Trading Books

Well written simple book from an authority on the subject. THE book to get initiated into algorithmic trading and pre-and post-trade analytics. Well-priced for its features.

This book is of practically no use to individual investors and yet is too naive for an institutional investor. It's truly a painful read with the same concepts described over an over again. The 370 pages of text could have been reduced to 30 pages (give or take as I threw in the towel half way through) if all the repetitive explanations were taken out. You just want to scream, "I get it!"

This book has absolutely NOTHING to do with trading strategies as most people understand the term. This is purely a book about transaction costs in the world of equity. There's something about a 7-part cost component breakdown and then the book just discusses each part in some detail. There are tons of typos and absolutely nothing about how you can make money through trading. If anything, you might learn a thing or two about "implicit" trading costs but this knowledge will NOT help you become a trader.

I would think that a serious book about transaction-cost-reducing trading strategies would discuss (a) market microstructure, (b) dynamic optimization and (c) relevant econometrics. This one does neither. I am reminded of Paul Wilmott's comparing math to mountain-climbing gear: too little, and you won't make it to the first camp, too much, and you will collapse under the weight midway. This book is different: not having nearly enough equipment, it walks around the mountain. Don't look up.

Transaction cost modeling, along with good alpha models and risk models, is essential for fund performance. This book provides a structured framework to analyze and model transaction costs. The authors also discussed various trading strategies (blind bid and VWAP). It's well written but there are a lot of typos. More importantly, most techniques discussed in this book is more suitable for large-cap liquid stocks. We still need to work hard to find a empirically justified and theoretically sound modeling approach for small-cap and less liquid names.

Great book for those looking for real-world Elliott Wave education. It is a must have for those preparing for the CMT exams.

but what the author is repeating again and again and again in his book are those most important concepts that introduced by Elliot. It's perfect for beginners who just finish reading the Principle book and find some problem in this practical book, then go back to principle again.

i bought the principle and this book, and have been switching between these two for quite a while. Every time, I can find myself some thing to remember.

Its an OK book without much appeal for a serious student of Elliott Waves.
This is one of these books that feel like an author wanted to have a right to say "I wrote a book on the subject".
If you read Neely 15 times and actually GET it (that is usually how long it takes :) , you do not need this book. If not, this book won't make much difference.
Not to say anything negative about author's knowledge or experience, G-d forbid. He seem like a very knowledgable person. But knowing something and teaching it - are two different things.

I am a CMT (Chartered Market Technician) -- for the exam process of the CMT, which is a professional exam for technical analysis that demands a significant amount of knowledge on Elliott Wave analysis, I had to read many books on this subject and it was difficult to ascertain a useful book on this subject; this book undeniably gives you a credible approach to Elliott Wave analysis. Indeed, in terms giving the reader an approach to any market (e.g. bonds, equities, commodities or currencies) this book is written in the most useful manner that I have read on this subject. In particular, it gives the reader a practicle methodology in approaching the markets so as to enable you, the practitioner, to break the market down within this type of analysis on a step by step basis, if you will, that is logical. I recommend this book without reservation!

I recently completed the CMT (Chartered Market Technician) exam process- this is a professional exam for technical analysis, consists of three levels. The third level has a substantial section on Elliott Wave. I have read other books on Elliott, but this book was in my opinion the best written. Mr. Poser made a difficult subject much easier to digest. The real strength here is in discussing what NOT to do when using Elliott Wave- by keeping these tips in mind you will find you can readily apply the techniques to charts from various financial markets.

I highly recommend this book to anyone taking the CMT exam, especially those who don't use Elliott Wave in their trading and/or analysis.

Some of the nuggets are more like pebbles. The book seems more like an infomercial to sign up for his picks through his website/stock picking services. If you're looking for real tips to reading the market, I'd say check out some of J. Cramer's books. Cramer isn't perfect, but who is? At least Cramer tells it like he sees it. If Eliot Spitzer likes Cramer, then he can't be that bad!

The book contents is OK but it is not a thorough analysis of the option strategies and techniques.

After reading this book you might go check out their website and you'll see that they offer a few advisory services. Don't be fooled by the track records they email you, I lost thousands of dollars being SUCKERED into a non-refundable yearly membership fee to one of their services only to lose a lot more following their advisory emails. I quit following their stock pick recommendations about 3 months into the service with 9 more months left and watched their picks for almost a year. THEY DID SO HORRIBLE, I WOULD LITERALY DO BETTER PICKING STOCKS OUT OF A HAT, not to mention the horrible customer service. They did not respond my emails when I had questions or concerns about what is going on with these recommendations.

i bot the book and later subscribed to its Bigtrends newsltter service and i had the worst experience ever in my whole trading career. I wrote to them several times for problems i had in its service and i received no replies. They charged me upfront for thousands of dollars and no refund despite cancellations after two weeks.

This is one newsletter that i would not recommend...trust me ! there is no customer service at all !!

I haven't had any experience personally with the Bigtrends advisory services, but I can say that this book was worth my time to read. It's a bit heavy for me at first on all the systems used, but I found the final chapter on the psychology and money management alone to be well worth the cost of the book. That's where I always seem to lose my money in the market, by getting too high or too low (at the wrong times, of course!). It appears that his systems are designed to profit from these emotional fear and greed panics of the rest of the crowd.

Clearly this is not a book for beginners, but since I had already gotten my feet wet in trading over the last couple of years, I definitely have some ideas I look forward to applying from this book. The Acceleration Bands indicator (appears different than Bollinger bands) looks very promising to me, and I may also now try my hand at options (on a small scale at first)!

This book I read with pencil and notebook. It definitely gave me perspective on the "live" trading. I think this is extremely comprehensive book, going from trading, to shorting, even touching on tax stuff. There are so many worthless books, but this one is a keeper in my library.

It was OK as far as it goes, but I was disappointed in that it was very outdated. Trading has so far advanced in speed and execution times by now. Maybe some of the different execution methods used to matter a few years back, but I am not sure now. Of course it depends on how "large" a trader you are, and how often.
I was actually looking for more descriptions on how to discern what is happening on Level 2, and the author touched on it too briefly, in my opinion. The hand-eye coordination needed to see what he describes is extremely limited in application on fast moving high volume stocks. His static descriptions (definitions, market makers, ECNs, etc) were pretty good. So much of that is available through other means, nowadays. As I said, it was the "interpretation" that was lacking, I felt.
The graphic examples in the book were mediocre, and don't match the screens I am using presently.
I neither short, nor buy on margin, and now I know better why not.
The most insightful discussion was about the so-called "hidden" orders which I suspected were there, and he firmed that up for me. Basically, what you see on Level II can't really be trusted, and using it for more than anything but entertainment is risky.
Many of the things in the book are limited by what one's online broker will do for you. No way could I trade a dozen times a day on the same stock as described.

Hereýs a solid read for the Nasdaq Level II curious. As the former head of MB Trading, Labier has built a career around electronic daytrading. Though a self-proclaimed fan of ýget richý books, this book offers a no-frills example-packed ride for the beginner.

Starting with the basics, everything you need to know about interpreting Level II is provided. If you have no idea what Level II is, thatýs covered as well. Slugging it out in the trenches with scalping strategies is nothing that comes easy for the untrained eye. Labier brings some clarity to the madness with the one goal of making a profitable trader.

Having the intricacies of the Level II screen ingrained in the mindset is a must for a Level II trader. This book is appropriately called a ýtoolkitý for the trader who uses all the information to his or her advantage. ýBuy low and sell highý is a start, but to really be good at this game, you need everything you can get your hands on to gain an advantage.

I found the strategies uncovered by Labier as to how market makers use deception to mislead a key feature in this book. It's not hard to see how a rookie trader gets eaten up by the big guys when maneuvering through Level IIýs electronic battlefield. Labier will save you from a few wounds with an in-depth look into the tricks players use to outwit the competition.

Of other interest is a thorough description of how orders are processed. The Nasdaq is a complicated structure of computer networking that needs to be understood when it comes to choosing a platform from which you wish to trade. Another issue is the up-and-coming Level III that Labier gives the low down on.

I recommend this book for someone interested in getting into Level II. A trader needs the tools best-suited for their interest, and the information provided here will lay it all out for you. Put your strategy together and prepare to succeed.

There are already many good reviews written about this book.
So I just want to add,
you need this book if you want to become a day trader.
It tells you about the essentials about order entries, order routings and Nasdaq Level 2.
Also the new Nasdaq Super Montage which will be implemeneted in 2002 (thus making Level 2 and its entry strategies obsolete) is covered and explained in this book.
All the online brokers are advertising with their quick executions. But any market order at any online broker is quick.
You're not really that quick as long as you don't know how to tell an ECN or a Market Maker and as long as you don't know where to route your order via direct access trading (which isn't that expensive anymore).

What's great about this book is that it rolls up its sleeves and gets right into the nuts and bolts of trading and the mechanics of what really goes on behind the scenes. Unfortunately that's also its drawback - the mechanics have all changed since it was written (in 2000). Although the book covers SuperSOES, SuperMontage, decimalization and other recent changes, these changes had not been rolled out at the time of writing. Thus about every other page carries a disclaimer that the information will change in the near future. That's a shame, because the book is very well written and informative. Sure hope an update is on the drawing board!

You know those books that promise you untold wealth and secrets to make you rich? This isn't one of them, which makes it one of the best reads I've seen in a while. It gives a realistic depiction of making money in virtual economies (which is pretty amazing in and of itself). It even explores and gives some interesting perspectives on work vs. play and the emergence and confidence of virtual economies.

Play Money, [...] Amazon.com, is an enjoyable three hundred page softbound book from Indiana author Julian Dibbell. Prior to this particular effort, Dibbell also authored another non-fiction book entitled My Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a Virtual World. Dibbell is currently a contributing editor for Wired magazine, and he's also had several lengthy pieces published in Details, Harper's, Le Monde, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, Time, and the Village Voice.

Laughingly, Dibbell began selling virtual goods to members of online gaming communities - EverQuest, Final Fantasy, Star Wars Galaxies, Ultima Online, and World of Warcraft. - in hopes of developing a second career in early 2003. His goal was to get rich, document the process for a blog and book, and then exit. But while Dibbell started this venture optimistically - mingling with various weirdoes along the way - he lost his marriage due to this financial pursuit.

Aside from that downer, Dibbell's book soars when examining legal implications of virtual economies. Dibbell introduces Blacksnow Interactive - a company that mined wealth from the in-game economy of Dark Age of Camelot early on in Chapter Two. Mythic Entertainment owns intellectual property rights to Dark Age of Camelot and frowned upon in-game items being auctioned on eBay. Soon thereafter, President Mark Jacobson called Meg Whitman and shut those auctions down. Prompting lawsuits.

You sense Dibbell was skeptical when he began writing about MMO economies in 2002. Dibbell discovered John Dugger had bought a virtual house (for $750) previously owned by Troy Stolle inside Britannia, the mythical world of Ultima Online. Dibbell couldn't fathom why anyone would do this for a game, so he interviewed the 29-year-old Indianapolis construction worker that sold the house, and interviewed the 43-year-old Stillwater bread delivery man that bought the house.

Much of Play Money concentrates on the vagaries of play, work, and a condition called flow. Dibbell also introduces us to [...] - reseller of second-hand items that mines wealth from the in-game economy of Ultima Online in Chapter Six. Bob Kiblinger, sole proprietor of [...], first spotted Stolle's UO account for sale on eBay. He then bought the account for $500, split up the items, then sold Stolle's virtual digs to Dugger for $750.

Of the people profiled here, West Virginian Kiblinger comes off as the most likable. It's implied Kiblinger derives a six figure income off his online bartering, and that he has $15k tied up in "online inventory" at any given moment, but all of that could disappear at any given moment. For some reason though, Electronic Arts has chosen not to go after [...], unlike what happened between Mythic Entertainment and Blacksnow Interactive.

Next, Dibbell compares the imaginary gold of UO to e-gold's gram. Launched in 1996, e-gold is one of six metal-backed currencies circulating online. Dibbell further compares the gold of UO to the Ithaca Hour, a paper currency launched in Ithaca during 1991 and backed by local labor. Finally, Dibbell compares the gold of UO to crypto cash - secure untraceable digital money proposed by mathematician David Chaum that lives on in finance geek sub communities.

Eventually, Kiblinger informs Dibbell of a suspicious gold devaluation, and both realize another player called Ingotdude is involved in "gold farming." In short - Ingotdude was running a bot (composed of 22 PCs, each running a copy of the game, with characters in macro mode) inside Ultima Online which was generating real world payouts on the order of more than $300k. Dibbell is amused to later find that Blacksnow Interactive is behind Ingotdude's exploit.

You'll be surprised to learn that over the course of a year, Dibbell did manage to earn $47,000 by selling intangible virtual goods online through Play Money. His goal was to earn more than $55k (his best year as a writer) but he failed in that respect. Spending 50 hours a week online cost Dibbell his marriage and emotional collapse, but his career eventually recovered and he did manage to finish this exceptional book.

This is really just another blog-turned-book, with a little bit of filler. The title misrepresents the book - he didn't quit his day job and he didn't even hit his fairly modest goal of a month's earnings exceeding his best as a writer, which is far short of the "millions" the subtitle advertises. I'd give him a pass if the title was obviously sarcastic, but it seems like a cheap ploy to up sales figures. The real slap comes about halfway through the book when blog posts are reproduced wholesale, which can easily be found on the internet on Dibbell's website.

Dibbell is a good writer, but this book just doesn't come close to delivering. If you want a basic account of how you could have exploited Ultima Online five years ago, then by all means, this is the book for you. For everyone else, it's an extended blog post - a quick, basic read that doesn't have a whole lot of substance to it.

I read this book because I had begun to hear about the world it describes and wanted to learn more. I was REALLY happy with my purchase! Dibbell combines personal experience, interesting interviews, and a broad intellectual reach to make comprehensible the "brave" "new" world of massive multi-user gaming and the way it is making us rethink a variety of taken for granted forms of common sense.

The result is a lot of fun to read and highly educational at the same time.

What if you could spend your day playing video games and still make a fortune? Wll, now it's possible for the best of what is called the 'gold farmers' to play games and buy and sell fantasy goods in the virtual world and make between 6 and 7 figures a year! Yes, and this author Julian Dibbell did just that -- quit his day job as a writer and became a virtual mogul. Along the way in 12 chapters he looks at the virtual marketplace for virtual loot and the growing economy online in multiplayer online role playing gams MORPGS and Virtual worlds like SecondLife.com to buy and sell virtual real estate, avatars, islands, services and even real life objects in virtual stores. From Ultima Online to paying the IRS -- it's an amazing new world online and whether it's reel or real is still to be determined by the players in the newest game in town.

This important book offers unique price pattern recognition and set-ups not found in trading books by any other authors. These patterns and set-ups are the direct result of John Hill's over 50 years of trading experience.
This book is currently one of the most valuable addition in my trading book library.

No news here. these guys are purely technical. Hill, Lundy and Hill have written their book from years of experience with mechanical trading systems that have made them highly regarded experts. In black and white, what works and what doesn't, will be made clear to the reader from the knowledge of its authors.

It is estimated that 80% of the 30 billion dollars in the managed futures industry is traded by systematic methods. It is also estimated that 80% of the traders lose money. This book was written to allow traders to recognize and exploit an edge in the markets. Examples in both the futures and securities are made to prove the authors' point.

In the beginning, there is the almighty bar chart and a whole chapter devoted to its proper interpretation. According to these guys, all you need to know is in the charts and nowhere else. And with those bar charts a very simple and complete take on the Elliot Wave Theory will demystify even the most obtuse of the technically impaired. Walk-through examples of trading styles and applications of chart patterns are engaging and relevant to all kinds of markets.

The book contains an introduction to mechanical trading systems. Tips on what to look for and where not to look for a system will be very valuable to the inexperienced. Advice on hardware, software, data and testing are also covered, making it a worthy read for anyone interested in mechanical trading.

The authors bring precious bits of wisdom with their experience. Though systems are mechanical in design, the mental toughness required to achieve success is important, and much can be learned from the experienced. Make no mistake, this book is not about easy money, but about the reality of achieving success. As the authors put it:

"There is a giant chasm between knowledge and a successful trader. Few of us are able to make the leap, and those that do must be on the alert or they will fall back into the abyss."

This is my first Amazon review, I just couldn't believe any reputable publisher or reviewer would embrace such a horrible book!

I am a self-taught trader of 15 years, I love reading traing books, there are currently more than 2,000 traing books in my trading library. Of all the books I have read, this is one of the worst!

The trading strategies/methods presented in this book were poorly researched and the presentation is even worse. Take the indicators section for example, the authors wrote approximately half a page about Commodity Channel Index, barely even scratched surface of this indicator, then presented a table showing their back test result on over 21 individual markets, the results indicated that 20 markets were negative and 1 was about break even. If you are unfamiliar with Commodity Channel Index indicator, you would be missled to believe it is a poor indicator based on their back testing results, but in fact, their testing was based on their incorrect interpretation of how CCI can be used as trading strategy. My onw real trading result using CCI indicator for the past two years averaged over 78% win-loss ratio; I pick CCI as an example because CCI happened to be the best indicator I know. There were just too much poorly researched information presentled in this book, it made my stomach sick when I was reading them, I couldn't help but to write this review, take it whichever way you prefer, my advice to you: run, don't walk, away from this ultimate rip-off!

This book gets straight to the point and works almost as an encyclopedia of trading methods, theories and systems. Written by John Hill of Futures Truth fame, you would expect a lot of backtesting and system development info - which there is. As an experienced trader, I did pick up numerous new ideas that might be applicable to my own trading methods and that's really all you can really hope for in any trading book.

Some minor gripes are the somewhat lack of clarification and examples at times, relying only on a single chart for an example before moving on to the next idea. This can be quite difficult to follow for a new trader. Also, the Drummond Geometry chapter is just a verbatim article that can be found on the Tedtick webpage.

Otherwise, this is an excellent keeper book.

I would normally give this only 4 stars but people have been giving Mike Covells poor book on trend following 5 stars (I would give it 1) so Hill gets 5.

This is a good review of a range of approaches to the market. It also gives you (free) a number of workable systems that you would pay a lot for elsewhere. If you email them with questions they will also answer.

Their work on Commoditity Channel Index is limited but so what. I use CCI possibly in the same way that Howdy does but I dont find that missing one (of so many) ways to make or lose money in the markets is much of an issue. There are lots of great strategies in here ... look up Woodies Club on the net if you want a CCI based one as well.

Good book John.

This book is second only to The Alchemy of Finance. I highly recomend this book to any trader with a basic understanding of the markets.

This book is not about investing in hedge funds. It does, however, teaches you how to invest like a hedge fund manager. This means you invest globally; you invest in variety of asset classes (equities, metals, bonds, VC, real estate, etc); you shift your investments depending on the market climate; and so on. Essentially, this is the "edge" Mr. Boucher was talking about. You, as an investor, are not encumbered to invest in any particular asset class, sector, country, or investment style as would other money managers do. This book gives you investment tools / models that you can use right away. Plus it also teaches you how to understand them so you can build your own tools as well, or at least be able to recognize when a tool stops working.

Mr. Boucher, THANK YOU for generously sharing your research and the ideas / techniques of other great innovators. Mr. "X" would have been very proud of you. Oh yeah, I like the "Coconut Price Index (CPI)" analogy - I almost died of laughing.

first, in boucher's defense, other reviewers have misunderstood the term "hedge fund" to mean "market neutral." the term "hedge fund" simply means the ability to go short in a portfolio. in that regard, the title is not misleading at all. this book does outline several short strategies based on an understanding of the liquidity cycle.

however, boucher, for as much as he espouses the austrian economic method, has forgotten that one tenant of that methodology is a total diregard for econometric forecasting. the relationships he defines in this book would have had many people in trouble in the early 2000s because, as the austrians state, what happened (past economic relationships) in the past does not have to happen in the future (these once dependable relationships may break down - with your money on the line). current monetary policy has been ineffective, and therefore, so would any of boucher's systems that rely on monetary indicators. these indicators would have been screaming "buy" the equity markets, while the equity markets themselves would have been screaming "sell us...now!"

that being said, the primary reason not to buy this book is that some of the systems that boucher gives are insightful logically, but dubious in execution. while he may give you a system, he does not give you all you need. the reader assumes that he is giving valid systems, with all pertinent information. but, he leaves certain important points out. for example, on page 138, he says that you should buy stocks when up volume on the NYSE is greater than 77% of total volume and then he gives past buy and sell dates for the strategy. after much testing, i figured out that he is not using total volume on the NYSE, but rather total volume less unchanged volume. in other words, total volume is up volume, down volume and unchanged volume for all shares trading on the NYSE. boucher's "total volume" is just up volume plus down volume. this makes a huge difference.

also, any time he uses 30-year t-bond data, good luck to you trying to figure out what he's actually using. the fed has a constant maturity series that goes back to 1977. boucher can go back to 1943 for this data. hmmmmmm. i'm sure he's using something, but i have no idea what. so, what good is the system if you don't know what he's using as the "30 year treasury yield"? and, through no fault of boucher, the 30-year is not issued any more.

he also relies quite heavily on the dow jones 20 bond index. this series was discontinued. this is not boucher's fault, of course, but just another reason to steer clear of this book.

i will say that i learned quite a bit from this book, however. it was fun to read. my problem simply resides with the somewhat tricky way that some of his systems are given. hey, i don't expect the guy to give away a proprietary system, but if you give a system, step up to the plate and tell the reader you're going to leave out some things (he actually does do this when he relays someone else's strategy). i find his method a bit disingenuous.

...

I must agree with reviewer Omar Wanza. There is nothing in this book about statistical arbitrage, which is probably the most effective strategy used by hedge fund managers. Nor does it really talk much about many of the other methods used very effectively by hedge funds.

While the book covers a wide variety of topics pertinent to investing, its central thesis is that knowing and understanding the liquidity cycles of individual countries is of paramount importance in developing a portfolio strategy. When he talks about the liquidity cycle, the author is bascially talking about the business cycle. Due to the rise of the global economy, however, the likelihood that different countries will continue to have differing liquidity cycles is becoming more remote. Also, because it is extremely difficult, in practice, to predict any liquidity cycle, it would seem to me that the information in this book is only of limited value for any investment strategy.

The basic problem with this book is that it was written in 1999, which was not only before global investing became less profitable as a hedge fund strategy, but prior to the current bear market in equities. Based upon various demographic considerations, the author, Mark Boucher, predicted that a bear market in equities would be likely in the year 2005. Some of Boucher's assumptions regarding the relationship of liqudity cycles to various asset classes seem to me to be in need of adjustment based upon the actual economic events that have transpired in the last few years.

In one of the later chapters, he recommends a number of hedge funds, but the book would have been far more valuable if, instead of recommending various hedge funds, he had actually outlined the many different effective methods used by hedge fund managers to manage their own portfolios.

Although there are many potentially helpful things in this book, the title seems to me to be misleading, and I'm not sure that all of the theoretical considerations in it would necessarily pan out in the crucible of current market conditions, whereas certain hedge fund strategies, which are not even mentioned in the book, would probably be far more promising for today's environment.

Like many books written by practitioners, "The Hedge Fund Edge" provides some insight as to how one man makes his living, warts and all. By warts, I mean specious reasoning by the author. One of the warts in this book is a misunderstanding of basic macroeconomics. For example, Boucher presents capital input growth as productivity growth. The 'models' presented in the book are vapid space filler and could have been taken from an undergraduate's class presentation. All of the models could have been summarized neatly on one page rather than several dozen. Also, there are multiple typographical errors and citation errors throughout the book.

The author likely used the phrase 'hedge fund' to tap into a hot topic in order to sell more books. This book is not about hedge funds, it's about global macro trading. You can learn more about global macro trading in the preface to Soros' "Alchemy of Finance" than you'd get out of this entire book.

I thought Mr. Nelson did a wonderful job covering the myriad topics involving Importing / Exporting. He did a WONDERFUL job covering the topic of "How to Obtain Financing"! I never knew there were sooo many sources out there to help. He also did a GREAT job covering and diagramming banking processes like Bankers Acceptances.

I could not believe some of the bad reviews--- did those people read the same book??!! No one person is going to be a panacia for any topic--- but Mr. Nelson comes close! Hats off to him for all the effort, research, and expereice that went into this book..........

I have bought and read the book. And I can say that this book provides great insights to the reader. I recommend it to everybody who wants to gen involved in international business.

I ordered this book knowing absolutely nothing about import/export. This book is great for novices. It does a fine job explaining the many facets of import and export. However, before attempting to start your own import/export business, you will need to do a lot more research. This book attempts to cover a great deal of info in just a few pages. Nelson's book is a great place to start your quest for import/export knowledge.

It has alot of info and facts. But doesn't help you make any decisions. Read: "The Maui CEO" by John Tennant instead.

This is a very good starter book for anyone who is thinking about international trade.

Geez Louise. I, too, lived in Norway in the Stavanger area, and moved there from Texas to work in the oil patch. Unlike most American expats working in Norway, I was a single woman working in Norwegian companies. I learned Norwegian the hard way - on the job. The book makes it sound like she was isolated on an island with no contact with Americans. Bull! Karmøy has a bridge - a very large, well traveled bridge - to the mainland. You can hardly tell that it's an island. Americans and other expats are all over the place. Americans had their own school for heavens sake! All she had to do was hook up with the local church and the Petroleum Wives Club and she would have more than enough to do, and plenty of friends - none of which spoke Norwegian.

Just FYI, Norwegians do not make superficial friends. They make friends for life. Americans comparatively speaking have shallow relationships. Norwegians do not "do" that, and are not about to invest themselves in a friendship that surely will not last. American women also suffer from the fact that many, many other American women before them - mostly from Texas - gripe and moan that everything else was better in the U.S., which frankly isn't true. Perhaps that should've been explained to the author by anyone who had lived there more than 6 months.

True, there is an adjustment period because you don't have all of the convenience foods, everlasting cable TV (only two government-run channels when I was there), and eating out several times a week. You are also not allowed to have your usual Houston margaritas at lunch and drive - not without mandatory three weeks in jail if you get caught, and no exceptions just because you are an American. There are, however, many many women's organizations that help you acclimate and find your way around, and the oil companies also have employees strictly hired to provide this service. You do get at least a couple of months back in the States every year paid for by the oil company, so I don't see what she has to complain about. In fact, I'm sorry I left.

Nice idea to make money out of it though. Should've done that myself, LOL!

This was an extremely well written book. I felt as though I were on the island with the author. I would thoroughly recommend it--great reading.

"Island Soul" is about an America woman, Mrs. Patti Jones Morgan, dealing with her feeling of `isolation'. How she went from being a "helpless, isolated woman in a completely foreign land" to a place of semi-belonging. She dutifully followed her husband to Norway. He was a specialist on the Heidrun oil project. This book is the story of Mrs. Morgan's --"survival".

Up-front, I read this book while in Norway and found myself an outsider looking in on a struggle I couldn't comprehend. For the life of me, hard as I tried, I could not grasp the horrific dark foreboding that Mrs. Morgan said she had to faced in Norway. God knows I've tried to understand how she struggled to "survive" another year, but I was definitely an outsider looking in. Hell, I was more than an outsider, I was more like an alien visiting another planet.

I have traveled the world, and spent time in some mighty dark and depressing places. That being said I have great difficulty seeing Norway as a "completely foreign land". Communist Vietnam - sure. War torn Congo - yes. Oppressive Afghanistan - Right. But Norway, where English is their second language; where the infrastructures and national income are the best in the world; where the only hardship was the excessive taxes and that they only served real beer, not 'lite beer', and I gained a few pound while staying there. No, I just can't see Norway as a "completely foreign country", any more than I could identify with her helpless, "isolated" whine.

I'll admit, I must be an insensitive male (ask my girlfriend, she'll tell you), and by popular definition, I am definitely from Mars. This book is not a book I would recommend to men. I would recommend this book to any wife following her husband to a foreign country.

Mrs. Morgan wrote this book for women, feeling both lonely and disposed while living in another culture. On that level the book is commendable. Her writing style is like listening to chatter at a coffee clutch. Her description of Norway's beauty and people is spot on'.

One hundred and thirty five pages into the book Mrs. Morgan finishes her language class, and God knows, I was as happy about her matriculation as she was. "Attempting to learn Norwegian, talk with local people and develop friendships - had been my mission." Mrs. Morgan states. This is her story, this is her song. She did it and moved back to Texas, where she now lives.

Reading Island Soul put me into a quandary: did I want to race to the finish to see what happened to the author in her struggles as a foreigner trying to belong on Karmøy Island? Or did I want to slow down and linger, the better to savor every word? Patti Jones Morgan has written a charming and delightful account of being transplanted to a little-known island in Norway and has shared her soul with us in the pages. The book feels cozy and warm, like sharing good talks with a close friend, yet often her observations strike one as richly nuanced and resonant, revealing a poet's soul. She is also in possession of a rare tweaking sense of humor about people and society which will give the reader a good laugh without bile. This book should appeal strongly to a good cross-section of reader interests, since it concerns travel, cultures, human interest stories, language, Scandinavia, and creativity (the author is a writer and an artist), just to name a few. I recommend it unreservedly as a charming book to warm the soul and let's hope we hear more from this fine author!

I have a feeling that many people who read "Island Soul" would like to move to Karmoy, the peaceful little island off the coast of Norway which, with its people, is the star of this story.

Maybe that's a post-9/11 reaction. But in the midst of all that's going on around us, Karmoy seems like the Shangri-La of the 21st century.

Patti Jones Morgan has a nice eye in spotting the idiosyncracies, the lifestyles, the joys and the trials which make up the culture of the people of Karmoy, and she has a nice style in relating them. And she does it with a quiet but funny sense of humor, which befits both the island and her book.

And friend, if you've ever traveled overseas for any length of time, as I have, you'll appreciate her struggles as she works ever so hard to master the Norwegian language. Uff-da, as the Norwegians say.

The book is worth a read, maybe on a rainy day over a cup of coffee. After all, Patti writes accurately enough, "Sometimes a mere hot cup of coffee indoors out of the rain tastes like nectar." And the book will add flavor to the coffee.

One more thought: Patti wrote the book in 2000. She would have no way of knowing the eerie feeling she generates when she tells of a seemingly innocuous incident in the Oslo airport when she was patted down during a routine search for drugs. "My heart skipped a beat," she writes, "as I visualized the agent's reaction if she found my little plastic bag of white powder."

In view of the news today, again I say, "Uff-da."

But I also say hooray to Patti for coming up with an interesting and insightful book about the people of and the peaceful place called Karmoy.

As an investor I used to take investing with options as more of a speculative strategy, after going through this book, my view about investing with options is changed. Now I am convinced that in some situations, investing with options may yield better result then stocks.
One negative about the book; is repetition of the concepts, I would not complain much since that repetition clear my understanding of the new concepts.

The ratio of talk to concrete examples is 85% to 15%. I like straight to the point books, that can and should reinforce important points but keep the fluff to a minimum...

Great book if you are considering doing options in your IRA or Roth. Author is very straight forward in pointing out pit falls with a number of option stradegies that could get one into trouble and on the flip side those that work that will build your portfolio over time. I also liked that the author spent some time on tax implications of Options that other authors never speak about. Author could have spent some time on how one searches for stocks that fit the conservative option stradegey, i.e. how to use filters and screeners in various web sites.

Essentially a book that attempts to frame options trading in a world where your fundamental analysis of a company will drive strategy. The basic assumption of this book is that you can effectively analyze the fundamental strength of a stock and that you can execute several options strategies to increase the income generated from the stock. However, many of the strategies presented still require one to utilize technical analysis (e.g., choose strike prices based on support-levels), as well as provide little in the way of strategy modiifcation if the company's fundamentals change during the life of a call. This is a good book for developing some new investment strategies, however the reader will benefit if they have a good understanding of technical analysis as well.

Overall lots of information, but Thomsett does not fully explain the risks involved with selling covered calls. Essentially all of his model portfolio would have been in the money after selling the Leaps wtih in weeks. Rolling would not be practical as one could only roll up for the 27 month Leaps. Selling a Pepsico 27 mo. Leap at 50 with a current price (in Sept of '02) of 48.48 netted a $4.30 premium. The stock hit $50 within a month or so and was at about $63 by expiration. The only way out would be to roll up (at an ever increasing cost), hold for two years, or buy back the call. For the average investor (including myself) seems a bit complicated. If after selling a call, the price falls, the risk is even greater. One would need to close out the call by purchasing it back before selling the shares or risk having a naked call. The stradles described later in the book may reduce risk but for most trading accounts managing margin is not for the faint of heart. Definitely read this book with a large grain of salt and thourghly understand the risks associated with such options trading.