot of good fresh ideas from "Trading Options To Win." I just wish it had been longer, but it's 5 stars anyway.
A Rare Find for the Option Writer.......2004-06-04
First, the problems. He takes awhile to get to his point. You need to get past his cute phrases and chatty style. Second, I use chapter and section headings to help me through a book. His headings a worse than useless. For example, one chapter heading is "Just the Facts, Ma'am".
Getting past all of that, I found my efforts well rewarded. He truly comes up with very original insights into trading. He examines risk from a unique perspective. His ideas on option writing cannot be found in any other book I have seen.
For example, most traders use seasonality to find market trends. His chapter on using seasonality to predict non-trending, choppy markets (important for the option writer) is truly a classic. He sees, smells, and thinks about how the option writer can make money in the markets, and I have found no other book with such real world trading ideas.
If you sell options, this is a must read.
Major Disappointment.......2004-05-17
The high reviews inspired me to purchase this book...but the contents are very general and the title consequently is very misleading...it doesn't teach anything about trading techniques...it's almost exclusively a book about trading psychology.
Book Description
Distills complex theories for the benefit of the average trader with little or no background in finance or mathematics by offering a wide range of valuable, practical strategies for limiting risk, avoiding catastrophic losses and managing the futures portfolio to maximize profits. Numerous topics are explored including: why most traders lose at the futures game most of the time; why most mechanical trading systems are apt to fail; the probabilistic approach to trading; how to make stop-loss orders work for, rather than against you; the pros and cons of options versus futures trading; and how to limit risk through diversification.
Customer Reviews:
A Complete Insight Into Money Management Strategies for FT.......2003-03-28
While a large percentage of individuals do not achieve financial success in the futures markets, traders who do succeed possess a solid understanding of risk and exercise a disciplined program of loss containment and money management. Nazer J. Balsara's Money Management Strategies For Futures Traders provides a wealth of materials for futures and stocks traders alike. The book is a must-read and a relatively easy-read for those who wish to enhance their risk management sophistication with complex tools and who believe that the best way to survive and prosper in the markets it to contain your losses, play defensively and let profits ride.
All trading opportunities are not created equally and part of a trader's job is ferreting out the best markets to trade. The chapter on commodity selection presents four approaches to market selection, based largely on the work of J. Welles Wilder, the father of ADX (Average Directional Index Indicator) and RSI (Relative Strength Index). Here, the book is a good review of Wilder's ADX but focuses on the less-known aspect of his work: the commodity selection index. Wilder's approach uses ADX to identify futures yielding the greatest dollar-value price-moves for a given margin investment, in short, getting you in on the most appealing trades. Balsara also shows the utility of Wilder's price movement index when it is it is not possible to determine or estimate reward, thereby enhancing the analysis and return in mechanical trading systems. Sharpe ratios are also considered as a way of measuring risk-adjusted returns.
The text gives useful approaches to managing risk through stop-loss orders by laying out the usage of time stops, dollar-value stops and volatility stops. There is also a presentation on how to survive locked-limit markets by creating synthetic options positions, spreads or offsetting positions in the cash markets.
A studied read of this finance professor's work will help traders develop both the skill and the art of disciplined risk-taking.
Do not enter the futures game/war without this book!.......1999-11-30
I only wish I had utilized the statistical tools the author provides earlier in my trading career. However, I did find the book in time. Don't let the reference to statistics scare you. The author uses basic alegebra to aid you in trade selection and risk control.
This book may not guarantee you success in trading, but I do believe that if one does not apply the basic money management principles presented by Prof. Balsara, sooner or later, failure in the futures market is almost certain.
If you can't name the 5 basic steps of money management, I suggest you stop trading immediately, get this book with a couple of ticks worth of money you'll not be losing while your not trading. Read it a few times, set up your money management spreadsheet and may you trade with clarity previously unknown in your endeavors in the futures market.
Book Description
The opportunities for unmatched returns and investment protection in the brave new world of foreign currency investing are second to none. In Foreign Currency Trading, financial executives Russell Wasendorf, Sr., and Russell Wasendorf, Jr., describe foreign currency trading in plain terms, and help you understand the risks, benefits, and operational requirements that you will need to take advantage of this market’s tremendous potential. Look to Foreign Currency Trading for clear explanations on the mechanics of foreign currency trading, in-depth discussion of all pertinent foreign exchange rules and regulations, and a comprehensive glossary with literally hundreds of terms essential to forex trading. With formerly imposing currency trading restrictions having been struck down in recent court rulings, the world of foreign currency trading is an exciting and rapidly-expanding field. Let Wasendorf and Wasendorf’s Foreign Currency Trading be your comprehensive guidebook for effectively taking advantage of this exciting opportunity, not only as a source of unmatched income and profits, but also as a sophisticated hedging instrument in any investment portfolio.
Customer Reviews:
This book really is not about teaching someone to trade.......2007-09-18
I was looking for a basic book teaching the concepts and trading practices and fundamentals. This book has a lot to say about none of the topics needed to help someone become a trader. If you are looking to have someone trade your account you might be helped by it. There are a lot better books out there "Getting Started in Currency Trading" is a fine example. This is the best buy for the money when you are done reading it you will be much better informed to move ahead. Getting Started in Currency Trading: Winning in Todays Hottest Marketplace (Getting Started In.....)
The Cover PAge looks pretty!!!.......2007-06-07
Well when i grow up i to be Russell R Wasendorf, whether sr. or jr. I think these two are the greatest salesmen around. I bought a wonderful book which adorns my bookcase and adds colour and life to my room. Whats more is that i found the same book in my brother's home. Thinking he 'borrowed' it I asked him, He replied saying he 'invested' in it and it works well as a sleep aide . Seriously some points for beginners are reasonably covered but most of the book was a waste of time, paper and resources. There were no Fine points covered in the book to memory but if there were it was lost in the dribble.
To the authors: you must be kidding.......2006-02-09
I'll summarize this book for you -- "Foreign Currency Trading is difficult, if you want to learn more, send us some more money and we will enroll you in a class."
Save your money, buy yourself a newspaper instead.
Rarely have encountered a book this useless........2003-06-05
As others have said clearly, this book is a waste of trees, ink and the time of its reader. The "authors" should be ashamed of such blatant hucksterism and poor description of even the most basic aspects of trading. Even if you are a neophyte, look somewhere else.
save your money ..........2003-03-16
... I have no idea what objective these guys had in mind when they sat down to write this book.... This book is just a bunch of information thrown together (probably downloaded from the internet) and they obviously took no time to put any real effort into this book. I was terribly dissappointed with my purchase of this book.....look elsewhere if you are interested in getting started in forex trading.
Product Description
Those who begin Trading Forex, Futures or Stocks face a hidden obstacle that keeps 9 out of 10 people from achieving success. Trading can be wonderfully profitable and enjoyable. For most, however, it is a stressful and costly activity because they are unaware of the subtle mental and emotional trap that holds them back. Very few overcome this without losing tens of thousands of dollars in the process. For most, trading stays in the "Loss" column. The Subtle Trap of Trading shows you get past this hidden obstacle, how to break free from the trap and how to get on the right track if you've already started but are struggling to show a consistent profit.
Customer Reviews:
A bad summary of other books.......2007-10-18
The book offers no meaningful insight because it is a mediocre summary of some of the simple ideas found in most other trading books. The 150 pages are written in large font and spacing, and are of limited or no value to anyone having any trading experience. The author describes himself as "a degreed Engineer, Certified Quality Engineer and Futures trading enthusiast." Author does not appear qualified to offer trading advice.
Gives my trading structure.......2007-06-07
After buying the subtle trap I realized I was falling in two key areas.
One was the inability to know where my emotions were costing me money.
It helped me to set up a process where by I can not escape those bad habits from being exposed should I fall into them again. For example, after every trade I go through a check list which tells me if any of the bad habits are re-occuring, and I can tell you in less than 1 month this method eliminated a habit that cost me tens of thousands of dollars over several years.
Two, was not understanding the power of setting objectives.
An example was when I entered in a two week trading competition where instead of setting a goal to win, I just set a goal to achieve a certain ROI. In order to do this though, I had to know my win to loss ratio of my system, and the number of opportunities I would get in the two weeks.
Armed with this I knew what I had to do to reach my objective, and I did reach my objectives. The issue here is that unless there's some sort of plan and way to implement this plan, your method is flawed. The subtle trap is great for making all of that so easy to understand.
I will say this, if you've been trading for a while now with no success, and then you read the subtle trap and it makes no difference what so ever to your trading - you need to find another profession.
Awesome Book for any serious trader.......2006-09-22
I've spent the last year just working on my trading psychology, the true "Holy Grail" of trading, and I've heard pieces of the wisdom in this book echoed in many places. What Brian has achieved in this easy-to-read guide is a distillation of how to identify, and focus on correcting, the chinks in one's emotional armor.
The concise nature of his approach makes it much easier to really 'get it' with regard to how, as trader's, our emotions can cause us to stack the deck against ourselves. The exercises help to zero in on those issues that throw up blocks to effective trading.
Don't just read it and put it on the shelf. This book is great for a regular 'tune-up' to improve trading performance and consistency in one tight package.
The Subtle Trap of Trading, by Brian McAboy.......2006-09-15
Brian's book is an ingenious work. It illuminates the path one needs to achieve success in the world of financial trading and it is sorely needed. The staggering amount of money and time I spent becoming a successful trader could have been easily reduced by 2/3 had I followed the outline Brian presents. Its a gift. Dan K, Kerry, Ireland
See the trap. Avoid the trap........2006-09-12
It doesn't matter whether you are new to trading or have been at it for years. The Subtle Trap of Trading is a must read. Author Brian McAboy goes to the very root of trading in terms of both its appeal and the pitfalls that lure creates.
Many people in the markets are essentially self-taught to a great degree. That means they were never told about certain stumbling blocks in a personal way - things which can seriously trip up one's trading performance. In this book, McAboy outlines why you can easily find yourself doing things as a trader you would never have thought you'd do - things seemingly completely out of character. This is the stuff that can doom you to failure.
Importantly, though, the author doesn't just tell you what the trap is. He explains in clear terms how you can avoid it and provides exercises to help you along the way. For that reason, The Subtle Trap of Trading should be near the top of your trading reading list.
Amazon.com
Most of us have been conditioned to approach the stock market as a long-term proposition. Many of the bestselling investment books coach readers to seek value in the best companies for long periods of time. Day trading, a recent phenomenon brought on by the reform of the financial markets and by the growth of online trading, goes in just the opposite direction. Instead of buying and holding stocks for years, successful day traders make money by dipping in and out of the market in a matter of minutes, finding profit in the tiny fractions between the bid and asking price of a stock or by catching the ups and downs of stock prices, which are driven by everything including the latest news from CNBC or speculation on what Alan Greenspan ate for breakfast.
In The Electronic Day Trader, authors Marc Friedfertig and George West explain the rationale behind day trading and offer strategies that can help you become successful at this fast game of speculation and timing. The authors write, "Day trading appears so deceptively easy, yet in reality it is a never-ending challenge. It is a game, an opportunity to match wits against the majority and thereby prosper. Day trading the stock market is the ultimate opportunity to speculate and the ultimate game."
The book goes into great detail about how the various stock exchanges work and shows how to get direct access to the NASDAQ through various electronic trading systems. If you're looking for an investment book that will help you build a retirement portfolio, look elsewhere. But if the daily fluctuations in the price of a stock make your heart beat faster and if you're seriously interested in honing your skill as day trader or want to become one, The Electronic Day Trader is definitely worth a look. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
In 1998, McGraw-Hill’s The Electronic Day Trader became a worldwide phenomenon—and spent months on the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and New York Times bestseller lists. Now, this new paperback edition revisits the hardcover edition’s electronic day trading techniques and mechanics, and adds a new introduction discussing today’s evolving electronic day trading environment.
The Electronic Day Trader continues to give the reader a firsthand, no-holds-barred introduction to the world of electronic trading. The authors—accomplished veterans in this hot field—share trading philosophies and strategies that include:
• Workings of the various electronic order entry systems
• Effective trading techniques based on technical analysis
• All-important psychological aspects of day trading
Marc Friedfertig and George West (New York, NY) wrote Electronic Day Traders’ Secrets, and offer seminars on electronic day trading. Friedfertig is a registered principal for Broadway Trading. He formerly traded index futures with the New York Futures Exchange. West is the president of Broadway Consulting Group.
Customer Reviews:
Another book with old strategies, however...........2005-02-06
There are some good ideas that you can rescue from this book. Therefore I think you should buy it since you can make much more money and certainly recoup your small investment if you employ 2 o 3 good tips.
Any way, from my point of view a trader must always read as much as he can. There is simply no other way to prepare one self for this difficult yet incredibly rewarding activity, but to learn and put into practice as much ideas as you can, at least by paper trading first.
The are a lot of books on the subject, however many of them where written 2 o 4 years ago and that kind of makes them obsolete in this constantly changing field.
The internet offers great places where you can learn more specialized trading techniques. One of those places that I have found to be worthy is ProfitableStockmarket dotcom.
They focus mainly on momentum trading and employ a rather simple yet effective strategy. I think that for a trader to survive and be profitable, its neccessary to keep their trading as simple as possible. To much confussion and technical indicators will most of the time make you slow in your decisions and froze you up when a good opportunity is right in front of you.
In the end it's all about buying or selling with out hesitation, and doing it over an over again according to your set ups.
What became of Broadway Trading, LLC??.......2004-01-27
They went bankrupt, which is where you would be if you followed West and Friedfertig's methods. The book was a copy of Jack Schwager's Market Wizards series, due to the interviews conducted with "traders". You would be amazed if you saw some of these people and didnt read their words in print. Somehow they would not come off so sharp. Trust me!
Also do you think our authors would be able to spot "managerial talent" over a few aspiring proprietory traders? No they hire guys who have previously filed bankruptcy in their past and pipe up their accomplishments, which are a joke when you realized they bailed on creditors!!
Save yourself a dime and avoid it-if someone gives it to you, and you can't return it, use to start the BBQ grill. I could go on and on about SEC/NASD violation, getting short on a downtick, etc but I wont!
Obsolete.......2003-06-28
This book completely fails to realistically convey the relative risks and profit potential for the average wannabe day trader. Im talking about someone with less than a few thousand to play the market. Unless you have big bucks and Level II quotes forget day trading unless you are very lucky. In the trading parlance, I wish I had a short position on this book at its current price, and could cover my short at the current used price! Save your money.
good.......2001-07-11
good book , nice condition
essentially obsolete.......2001-05-07
This book is essentially obsolete just three years after its publication. Stocks are now traded in decimals, and the spreads on heavily traded stocks are now almost nonexistent, sometimes being less than one cent a share. Consequently, you can forget about any of the strategies or information regarding "pocketing the spread", "getting between the spread", etc. With the proliferation of ECN trading, the influence of the market makers in a stock has been markedly reduced. In a stock that trades 80 million shares per day, a market maker with a 100,000 share block is not going to be able to move the stock significantly, and ECN trading can overwhelm his influence. Likewise, information gleaned from the Level II screen, while still useful if one knows what to look for, is no longer the Holy Grail. Also, day trading firms, like the authors' "Broadway Trading" are on the way to extinction, now that some big online brokers offer direct-access trades for less than a quarter of what day trading firms charge, as well as offering free Level II quotes and other information not available to the day trading firms.
While the book contains a few nuggets of trading info, it was not written in a logical, easy to follow manner. As has always been the case, aspiring traders need to study the markets intensely and develop their own trading techniques; they cannot expect that any book will teach them how to be successful in a field where very few people ever succeed.
Book Description
Written by the creator of MESA, a popular, proven and successful computerized trading system. Establishes a philosophical foundation for the existence of cycles in the market, detailing their basic characteristics. Traditional moving averages, indicators and momentum functions are examined from the cyclic perspective in order to confirm effects in the dynamic marketplace. All of the principles are combined in examples to illustrate how trading strategies can be altered to improve probability of establishing successful trades.
Customer Reviews:
Very Good Book.......2006-05-08
I was a disciple of John Ehlers' in the early 1990s when I bought
the MESA3 and Epoch analysis programs (both for DOS) and my trading abilities improved greatly. I use those two programs to this day with superlative results.
I cannot give a similarly positive review to his newer software offerings as I have not examined them personally and information provided to be by users who have indicated that their results were less than satisfactory.
Ehlers' books are, in a large sense, amplifications of the instruction manuals of these progams and set forth the basis on which to study trading according to his ideas and theories.
This book is an excellent read for both the casual and professional trader regardless of whether or not one actually uses his software. Ehlers is highly intelligent, extremely experienced, and the practical application of his theories is adequately explained herein.
This work ranks as yet another significant contribution to the arena of securities trading by the author.
Professor John W. Kercheval, III
Georgetown
Washington, DC
A Theorist with communication skills problems.......2002-12-21
This book is just plain horrible. I am a trader and a cyclical investor. I am also an engineer with Engineering Mechanics background, and very familiar with the complex math explained by Ehlers. But let me tell you, for people without any background in math this book is an absolute waste of time.
The most important thing that Ehlers should have focused, he simply forgot or ignored. The book fails to show real life examples with buy-sell signals using the indicator. It goes on and on along the theoretical lines of cycle analysis and it stays at that throughout the book.
It would have been much more entertaining to explain the indicator and show real life examples. But from my experience as a researcher and writer of research articles, people from this field tend to embelish and emphasize the theoretical size while completely ignoring the pure and simple aspects.
A simple cycle analysis done with moving average detrending as explained by Pring is much easier. Also, a simple look at the charts and the drawing of a simple cycle lines is all that it takes to show you the turning points.
Important Update of a Gem of a Book.......2002-03-29
The broad trading public has been slow to recognize John Ehlers work to apply cycles methodologies (from the sciences) to trading markets .... which is good for those of use who have discovered Ehlers' work with MESA (Maximum Entropy Spectral Analysis).
The first edition of this book is still the clearest and most concise discussion of applying cycles theory to markets I've ever read. This new edition retains all of the content of the first edition, but updates it with a lot of new and additional information from Ehlers' recent research into cycles and his development of trading indicators and tools.
Many are familiar with the J.M. Hurst classic: "The Profit Magic of Stock Transaction Timing". Ehlers goes far beyond Hurst's pioneering work. Ehlers is an original thinker, applying new techniques and research using MESA to the market. Hurst was using a multi-million dollar mainframe in the 60's .... all of us have 10,000X more computer power sitting on our desktops than Hurst had .... Ehlers techniques can help the serious trader and investor turn all that "horsepower" loose on the market today, making it accessible to even us small traders.
Hurst was also constrained to using Fourier Analysis for cycles detection .... Ehlers' MESA overcomes the need of Fourier for long data spans to compute cyclic content.
If you're serious about the markets, this book needs to be part of your library .... along with Ehlers other book: "Rocket Science For Traders"
More Obtuse than the Average TA Book.......2000-06-25
Perhaps with time Ehlers writing improved but I found most of this book to be unclear - except the parts at the end about how to use the MESA cycles for trading. He has one idea, a ELI (Ehlers Leading Indicator), that sounds intriguing but darned if I can figure out how to calculate it based on his passing description of it. When he tries to explain phasors by "think of an engine" example, he only made me more confused. I really want to understand the mathematical ideas presented herein so I'll keep at it but I'm hoping I'll find a cycle writer with a style I can decipher better. Haven't read his later stuff yet though. Maybe he got alot more clear.
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- Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets: A Comprehensive Guide to Trading Methods and Applications (New York Institute of Finance)
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- Technology Management: Developing and Implementing Effective Licensing Programs (Intellectual Property-General, Law, Accounting & Finance, Management, Licensing, Special Topics)
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