5 comments about The ART of Trading: Combining the Science of Technical Analysis with the Art of Reality-Based Trading (Wiley Trading).

1. Buy this book, if you are willing to spend 2K in software. Author has not written how Pyramid Triangles are formed, what is logic. Author should have written logic so that people who are experienced in TradeStation Easy Language can write their analysis and backtest it and see whether this approach works.
   I have read Mastering The Trade by John Carter, at least author has shown how method works and he has shown logic and if you are not comfortable with writing code, you can buy it from them.
   I have decided to return this book.



2. In "The ART of Trading" Bennett McDowell begins by defining the realities involved in successful trading and investing which can be divided into four major areas: Risk Capital, Trading and Investing System, Psychology and Money Management. While there is a lot of useful information contained in the ART sections, the parts of the book that resonated most with me were the Psychology and Money Management sections. He covers the types of risks, trade size, the types of stops and the need to set them. Then Mr. McDowell delves into setting up your trading business, your business plan, business and office considerations, broker information and data feeds. He gives you information necessary to select a financial market and time frame in which to trade. However the most enlightening part of the book for me was the exploration into your psychological makeup and how to get from where you are to the master trader's mind set or "Holy Grail". The exercises and suggestions to reach this goal were extremely helpful. This book is well organized and illustrated. I was disappointed that the majority of the book is devoted to explaining Mr. Bennett's "Applied Reality Trading" system that requires an additional purchase. This book is for those traders interested in learning and applying the ART system.



3. 
   I bought this book with the intent of obtaining the 30-day free trial and learning more about the A.R.T. software, which I have. This is an excellent book about trading even if you don't buy/use the ART software.
   This book teaches solid trading skills needed to be a successful trader in any market and with any system, but the emphasis is on their software.
   
   I have obtained the 30-day free trial and so far the ART software is all they say it is and more.
   Bennett McDowell appears to be the real deal.........
   
   Ric
   California



4. In this book, Bennett McDowell show us, in a simple way to understand, the several variables of trading, covering psychology, money management, strategies involving price and volume.
   The emphasis on his software makes the book more applicable if you use the software, but even without the software, is a very useful knowledge and I think that any trader that really wants to beat the market should read this book.



5. I have bought many trading books; this is, by far, one of the best I have come upon. Whether you are an advanced trader or a beginner, the tools offered in this book provide you a trading system you can work with at your current skill level and whether you are a short-term trader or long-term trader. I highly recommend this text to all traders!

5 comments about The Futures Game: Who Wins, Who Loses, & Why.

1. Be prepared to get into the nitty gritty of futures trading with this book, I bought it because I was slightly interested and got a little more than I expected, however was still a fascinating read, and not too technical.



2. The author makes the following comment: "....literature on hedging in futures marets is not the essence of clarity." I hope he was including himself. If you don't have a pretty good foundation in Futures you don't need to start w/ this book. I don't know why writers can't start with the basics and work up to the complex nuances. I was very disapointed.



3. ... this come comes out "tops". I use the information I learned from this book daily as I trade not only futures but also forex. If you are a trader, this one needs to be one of your "top" resources.



4. I am a long time futures investor and I have several books on the subject. This book: "The Futures Game" is superb. It is complete and the only one to consult.



5. This book is an essential a textbook for college students. It provides all the basic materials about the futures market. But I feel it doesn't cover too much about the problems of real world trading. After trading for sometimes, I know that there are many tricks using by the professional traders. They are really important. They can give you edges over other traders. But they are seldom covered in college textbooks. So you still need to read other books or learn from other people before you put the money into this risky game.

5 comments about Basic Black-Scholes: Option Pricing and Trading.

1. I am a professor of finance at the University of Puerto Rico. Timothy's book was recommended to me by Professor Steve Mann at the University of South Carolina, where I obtained my Ph.D. in finance, as "simply the best book out there on option pricing." What I found when I assigned the book in my MBA class on Futures and Options is that the students all remarked at how incredibly understandable and thorough the book is even though it is clearly useful at the doctoral level as well. This is certainly what I would expect from an MIT Ph.D. where its nearly impossible to get accepted into the doctoral finance program and even harder to get out!
   
   If you really want to understand option pricing get this book...there simply isn't anything else like it out there on the market!



2. Tremendously valuable book for its selection and excellent treatment of many rarely addressed aspects of financial derivatives and the care with which intuition for these aspects is developed.
   
   Financial mathematics exists at the intersection of many different fields, yielding many possible perspectives from which to teach and learn about this discipline. Many of these perspectives bog down in the rigor of their respective fields. Such approaches render it difficult to absorb and apply core concepts without spending a great deal of time in first learning topics such as advanced probability theory and stochastic calculus.
   
   Dr. Crack's approach seems to be to develop the intuition as a framework for understanding further advanced study, should it be warranted by the reader. At the same time, he includes many aspects of the underlying science to help bridge the gap between the academic world and the world of trading.
   
   For example, his derivation of the solution to the Black-Scholes equation and subsequent analysis of the components of the solution leaves the reader fully prepared to quickly and intelligently grasp the impact of changes in assumptions. This is in contrast to many treatments that seem to stop at the solution, leaving the reader feeling as though the Black-Scholes solution is simply a black-box with no intuitive connection to the real world.



3. I like the text because it gives many aspects of the Black-Scholes model that I have not found elsewhere. One may feel that Black-Scholes is an "old" model, but it is the genesis of option pricing and understanding its intuition is the key to understanding more complex models. In addition, the text is very readable, but I think even more satisfying if the reader already has some options background.



4. Crack's two books, Basic Black-Scholes and Heard On The Street,
   are masterpieces of condensed ,focused instruction for those who need to know. There is also an atmosphere of scintillating competence projected on the reader. Some of the anecdotes in Heard On The Street are hilarious; add to this the requirement that you must keep your wits about you at all times when reading
   these primers and overall you get a feeling of a happy learning experience. Remarkable.



5. I was generally familiar with options pricing and read this book after the Hull's book on derivatives. I felt that this text definitely provided a lot of good intuition and different perspectives that I have not see anywhere else.
   
   This text helped me systemize my knowledge of options and develop a more intuitive feel for their behavior. Definitely, a good addition to the classics on option pricing.

5 comments about Trading Chaos: Maximize Profits with Proven Technical Techniques (A Marketplace Book).

1. I've been trading for more than 5 years since my graduation from college. This book offers lots of questions for philosophical speculation. Indeed, it raises many doubts about our assumptions upon this reality we reside in physically, mentally, or spiritually. Nevertheless, I will not position this book as a guidebook or a know-how methodology for beginners. This book was written or structured with a strong philosophical implications. Some chapters are nothing more than anecdotes of successful traders which I personally don't find appealingly entertaining or useful to my personal account.



2. Williams has been educating traders for many years, and is an effective teacher. His approach of "want what the market wants" and "follow the path of least resistance", are simple but essential lessons. You will learn about these lessons and more in this terrific book, and if you are open minded enough you will be able to benefit from his deeper understanding of how markets and traders behave.
   
   Some of Williams' ideas are "out of the box" for traditional practitioners: he recommends meditation tapes to his students, tapping into a holistic method, and thinking in terms of a more global and universal energy that affects the markets and each trader's mind via their thoughts.
   
   If you like Williams' approach, you may also find Bennett McDowell's system useful. He was a student of Williams' way back when, and has since gone on to become one of the newer educators in the field. McDowell's book, "The ART of Trading" The ART of Trading: Combining the Science of Technical Analysis with the Art of Reality-Based Trading (Wiley Trading) has the same energy that Williams work does, plus it offers money management techniques that complete the success picture.
   
   Williams doesn't lecture at the trade shows anymore, but his teachings can be effectively mastered by reading his books and visiting his website. Recommended reading.



3. When I first started reading this book I thought it was going to be great. He really sounds good talking about Zen and Chaos theory and non-linear vs linear - and I think he is right that the markets behave under these concepts. However, he doesn't really tell us how to apply any of this to trading. Read this book and then look at a chart. Can you trade better now knowing that you should be using a non-linear, chaos approach? No! Why? Because he doesn't tell us how to apply that theory to trading. He tells us to be one with the market and flow with it etc. That's fine and dandy - but how do we do that?
   
   He tells us that ta and mechanical systems don't work, then he reveals the system he uses to trade by - a mechanical system!!! I was shocked to see that his system is just another dime a dozen 3 ma system. How is his system using non-linear chaos theory? How is his system flowing with the market and making you more "in tune" with the market? It's just another mechanical ta system!!!(kind of sad really)
   
   This book started with great promise but ended up being a total disappointment.



4. This is the finest trading-related book ever published; if you are just starting to learn about trading and investing, please pick up a copy of Trading Chaos before you spend another dime on newsletters, software or 'hot tips.'
   
   It's not about trading a system, it's about trading your mind .......



5. Bill and Justine are made me aware of what is driving the markets. Before I met them I was caught in a circle of winning and losing money in trading. The first edition opened my eyes, new trading dimensions got me out of the dream. The home study course showed me that It is possible to trade consistently, The personal workshop with Bill taught me more than enough of the inside of the markets to grasp the why and how. Eventually workshops by Justine in the middle of Chicago made me implement it all.
   
   This new edition of Trading Chaos is refreshing. It's not about "the magic system", it's not about how to design the perfect system. No it's about real life and how the markets fit in. The perfection in the chaos, the perfect repetition of the small in to the bigger picture.
   
   Don't buy this book if you want to know which market to trade and make money. Don't buy this book if you are looking for the magical tip.
   Do buy the book if you want to learn what the market is driving and how you can profit.
   
   Do buy this book if you are clueless (like I was) about your trading mistakes.
   If you are serious go for the book, think of the implications and contact Bill and Justine to do a follow up. I did it 10 years ago and never had a moment of regret.

5 comments about Fundamentals of Futures and Options Markets and Derivagem Package (6th Edition).

1. The book I bought from this seller misses pages 1-61. At the time I bought it, there was no such information. The only information mentioned was that there are several copies available and the best one will be shipped. I contacted the seller for refund and he vehemently denied the lack of information and refused to refund my money, instead he said the reason why he sold it cheap was because of the missing pages, he does NOT have any refund policy. Each of his items is sold "as it". I will never buy from him again.



2. This book does a great job at clearly teaching the basics of forwards/futures and options markets. While there are a handful of summary questions at the end of each chapter that have answers in the back of the book, the overwhelming majority of answers to the end of chapter practice problems are not. In order to use this book properly and get the most out of it, the study guide is a necessity. Other than that, it's a great textbook.



3. the book is OK, however, it is a little bit expensive. And the price changed after I bought the book a few days later.



4. Even though my professor didn't use the book as much as I expected, the content of this one were merely boring lectures explained the reason why my school changed the book after this semester.



5. By games I mean the fact that the answers to about a third of the questions are found in a solutions manual that, last time I looked (in early Sept '07), was unavailable for purchase. The answers to another third of the questions are not to be found anywhere. The answers to the last third of the questions are in the book--but these questions are not very interesting or challenging. Why must we play this game? Why not just put all the answers in the back of the book? (I know, I know: it's all about the money, etc. But still . . .)
   
   As for the content of the book, I'm told that this isn't Hull's authoritative book (that would be 'Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives'). I feel like a sucker for having bought it. Is it good to make your customer's feel like suckers, Mr. Hull?

2 comments about Merger Arbitrage: How to Profit from Event-Driven Arbitrage (Wiley Finance).

1. I just finished reading the Merger Arbitrage book by Thomas Kirchner and I really enjoyed it. Mr. Krichner's book broke down the philosophy and process behind investing in mergers in a simple and concise way so that anyone can understand how merger arbitrage works. The book has detailed examples of past mergers which really help to illustrate how mergers operate and how to take advantage of them. The book also talks about risks involved with mergers and explains how some risks really aren't that bad considering the potential up side for merger arbitrage strategies.
   
   My favorite part of the book was chapter 12 which talked about how merger arbitrage strategies complement traditional investment strategies. Mr. Kirchner pointed out simple benefits such as diversification of risk and return streams as basic reasons to incorporate a merger arbitrage strategy into traditional investment strategies and he backs up his claims with data that shows exactly what he is talking about.
   
   Overall I would recommend this book to any person who wants to learn more about investing. The book caters to any level of investor and it has great examples which really help out!



2. Merger Arbitrage is informative and engaging and if you like finance and investing you will love this book, even if you haven't spent more than five minutes in your life thinking about mergers & acquisitions. A more descriptive title might have been 99 Mergers because that's essentially what the book is, the definitive collection of mergers and what we can learn from each one.
   
   There are hostile takeovers, management buyouts, bidding wars, busted mergers, spinoffs, proxy wars, insider scams, activist shareholders, private equity kings, anti-trust suits, appraisal actions, and a few other situations that you've never thought of but should know about because let's face it, anything can and does happen in the financial markets.
   
   It is a fun and informative read and Kirchner includes enough statistics to let us see the big picture, for example what mergers are more likely to succeed and why, both for firms and investors. It is also pro-shareholder and pro-investor and rightfully skeptical about both Wall Street (including private equity) and management. I still have one chapter to go in the book but am already recommending it to my friends and colleagues who have an interest in the markets.

5 comments about The Options Course Second Edition: High Profit & Low Stress Trading Methods (Wiley Trading).

1. Very in depth publication on Options Trading. Could be a bit better set out as one tends to get bogged down in the detail and has the effect of one losing interest.
   
   Surely options trading is not as difficult as this book tends to make it.



2. This book is not an easy read; but, the information content is high and it is well presented. There are numerous examples that make the information clear. If you are looking for a book that will provide detailed, in depth, well organized, information on options trading this is a very good book.



3. This book is a very good start if you are not familiar with the stock and options market. It covers the initial things like how to select the broker, how to apply for a proper Options Trading Level at your brokerage firm, which kinds of orders exist (limit, market , etc). It is written in a very friendly manner, it is very easy to understand.
   
   While the book is mostly devoted to teaching market novices about options, the author have decided to not focus on the fundamental analysis of the underlying securities (maybe due to the size constraints of the text). To fill this gap, I would recommend "The Only Three Questions That Count" by Ken Fisher in addition to this book.
   
   If you are already familiar with a stock market, have a brokerage account, and just want to become familiar with options, I can recommend a shorter read by the same author: "Trading Options For Dummies". But if you have enough time for reading and is not frightened by large amounts of text, "The Options Course" is the best book for novices I've ever seen.
   
   The only drawback of this book is that it does not address an important technique of selling put options as a way of buying the underlying security. Warren Buffett obtains most of his stock holdings through selling puts. He got most of his Coca-Cola Holdings this way, and, recently, Burlington Northern Santa Fe. If you are interested in this technique, you can find it in "Options as a Strategic Investment" by Lawrence McMillan, chapter 19, or there is a special book "Using Options to Buy Stocks" by Dennis Eisen.



4. Not great on information if you have more than a curosry understanding of options. I must admit, however, that many swear by this book--I just didn't get that much out of it. A better, albeit much less entertaining book, is Options as a Strategic Investment. Just be sure that you are purchasing the actual book and NOT the study guide.



5. My background up until reading this book was a few years of mutual fund and stock trading in my personal portfolio, so my review is based on that. I had no previous options knowledge when reading the book.
   
   I felt that George did a fairly decent job of covering a broad range of topics in this book (maybe too broad), from stock and option trading, to how to pick a broker. IMHO since it is attempting to be a fully-encompassing book, it should have covered tax implications and tax planning, maybe even the current tax laws to some extent. Somebody who is new to this and happens to do well financially w/a large sum of realized profits, or do badly and end up in the poor house, will be in for a not-so-nice surprise when they file their taxes.
   
   The examples and rationale on options strategies were clear to me, though some of them necessitated a 2nd read until I could fully understand. One subject which he left me hanging on is implied volatility vs. statistical volatility (i.e. I was looking for some formulas and concrete examples on how to determine if a given option premium is underpriced or overpriced). Instead the book refers the reader to a premium website for that content (I assume there is a fee/subscription involved...self-promotion).
   
   Practially, I have used some of the simpler options strategies, albeit in 1 or 2 options contracts at a time, and have found them to be useful. It is a completely different way of thinking, for example, to weed out the lousy companies and/or companies which are expected to face difficult circumstances in the future and to put a bearish trade in place. The drawback is, ATM and ITM options are not cheap realative to the stock price and each options contract is in a multiple of 100, so between any stock owned and the options contracts themselves, this is something needing a commitment of thousands of dollars (many thousands of dollars since you'd want to diversify your portfolio with a few holdings). You can quickly lose most/all the money you paid for the options contracts if you are not careful. I felt his historic examples of options plays in the stock market were optimistic ones in general...I wouldn't expect to have that much of a return on a regular basis. And personally I will never trade on margin or enter into trades with unlimited risk.
   
   The main valuable thing that I have gotten out of this book is that options can be used as a means to manage risk, which is extremely important in a volatile stock market like what we have now.
   
   Overall I learned quite a bit from this book, but it left me thirsting for how to value an option's premium as over/under valued and also very lacking on the tax implications.

No comments about Demystifying Exotic Products: Interest Rates, Equities and Foreign Exchange (The Wiley Finance Series).

4 comments about Steidlmayer on Markets: Trading with Market Profile, 2nd Edition.

1. Book purchased through the used link.
   Was in excellent shape ; Like New!!
   Gene Sheldon



2. The book is in two parts. In the first part, Steidlmayer gives some personal background and tells about how he developed the Market Profile(TM) method as well as gives some insights into why it works based on his experience. He describes points about using his methods before we really know much about what they even are. The concepts are not the usual technical analysis kinds of things. These are new (since about 1981) ways of looking at markets that are based the underlying process viewed with the help of some elementary statistical ideas. The primary concepts involve looking at the time the market spends at a price to determine value. Value is different from price. (Time seems to be a surrogate for volume but volume information was not available generally back when the methods were developed.)
   
   In the second part of the book, Steve Hawkins attempts to explain more systematically the concepts of market profile. Some of the terminology is reasonably well explained, but the synthesis of the concepts seems to be lacking. I was not satisfied with the explanations. I felt I had to take his clues and figure out the ideas myself. I frequently found myself rereading passages two or three times to make sure I caught the ideas which were opaquely explained. I hope this is not the best explanation of Market Profile (it is the first book I have read on the topic, but I like it very well). Finally, the last chapter is pure unadulterated and unapologetic promotion of their products. I do not know anything about these, but I think I prefer CQG's graphics to their CapFlow graphics.
   
   I would give this book five stars for originality, but only three, or maybe four stars, for clarity of explanation.



3. This is an excellent read and well worth the investment. It will give any trader a better understanding of why markets do what they do. This book does not give a specific trading strategy (which was one of the things I was looking for) but rather insight into a tool that will support your trading and help you make decisions. This is the type of tool that the pros use. My biggest disappointment is the acknowledgement that Market Profile doesn't work like it used to, now you need new sophisticated tools and techniques that leverage Market Profile data as a starting point, which is convenient because the authors happen to have the software to do just that, Capflow32.



4. This book can help to to identify the pattern in the market and trade the trend. However, the real time data and the program to give a graphical layout may not be easily obtained.

5 comments about New Insights on Covered Call Writing: The Powerful Technique That Enhances Return and Lowers Risk in Stock Investing.

1. This book was recommended on CNBC's Options Action show in response to a viewers e-mail. I own countless books on options trading but nothing I have comes close to the information found in this text. Natenberg completely covers all the mechanics of options, valuations, proper use of, and trading strategies to name just a few of the topics covered. He definitely goes far beyond what you will find in most books on the subject.



2. Very clearly written and explained.
   
   Though english is not my mother language, I managed to understand everything that was in the book.
   
   A must for every trader who already has basic understanding of options and covered calls and wishes to expand his knowledge and discover new trading tactics and methods.



3. After reading this book, I am left with the question of "why". Why should I write covered calls? By the author's own analysis, the covered call strategy proves hardly any better than a buy-hold strategy. The claim is that it is less risky than a strict buy-hold strategy. While that may be true, as others note, it seemingly would require an awful lot of effort to execute and result in a great deal of complexity, particularly in a taxable account. For me, it is more than I would want to take on given that expected return appears quite similar.
   
   Additionally, I think the risk mitigation of the CC strategy is out of proportion to the potential loss in upside potential. And practically speaking, the strategy seems to be one of being forced to sell "winners" while keeping losers. To me, that does not seem to be a winning strategy.
   
   Additionally, if one is trying to mitigate risk, why would one not simply hold fewer shares in a long position (investing the difference in a CD for instance, with a guaranteed return)? Sure, the "premium" might be less, but the downside risk would be much lower and the upside potential much higher. In proving out this concept to myself I built a simple spreadsheet model using the Pfizer example from p. 24 of the book (stock at $42.50 and $45 calls paying a $0.55 premium). Plug 1000 shares into the CC and BH parts of the model and the CC strategy looks pretty good based on gains and losses ranging from -100% to +~10%. But plug in 1000 CC and 750 shares BH and all of a sudden the CC strategy looks terrible on the downside and upside outside a very narrow range (+/- ~5% or so). So it seems that covered calls would make sense if the stock price is not very volatile and the "premium" payment is pretty high relative to the stock price. Otherwise, if the stock has much volatility or if the premium is low relative to the share price, buy and hold (with fewer shares and the difference invested in a principle protected asset) seems to make more sense.
   
   I'm sure there are folks who know a lot more about the CC strategy than I who will argue convincingly against my comments or demonstrate that my simple analysis is wrong - and they may very well be right. But this is a review about the book and in my opinion, the book did not illuminate on these points. Instead, it communicated a strategy of apparently very limited benefit, relatively high complexity, and one that runs counter to the idea of keeping winners and getting rid of losers in one's portfolio. I would like to be convinced otherwise, but a strategy like this (as I understand it) is really not what I'm looking for.



4. The author, who obviously has an enormous amount of experience in the field of put and call options, has put together a well organized book, with easily accessible information for the novice investor. Money well spent.



5. As a professional trader I am horrified when I hear "gurus" recommend cover call write as a way to protect one's portfolio. If I wrote a book on how you can make millions selling naked puts I'd be hung out to dry, however a covered call and naked put have IDENTICAL profit/loss graphs! Graph it out and you'll see. If you are willing to sell a naked put in a stock, then and only then, should you feel comfortable selling covered calls in one.