Rating  - Do read this book ... with caution
These books are for beginners and, as such, should be read with caution. Meaning that the most important thing to understand about a financial market is that the price action is unpredictable and often random. No method, including those in this book, will make it not so. Unfortunately, these type of books don't emphasize this enough, and this one is no exception.
That said, this book is well written and does a good job of describing various methods that a lot of people use to trade. Whether these methods work or not is up to the reader to decide. I'm sure some people make them work. And I'm equally sure others don't.
For balance, this book should be read in conjunction with "Fooled by Randomness". After reading both, decide whether or not you are up to the challenge of trading.
Rating - Some Valuable Tools Here
I read this book several years ago, and took away some lasting items of value from it. The most valuable pieces of the book, surprisingly, are the sections on money management and record keeping. To this day I follow Dr. Elder's outstanding advice on how to limit risk and how to properly document trades and objectively track success. It is also worth the admittedly high price of the book to learn Dr. Elder's formula for setting "Safe-Zone" stops. I'm still not sure how or why this works, but the formula tends to come up with solid places to put in stops.
Unfortunately, I can't give the book higher than three stars because of some flaws. First, I find the tone of his writing to be somewhat condescending and insulting to both beginners and those who lose money. Dr. Elder says "successful traders are self-assured but never arrogant." But he also comes up with condescending quotes like, "Winners make money in different ways, while all losers fall into the same wastebasket of impulsivity." Wow.
After reading the great trading books like Reminiscences of A Stock Operator, and Stanley Kroll's two books, I also question some of his advice, such as when he says that to step up to being an intermediate trader "you need cut losses faster and grab profits sooner." The experts are all for cutting losses, but "grab profits sooner?" What happened to letting profits run?
Finally, I cannot understand why the examples at the end of the book feature countertrend trades that have nothing to do with the methodology presented in the majority of the book. All they do is confuse you after you've made a great effort to understand the trend-following methods he preaches throughout the book.
Rating  - An excellent sequel to Elder's previous book
This book really digs deeper into the real truth of trading world than Elder's previous book. For anyone who read Trading for living by Elder and not turned off by the 'Dog Eat Dog World of Trading' depicted in his book and still around, this book is certainly recommended.
Rating - Clear, Concise Trading Advice
I have traded stocks since I was a teen. I have been familiar with Dr. Elder for years. Along the way, I have read many books on trading. This ranks among the best.
Dr. Elder breaks the art and science of trading into three pillars. He calls them his three M's:
Mind
Market
Management
The key to winning the trading game is to win the battle within your mind. Dr, Elder, himself a practicing psychiatrist, explains how to develop discipline and to avoid the traps caused by emotional trading.
Second, he shows how to identify good trades using charts and computerized indicators. In remarkably clear and concise language, he explains the indicators and how to combine them to develop your own trading system.
Finally, he discusses importance of money management. The successful trader manages risk. Dr. Elder lays down the rules to harness it.
After reading this book, there is no doubt in my mind why this book has achieved a "Classic" status. It is well deserved. Dr. Elder has distilled more than 25 years of trading experience into a readable and insightful tome. Every trader who is serious about his or her markets should read it. Its gems of knowledge will cause it to become dog-eared in no time.
Rating - A path to follow
This is the best trading book I ever read. The technique showed by Mr. Elder to act automatic while the market are open and run fast instead of thinking is one of the best advice I ever heard. To be a sucessful trader you really need a defensive money management approach and a system to follow, it is much more important than simply identifying trends and bet right.
I rated this book 5 stars because I can't rate 6 or more. And yes I did some money with it. In fact this book already paid for itself...
I also reccomend Entries & Exits : Visits to 16 Trading Rooms (Wiley Trading) and The Complete Trading for a Living: The Legendary Approach to Trading with the Companion Study Guide from the same author.
Go to the Product Information page
page 2 of 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Customer Reviews for Wiley,0471225347,9780471225348,0471225347,332.654 |
