Trading Books

Have read first 10 chapters to repeat basics of bond math, so the book is good in its breadth, what it lacks is section with solutions to end chapter excersices! it would be perfect with those solutions!

Explains basics-intermediate knowledge of bond markets. Eveen goes into basic understainding of fixed income trading strategy, if you want to work on a desk, in research,or are taking a fin-markets course, you will find this useful through your entire career.

This is the benchmark book on bonds and fixed income, it is very comprehensive and very reader-friendly. What I like about it is it covers everything. If I did not have this one book I would need 5 or 6 others instead. It covers bonds,pricing, duration, risk management, swaps, futurers, options, yield curve modelling, fund management, charting, and a whole lot more.As one endorsment says on the back: an encylopedia on bonds written like a thriller! Very good buy.

Anyone with an interest in debt capital markets will still be referring to this book many years after purchasing it.

This is an enclopaedic reference work on bonds and money markets, but written like a thriller. Oustanding work, great value and highly recommended to banker or student.

The Foreign Exchange Market is where world currencies are bought and sold, serving as the largest financial trade market in the world with an estimated $1.9 trillion generated per day. While not everyone understands the ins and outs of currency trading and investing, this complete guide will explain to readers how this economic machine works and impacts their success rate with their personal investments.

Serious investors know they must diversify their portfolio, but rarely consider currency trading. This book navigates the Foreign Exchange Market and futures markets, providing basic information for novice traders to help them notch up their investments and enjoy not just a financial gain, but an information gain, as well.

The book starts out simply addressing currently trading, including the G8, Central Banks, the International Monetary Fund and the role of currency traders. With not enough information out there on this subject, novice traders will be encouraged to find detailed information about Central Banks, ranging from how to peg the U.S. dollar to the role of the Maastricht Treaty, the Bank of Japan and foreign currency like the Euro, the Yen, the British Pound and the Swiss Franc.

Novice traders will glean valuable information about the Foreign Exchange Market and trading. They'll learn about click and deal trading, retail platforms, paper trading, micro accounts and the common forms of trading: spot trading, forwards trading, options trading and futures trading.

It's important to know the lingo involved in trading and this book shares the terms and definitions of common speak used in this field, as well as the mechanics of the Foreign Exchange Market. The appendix of this book provides pertinent and valuable information for those readers wanting to learn even more about this subject, such as Web sites and charts.

The Complete Guide to Currency Trading & Investing discusses currency trading as well as introduces the reader to currency trading products and markets. This trading guide flows seamlessly from one topic to the next. The manual on trading starts out by describing the major currency markets and electronic trading strategies. Jamaine Burrell gives an excellent description of currency trading fees. The author explains that fundamental analysis and technical trading indicators influence the currency market. A prospective customer can check the firm's regulatory record with the National Futures Association for trades based in the United States or with foreign regulatory agencies if the trader is based outside the United States.

Each currency trade is based on a pair of currencies that will be traded. The first currency is the currency bought (the bid/buy price) and the second is the currency sold or the ask price). Currency trading is a thinly-regulated, twenty-four hour international securities market. Forex is a very large foreign exchange electronic market. The National Futures Administration overseas the future markets. The role as well as the history of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Fed is described. Foreign regulators are listed and described as well as the types of currency trades that are prevalent in overseas currency markets
The guide describes Forex trading platforms and foreign exchange market conditions. The guide explains how political and economic indicators shape currency markets. The types of trades are defined and described. There are spreads, forwards, options, foreign exchange and swaps. Jamaine Burrell warns the novice currency trader against trading forwards, futures since they are not as closely regulated. These types of currency trades are most frequently associated with fraud. The Complete Guide to Currency Trading & Investing: How to Earn High Rates of Return Safely and Take Control of Your Investments

Avoid the most common mistake of not being prepared and develop a currency trading strategy. Burrell's book educates the reader on the tools you need to become involved in currency trading and investing while avoiding making the mistakes of an unprepared and inexperienced trader. The book has a good introduction into the world of currency and uses terminology that will help you understand the market and make you sound like a pro who grasps trading techniques.

Burrell's book shows you how to notice entry and exit points to maximize gains and minimize losses when trading with the major currencies of the world. Knowing what influences the market and what banks have the most power is crucial information that will help you succeed in currency trading, as well as understanding the importance of spotting fraud contracts.

This book explains technical analysis, the three different foreign exchange systems, and trading mechanisms while informing the reader of the advantages and disadvantages. It will help you pinpoint your plan by understanding how to interpret currency charts, their patterns, and reports. You will understand the different types of accounts and how to register and activate them. This book can be helpful if you are pondering the idea of being a currency trader, or if you are already pursuing currency trades and are searching for another strategy.

For a novice, I found The Complete Guide to Currency Trading & Investing a good reference book. I would like to have seen a few illustrations to support some of the prose that was a little difficult to follow. For example, illustrations would have helped to better comprehend the descriptions on the symmetrical triangle pattern, flags and pennants pattern.

I opened this book with no idea what to expect as I was not familiar with the idea of currency trading. But in the first chapter I was provided with a detailed description of what currency trading is - trading of world currencies on the Foreign Exchange Market (Forex), the largest financial trade market in the world.

Following a brief introduction to various international currencies, I was educated as to the major financial entities that influence the market greatly, including some that were familiar to me such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In detail, the book educates readers on how the viability of the U.S. Dollar comes into play in more than 90% of all currency trading. With a true global look at the many ways currency can be traded and how one can put into place many trading avenues, its understandable how one can make a living as a currency trader. The book examines various types of trades on the Forex as well as brokers, dealers and accounts.

This would be a great reference tool for anyone with some sort of a financial background, but a little difficult to follow if you have never been exposed to the financial arena.

Good reading, helpful info on all aspects of trading. A must for the trading library.

This book is A1 you can benefit from it in many ways. This book will make you a better trader no matter what level of trading you are on.

It's that just I was waiting for. When I purchase this book I only knew the fame of the author. Now I do believe that this fame is totally justified. Psychological view of the trader is the most important point to win the market. And Dr. Elder really show it to you. Buy it, you will enjoy to much.

Excellent book for the amateur trader who wants to learn to trade like a professional. After teaching the different stragegies, Elder writes rules using the strategies learned. My trading will change after reading this incredible book. A must read!!!

This book explains that the weakest link in any trading system is the trader. It teaches that a trader should spend as much time studying his trading patterns and habits as he does the markets to make better decisions.

I read this book a few years ago and it has impacted my trading tremendously. A must read.

I've recently taken on a project to maintain and enhance an existing FoxPro application. After buying and reading many different books on FoxPro, I have to say this is the best and most comprehensive. Even though the current version of FoxPro is version 9 and this book applies to version 6, it is still relevant. If you are learning FoxPro and are somewhat skilled in other development tools this is the only book you will need. I wish I knew that up front. Unfortunately, the book is out of print and the price for a used copy is quite high. But it is worth it!

I like Whil Hentzen's writing style. His books are very readable compared to some technical authors. For me as someone new to FoxPro, this book just plain works and provided the information I needed. The title is accurate; this book covers the fundamentals and does it well.

Great book for beginners ! I will review it for the italian language peoples.

Ottimo libro per iniziare a conoscere VFP, L'autore accompagna il lettore in tutte le caratteristiche essenziali del linguaggio e dell'ambiente, fornendo sufficienti informazioni per prendere possesso di questo ambiente di sviluppo ricco di caratteristiche.

Although I have programmed in several other languages, I am a newbie to FoxPro. I just purchased 7.0, and need to get up to speed quickly, so I bought a few 6.0 based books. Hentzen has demonstrated a thorough grasph of every detail of the entire development environment that will probably impress a seasoned FoxPro developer, as well as the patience to explain it to newcomers like me. An excellent buy!

Though the software has a devoted following dating back over a decade to the days of dBase, FoxPro has never gotten the credit (or the market share) it deserves among the database/developer community.

Because of this virtually no books are available to someone just starting out. All FoxPro titles offered today only make sense to either the already-initiated, those coming from other development environments, or others who have similar experience. It seems that Microsoft is not interested in growing the market base (especially while simultaneously pushing competing technologies) and book publishers aren't interested in taking risks on releasing new (even introductory) titles. These and other factors continue to prevent FoxPro from flourishing. Those using it continue to do so due to its pedigree which includes (relative) ease of use and a stunningly fast database engine.

The book clearly has some pedagogic issues and I wouldn't exactly call it a "For Dummies" title. I had to reread many of the sections within chapters in order to connect the dots. The chapters at the beginning tend to put the cart before the horse (one of the first chapters lists pages and pages of command statements which to me might as well been talking about nuclear physics, should have been in the back as an appendix). I think the people creating and reviewing the book were clearly more technical than user/learner oriented.

However if you can read and think for yourself this book is about the best thing going. The pages are chock full of content. I recommend first looking over the chapters then rearranging the order you plan on reading them to match your learning style.

This is a excelent book, but do not has good practice examples I suggest read the "1001 things you wanted to know about Visual FoxPro" too, and "Effective Programming Techniques". Use the Hacker's Guide of Visual Foxpro for a complete Resource Kit. For Beginners I suggest QUE USING Visual FoxPro 6.0 or 7.0.

'Sceptic' (See March 2nd review below) is right - the author has conjured up a slew of similar 5 star reviews from family, friends and SAC office co-workers. His ego knows no bounds.

If you have his first two books you would be wasting your money to get this one. And it would be nice to expect better of an author on subjects of peak performance than to pad reviews. Sorry, Ari.

I did not read the book so I can't review it, but reviewing the reviews it does not smell good that 11 out of 14 reviews are between Aug. 1-4 by reviewers that for most of them this is their only review

I had expected something of the genre and quality of Market Wizards I & II, Trading for a living, Trade like a Hedge Fund (by James Altucher), Soros on Soros, Reminiscences of a stock operator, Running Money by Andy Kessler etc etc. I had been confoundedly disappointed. The book is flooded of interviews with hedge fund managers anonymous leading you to nowhere but setting goals, visualizing success, overcoming fears and all the stuff you find in any trading psychology book, only that the writing skill of the author is sub-standard. The author had repeated the term "Hedge Fund" highly frequently. However, the content is not related particularly to any hedge fund or hedge fund manager at all. Also, the author had elaborated the term "mastery" throughout the book. I assure you that you will have no idea of how to achieve it unless you employ the author as your personal trading counsellor.

In short, a waste of time, money and the paper to print the book.

The psychological dimension of investing is one of the most important yet least discussed. Dr. Ari Kiev has filled that gap! He does a great job and I now understand why he is the pre-eminent trading coach. Hedge Fund Masters both inspires you to achieve break-through performance and provides the specific tools to do so. I found it particularly valuable that he combines his conceptual framework with actual interviews of top traders that are applying it daily. I am a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at a large hedge fund and have referenced this book more than any other so far this year. I highly recommend this great read if you are serious about investment mastery.

After reading all the negative reviews (one from a reviewer that admits he didn't even read the book???) I am a little confused. I just finshed reading Hedge Fund Masters and I really liked it.

The author comments on interviews with 80 hedge fund managers. He talks about the problems holding them back and keeping them from getting bigger, or keeping them from staying profitable. I am amazed that all these managers running huge money have the same problems that I do. Maybe there is hope for me!

There are many ideas in this book that will help traders and managers. Everything from developing a vision, planning a strategy, to the section on fears, emotions, and overcoming obstacles. I think Kiev is more of a coach than a psychologist in this book. He does not say "Ok, I validate your fears, its ok to be a loser", he comes out and tells some of these managers they are being weak and should change their risk levels and profit targets if they want to run big money. It makes sense in the context of the conversations.

With the loss of 5 billion by Aramanth this week, maybe they should have read this book last week. Now just getting bigger is not going to help many managers. Kiev only pushes some of these managers to trade larger on the positions they have extreme confidence in. Confidence levels that they have a track record of in previous trades. After all, if your goal is to be one of the best, you cannot stay in your comfort zone.

I just read the book - again. This book is one of those old time classics that every time you read it, you find something new that resonates with you. I like how the author was able to weave poetry into her content, making the message even deeper.

I found the book to be a caring and insightful journey of self. I was engrossed from beginning to end and would recommend it to anyone wanting to jumpstart life and love.

I would also like to note the author is very commanding, elegant speaker and if you have a chance to see her...do so!

Removing Your Roadblocks is the kind of book that speaks directly to the reader with universal appeal.

It takes "self help" books to a higher level!
Thank you!

I am an executive who knows the value of reinventing oneself and one's company--and discovering this book is like finding a hidden treasure for both myself personally and for my employees!

Roadblocks is one of those rare books that allows you to shift your perspective and begin to see the possibilities ahead.

Motivational, Inspirational--Very Enjoyable!

What a fun and insightful book! I laughed and cried, and found myself seeing my life in a new and more positive light.

Treat yourself and someone you care about. Roadblocks is a magical journey!

AND...
Are you among the large percent of OVERWHELMED people wondering...
What the HECK are STOCKS?

Well, this is the book for you!

The authors George A. Fontanills and Tom Gentile did an excellent job in presenting the BASICS of the stock market. This is the real deal. They thoroughly cover all aspects of the stock market and the factors that affect it. We call this book Stock Market courses 101, 102 and 103 because after finishing this book, we feel you will possess enough knowledge to be able to trade the markets effectively, or at least understand the process. The great part is that there is a workbook for this material you can purchase to test your newly found wisdom and to reinforce the major concepts in the book.

Starting out totally clueless about the stock market, we feel we have been enlightened!

I picked up this book again after having read it about a year ago. I highly recommend that any beginning investor read this book--more than once and at different times as his/her own investing experience and confidence increases.

There are many things to recommend about the book, but I'll focus on the the most key. First, the book is written in a conversational style that engages the reader. Second, the book discusses all of the major areas in which all investors need to develop skill--it provides the bones of competent and comprehensive investor education. Third, the book layers those bones with enough meat to give the beginning investor a foundational understanding from how the market physically works through technical analysis. Fourth, all of the material is reinforced through the summary "Roadmap of Success". I highly recommend this book. I also recommend George Dagnino's Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets for investors who want to ensure that their investment decisions are in tune with the natural economic cycle.

Excellent course material. The course advises when to get into market, when to exit. I am very satisfied.

This book is a great insight to the stock market at an entry level. I have read it twice and completed the workbook and I am getting better at playing broker everyday. It also has excellant websights to check out.

Great idea for a book, but poor execution. The idea is to introduce novices to the stock market and teach them all the fundamentals. But this book is so poorly organized and biased that novices will be only confused, and more knowledgeable investors disappointed. The authors are the sponsors of a web service for options traders, and they never fail to recommend their service. The book is biased toward options trading, technical analysis, momentum trading, and chart analysis: not strategies for beginners.

The organization is extremely confusing, seemingly random, and with lots of repetition. For example, the chapter on option trading comes before the chapters on market analysis. At the end of each chapter there is a summary of the main points of the chapter; great idea, but the only problem is that the chapter summaries do not accurately reflect the chapter contents. For example, the chapter summary for "fundamental analysis" lists the PEG ratio as a key point of the chapter, but the chapter doesn't even mention the PEG ratio! PEG ratio isn't mentioned until a later chapter on "analyzing company reports." In that chapter(p. 237-8), the authors suggest that a P/E ratio of 143(!) is quite acceptable for a growth stock (EMC corp) and that a stock with such a P/E would make a good investment!! EMC Corp. fell from $101 in 2000 to $4 in 2002. It's trading now around $10, with a P/E of 21 (July 2006). On a similar note, Enron is described as a "green" or environmentally friendly stock.

Even worse, the book presents no coherent program for investing in stocks, just a bunch of random, often contradictory advice. It turns out that all the indicators for avoiding a stock are also good indicators for buying the stock if you are a "contrarian" investor. Hardly a coherent trading program for novices.

I was interested in this book because I wanted some ideas and inspiration about how to make my own ATC's. There are some instructions in the front of the book, it's full of good ideas, and it's interesting to look at.
I looked at this book in the bookstore, but passed up buying it because there were a lot of fabric and sewn ATC's and I'm personally not into that right now/yet. I prefer the painted/collaged/stamped type. It is a nice book, but not one that I'd likely look at enough to justify the price.

This book is awesome! I have gotten so many ideas from it and love all the different examples. My students love to look at is as well. They said it is very inspiring and helps them to think more creatively!

I am VERY pleased with the product, the service, the safe trading, and the time frame for delivery.
You are my first line of contact when looking for a good price and good product in books I wish to source.
Many Thanks

If you love artist trading cards, you'll want this collection. Instruction on various techiques is also given, although it's not always very clear.

I found myself dog-earing many pages, since I want to go back and try the technique shown.

There are a few too many fabric ATCs for my taste, but apart from that it's all good.

Great layout of the book, colours are great.I felt there were too many fabrics used, and may be more paper products would be nice.

The author's main thesis is that investing is not a random activity, but relies on `proper' strategies, coupled with analysis and judgment. But being able to distinguish a `random' activity from a `proper' one is problematic, and in fact quite difficult to do from an empirical standpoint. Nowhere in the book does the author point to real test case studies, where one group of individuals were to choose their investments `at random', and another group were to choose them according to a `proper' strategy. Such studies would be extremely difficult, especially considering the level of monitoring that one would have to do to ensure that the individuals in the different groups were conforming to the investment strategies that they were supposed to follow. In addition, such an experiment would require long periods of time to complete, since financial success can only really be quantified over the lifetime of the individual. But if one did conduct such studies, which revealed that random investment strategies couldn't compete with `proper' ones, would one actually want to reveal this information? If `proper' strategies, as the author defines them to be in this book, were to be exercised by all `astute' investors, would they work if all investors were `astute'? If not, it would seem adverse to the `proper' investment strategy to reveal the strategy itself. `Astute' investors would put themselves in a less favorable position by doing so.

This miserly attitude about the sharing of information is of course widely recognized in economics and financial theory, and finds mathematical expression in a branch of mathematics called the theory of games. It is usually taken as an axiom that investors, or agents, are `rational' in that they always act to further their interests. In their pursuit of their (rational) self-interests, individuals refrain from sharing information with others. If one departs from this assumption, and assumes that there is a deliberate sharing of information, with no accompanying judgment on the value of this information, then this is considered to be `irrational'. In this case there are certain individuals who are not interested in maximizing their financial position or `utility', despite the fact that other individuals are. Such individuals throw a wrench into the usual analysis, and are sometimes referred to in the game theory literature as `crazy perturbations.'

So does this book, and many others that give financial advice, represent a `crazy perturbation'? Why would a `rational' individual, i.e. one that is interested in maximizing profit on investments, seek to educate others on the strategies that he uses? Would such a dispersion of knowledge make the strategies work better? The literature on `crazy perturbations' lends some credence to this view, in that games where there are both rational and irrational players, the behavior of the irrational players motivates the rational players to act in some specific manner. The resulting behavior of all players can then be mutually beneficial.

But without any knowledge of the efficacy of the advice given in this book, i.e. without any studies done of real individuals who acted on the advice in their financial planning, one cannot judge the book as being a `crazy perturbation' or give it any other characterization. The author draws on various aspects of technical analysis and capital market theory. The discussion is lucid, but there are many places where the author makes conclusions that are unwarranted or that reflect an incorrect view of certain bodies of knowledge.

One of these concerns the practical role of financial or mathematical modeling. Attempts by investment counselors, advisors, commentators, or writers to be "practical" are usually translated to mean that highly advanced mathematical algorithms and financial modeling are to be eschewed. The author is really no different in this regard, even though he clearly believes that `proper' investing will rely on "appropriate" mathematical calculations. But the author, like many other investment counselors, warns against the reliance on mathematical models to supply the required judgment needed for to maximize the accumulation of wealth of financial position. But here he does not offer any evidence, historical or otherwise, that would illustrate the failure of modeling versus the exercise of `judgment.' What is the nature of this `judgment' that makes it so superior to mathematical modeling? Can the author offer test cases that point to the efficacy of `judgment'? His use of the results of the mathematical Kurt Godel are not applicable to mathematical modeling, since the latter is never done in the context of formal systems. Most of modern mathematics, including mathematical modeling, is done informally, with a large inclusion of ordinary language, and the Godel results are therefore not relevant. The author's commentary on mathematical modeling reflects accurately though the current tension between `intuitive' traders and `quantitative' traders, with each claiming insight that the other does not. Again, only extensive experimentation would settle the claims that are made, and this experimentation would involve monitoring the investors over their entire life span, or at least a substantial portion of it. Only after that could one really say whether an investment strategy is effective. Advice is simple to give, but obtaining valid evidence of the efficacy of this advice is very difficult.

Eric Prentis has written The Astute Investor for people who want to take responsibility for their own investment success. To be astute in any field requires hard work, study, and reflection. The book contains no magic bullets or supposedly sure -fire techniques. Rather, it presents a good introduction to the most important investing topics. Moreover, it also contains much advice on how to discipline one's mind and emotions in order to make wise financial decisions, as well as a thorough section on retirement planning.

Prentis offers three sorts of information in this book. The first sort, what I call "preparing the ground," explains the context in which stock and bond market movements occur. For instance, he explains how the federal government controls the monetary supply, how to understand economic indicators, how the business cycle works, and how interest rates affect the business cycle, among many other fundamental topics. Investing without understanding these topics cannot be more than a hit or miss enterprise. Reading through this material might be daunting for beginners, but the author explains it clearly and as painlessly as possible.

The second type of information has to do with how to buy stocks and bonds once you understand the context of the market-you could consider this the "techniques" portion of the book. Prentis is very much a fundamentalist-that is, he presents several methods of choosing companies to invest in based on studying their financial health, future possibilities, and style of management. However, he doesn't neglect technical analsis, and explains some elementary chart reading techniques, including a good basic discussion of candlesticks. He also discusses how to integrate chart reading with fundamental analysis.

Aside from fundamental and technical analysis, an important part of Prentis' strategy entails placing a large portion of one's portfolio in the S&P 500 Index, and he has some very persuasive arguments to support this. For bonds, he describes the types of bonds, their risks, and at what point in the business cycle bonds are most profitable to buy.

The third type of information involves trading psychology as well as the qualities of mind necessary to carry out investing in a rational manner. He emphasizes that good investors tend to be lifelong learners. He also devotes an entire chapter to the contrarian mindset-that is, thinking for oneself and avoiding the herd mentality. This is important material, as the best investors are independent-minded people who learn to manage their emotions and to work out their own way of understanding the markets.

The Astute Investor is an excellent guide for both beginning and more advanced investors. The information on economics and investing techniques is thorough and provides a solid foundation for further study. Learning to invest is a lifelong journey-there is always more to learn about the markets and about oneself. This is a great book to carry along on that journey.

I'm sorry that I bought this book. The grammar is terrible, and the author (or his editor) doesn't even know the difference between principal and principle. The author cannot settle on one word or phrase for a concept, but generally, and repeatedly uses three. Save your money.

Author Eric Prentis, Ph.D. has written a great, easy-to-read book for anyone interested in stock and/or bond investing. "The Astute Investor" is a book that novices can grow into as Prentis covers the basics of investing, all underlying theories on investing, and the interplay of markets. It will also serve as a great reference book for those who have investing experience but need theory validation or information from time to time (we all do!). Prentis also includes extensive information on how to use the Internet to find current, valuable investing data.

In the author's own words:

"The Astute Investor presents the collected wisdom from thirty-seven classic books on investing making it the essential investing classic and the one book to read to learn how to invest in the stock market."

Prentis has organized the "The Astute Investor" around the fundamental investing questions:

* Investing Principles and Strategies
o What investing principles and strategies are important?
* Theory and Practice
o What investing theory and practice are fundamental for investors?
* Equity and Bond Fundamentals
o Is the stock market currently overvalued or undervalued?
* Stock Market Technical Analysis
o Is the stock market in a long-term uptrend or long-term downtrend?
* Trading Psychology
o Why do human emotions get in the way of intelligent investing?
* Intrinsic, Market, and Bargain Values
o How are intrinsic, true, or fair value, market value capitalization, bargain value, and margin-of-safety multiples calculated and what do they mean?
* Interest Rate Principles
o What interest rates should be monitored that typically indicate a long-term stock market top?
* Interpreting the News
o Why do stock market prices often respond "illogically" to the news?
* Being Contrarian
o Being contrarian sounds simple, why is it so difficult to implement?
* The Ten Step Method for Investing Success
o What is a practical and simple method for success?
* Retirement Planning
o How can retirement income be safely doubled?
* Discounted Capital Market Theory
o What new investing theories are the bases for investing success?

The book exceeds expectations and will serve as the only book a purchaser needs to invest with knowledge and confidence. This book could easily become the "gold standard" for explaining stock market investing to all investors - new and old.

As an increasingly greater number of people become directly or indirectly involved in investments of various kinds, their need for expert guidance also increases exponentially. For present purposes, let's segment individual investors within three categories:

1. Some prepare themselves to make their own investment decisions. It is noteworthy that Amazon now offers 3,634 books in the general category of "investing."

2. Others retain the services of an intermediary (investment agent or firm).

3. And still others fully entrust their funds to institutional investors (e.g. TIAA/CREF).

Prentis seems to have written this book primarily for persons such as I who can be classified within one or both of the first two categories. Then president of Harvard, Derek Bok, once observed "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." Prentis presumably agrees with Bok. He carefully studied 37 primary sources, most (if not all) considered "classics" among the 3,634 investment books now in print and he then combined what he learned from them with what he had also learned during his own career. The result is this book. In it, he recommends seven basic "principles" which are best revealed within the narrative; more importantly, within the context (i.e. frame-of-reference) he carefully establishes for each. To me, Prentis' key points concerning "astute" investors are that

They are life-long learners. Only then can they make (or agree to) each investment decision based on the best information available.

They trust their decisions and have confidence in them unless and until there is overwhelming, verifiable evidence to the contrary.

They constantly analyze their investments, meticulously calculating the current status of each.

They have "the courage of their convictions" but also possess the courage to make (or specify) modification(s) of their investment(s) when there is overwhelming, verifiable evidence that such action is necessary. Astute investors appreciate the fact that there are situations when it takes greater courage to do nothing than it does to buy or sell.

They also understand that rigorously enlightened judgment always trumps so-called "scientific" research and "hard data" as well as any one mathematical formula or calculation.

Most individual investors will welcome Prentis' brief but sufficient coverage in Part 1 of investing principles and strategies; investment theory and practice; equity and bond fundamentals; stock market technical analysis; trading psychology; intrinsic, market, and bargain values; interest rate principles; interpreting the news; "Being Contrarian"; and "The Ten-Step Method For Investing Success." Then in Part 2, Prentis discusses retirement planning and then discounted capital market theory followed by a Conclusion, Glossary, Bibliography, and Index.

Basic stuff? Of course. Any head-snapping revelations? None which I (at least) encountered. However, I rate this book so highly because the material is intentionally fundamental but solid and well-organized. It soon becomes obvious that Prentis is attempting to share everything he knows (including what he has learned from others) so that both the information and counsel provided will help each of his readers to become an "astute" investor and thereby a successful one.

John L. Person is not only a brilliant trader, but more importantly a very wise and level-headed individual, at least from what I can gather after reading this book. He has a very clear understanding of what it takes to be a successful trader, as well as a very comprehensive understanding of the tools that are required to be at such a level of consistency.

If you can approach this book with a open mind about all the issues he delves into, you will be undoubtedly put in the right direction to success. This is definately one of the best books I have read on trading, from an overall perspective. I only wish someone had referred it to me before I read the 15+ other books prior to obtaining a copy of this one, because it definately would have sped up my learning process.

For whatever it is worth, I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is the field of trading and isn't already highly accomplished (in fact, this select group may even benefit from his carefully selected quotes at the start of each chapter - they are all amazing).

This book is very easy to read and follow a lot of concepts the author has mentioned. It provides a very good trading guidelines about how to make a trading decision based on the pivot point calculation and candlestick charting technique. If you know a little bit of candlestick charting, you would enjoy this book very much. In addition, it warns the traders to utilize other technical indicators as well. The more technical indicators support your conclusion, the better of placing a successful trade in the spot market. As you know every technique has some pitfalls. The author mentions that "Once in a while you will lose your shirt, but do not lose your pants because the money is in the wallet.". A very true statement. The trader always tries to survive for the next trading opportunity. I have started incorporating a lot of concepts in my trading decisions. I would encourage every trader to read this book. Learning is the ultimate way of surviving in this very volatile market.

What I really wanted to comment on was the website that is frequently mentioned in this book. Navellier does the same thing, for example. These websites are useful as resources, as confirmation of one's own independent analysis and research. A variety of analytical techniques, combined with a rating from one of these websites for some more confirmation, is not a bad way to trade. However, I find subscribing to a lot of these services as not only expensive ($50 a month subscriptions add up quick) but not so useful to RELY ON. (notice I said rely on, rather than not useful to use... they are very useful for providing extra information.)

By the time you move into a suggested position the "real" clients of these trading strategies have already taken their positions and possibly run up the price, making the ideal bottom point of a run difficult to get in on.

It is really common for trading manuals to seem like marketing ploys for their websites. If the site is a FREE SERVICE and provides research and technical details, then use it. Books that get one revved up by saying how much money their clients are making, "Go to my website to see how we do it..." (fine print- thanks for buying my book, but now you have to subscribe to my website) Be wary. Very wary. Use this information as a RESOURCE, not a crutch. As I mentioned earlier, as confirmation of one's own analysis these sites can be excellent informational sources, and can provide easily accessible, time-saving analysis. The more information from a variety of sources you employ, the better off you are.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and appreciated John's candor and willingness to share methods to achieve profitablity in trading.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn a methodology
of trading using candlestick formations and pivot points.

I agree with a couple of posts that say this is a very basic book, and that most of the information could be found for free on the internet. I would go as far as to say that some information would be better if read on the internet.

The examples about pivots (the key part of the book), one chart after another were not easy to follow. The section on TA was woefully lacking. The author has a section on Gann theory, and more or less advises to go buy the book that Gann wrote. As it turns out, there is some pretty rich information about Gann on the web.

My biggest pet peeve about this book were the continual subliminal references (advertisements) to the author's subscription based website. Besides that, I did not like the blatent plugging of the people who praised his book on the back cover. It's okay for an author to put their website on the back of the book. If the information stands on it's own then I can go to the website to learn more. What's not cool is to give vauge trading strategies, then give some glowing account of how your subscription newsletter called the shots.

I did give the book two stars, which means I wasn't totally dissapointed. He does stress a couple of good points regarding pivots, but it's all pretty basic beginner stuff.