Trading Books

Believe the title! If you read BusinessWeek and have Internet access, this book is a waste of your time. While it defines the most basic terms of the Internet and investing (which you already know if you read the business section of your newspaper or a business magazine), it does not explain the more intricate methods of investing. The book is really a compendium of web sites. For example, instead of explaining HOW TO DO fundamental analysis, it tells you to go read a web site. Save your money. Search the web at www.dogpile.com with the term "investing" and get the same results free, in an instant.

OK, the book says it is for idiot's but come on, don't mean that literally! If you are a wee bit technical and understand the online world this book has a few chapters you can easily skip. Also, the author does not care to explain stuff like index funds, the various industry indexes, etc. The book has a load of good web links in it though. I wish the author had listed all the links at the end of the book in an appendix.

You can live without this book. The same information is available for free online.

I am a self-confessed rank beginner in the world of investing in general and online investing in particular.

This book starts you off with the REAL basics - ie assuming no knowledge of connecting to the internet (admittedly tedious for most these days...) and then guides you by the hand through various websites where enourmous amounts of information are found...

I don't imagine it is the almanac of investing for a moment...but it doesn't promise to be either. More of a roadmap - showing what's out and about to use as you get more proficient at investing.

I would like to see what an actual trader thinks of it...but seems to be a refreshingly unpretentious place to start for the utterly confused...if not completely idiotic.

-h@wkspy

This book was a lifesaver when I decided to jump into the waters of investing. With chapters to devoted to different aspects of investing, it was very easy to find exactly what I was looking for. And the book didn't stop with definitions like so many of the books I picked up -- it told me where to go on the Web to apply what I'd learned. This book is great for anyone that knows they should be investing, but who needs that extra "push" to get moving!

I didnt know anything about investing, not even what tickers are...but now after reading this book....i learned SOOOOOO MUCH!!!

I'm a newbie to trading and this is the perfect book for me. It's like spending a few hours/days talking to a friend and getting sincere, thorough advice. I have always thought it would take many months (and years?) of preparation before one should jump into trading, this book confirms that and laid out all the tools and skills you should be equipped with before attempting real day trading. It provides two techniques to get started with, perfect for someone starting out. I've found few resources where someone takes the time and patience to explain a technique from beginning to end, correlating the developing chart with all the other indicators that you should be watching for before a buy/sell is made. If you are an advance (successful?) trader, obviously this is not the book for you since you've already mastered your skills, but if you are starting out and want one single resource that will point you in the right direction, this is a must read.

Methods are outdated and rely more or less on the momentum stock craze of the late 90's.(example: csco was 70 a share when they wrote the book and is used in most or their examples.) I highly doubt they are still trading. Daytrading is a tough business so look to get reliable infomation. Dont start with this book. Sorry to be so critical but its just bad information to sell to the public.

This is a good book, if it were one of the first on the subject. The title is the most inventive aspect of the text. If your a west coast person it certainly applies to you. It uses other peoples methods but they are solid. The authors give credit to their sources which is a welcome change. However those methods have not made millionares. If you have not read a book on day trading this would be a good place to start.

With all the hype about day trading and with the Nasdaq market subject to such wild swings I was looking to take some of my money and attempt to leverage my knowledge base. I have been an enterprise networking products sales person and I consider myself reasonably savvy about emerging trends in technology. Reading this book was my "look before you leap," and provided me with some sound investing guidelines, philosophies, nuggets of information and the kind of reality check that will make this endeavor less akin to buying a lottery ticket. I recommend it for anyone who's interested in managing their own investments.

Nothing you could not find for free in internet.
I'm glad if the authors are making any profit from this book, because I doubt they are earning much by trading if all they know is put in here...

The book is well written and easy to read. I have learned a great deal from it. So far, it is the best book I've read about trading system design and development. I recommend it to anybody who is serious about trading systems.

Very well written (simple English) that help to organize thoughts of trading. and it help to improve your level of thinking about trading in general. little book, but very useful. It is very good start to learn how to make a mechanical trading system based on the ideas that you think "should work in the market" then you can back test and forward test those ideas. in this way you will see the weakness and the strength of your way of approaching the market. that will lead to one or more step ahead on you journey to achieve your goals in trading. it is simple and makes you do this tough task with the least possible amount of time.

I have never written a comment about a book, but hopefully other people will at least be warned. This is the one of the worst books I've ever read. I have read several Wiley books; most of them are poorly written and lacking substance. This one is unbelievably bad.
This book deserves a negative five stars. (Who wrote those other reviews?)
If you have never read a book on trading systems, then this book is may tell you something. Otherwise, save your money. There's nothing here.

I agree in part with the reviewer that has given 1 star to this book. I have not finished this book yet, and in fact I bought this book because of the numerous 5 stars reviews.

Many definitions appear only after they are mentioned in the text, so that perhaps you need to read and reread for this book to be useful.

Let me state my biases up front. I've always been rather suspicious of so-called "mechanical" trading strategies, although I'm a strong supporter of a technical approach to the market.

Technical analysis, for me, has always been about individual market participants, as a group, are likely to respond to price action to further their interest for profits, or to conserve capital. Market players are not mindless robots who are as predictable as coin flips, but people pursuing goals, and who learn from history. How the market reacts to news and fundamental info is extremely important from this point of view.

While there are things that can be learned from looking at price action, any algorithm that can extract profits from markets is likely to be short lived. With the advent of cheap, powerful computers, it is all too easy to "test" a system on historical data, only to have it fail in real time. Proper system testing is difficult to do.

Even if testing is done properly, it is likely to have been found by a significant number of smart, well-capitalized people long before you or I ever came onto the scene, making historical test results misleading, possibly unprofitable.

The fact is, markets change, and the context of price action in the past may be totally different to the current market environment. How do market systems account for market change, while still producing valid results?

This book allayed some of my fears. Since system testing IS hard to do, it is unlikely that a significant percentage of people will discover the signals of a profitable system, making the method unprofitable.

Even a skeptic such as myself will admit that proper historical testing can, at the very least, encourage thought about future market conditions, and prepare for various scenarios.

Most important (to me), system testing provides a reasonable method for adapting to changing markets. As new data comes in, the model can, and should, change.

This book teaches you how to do proper system testing, so you can have confidence in your results.

I deduct 1 star from the emphasis on the use of a frequentist statistical methodology. It is becoming clear in economics that talk of "long run frequencies" makes little sense for historical events that occur in a particular place, or a particular time, and are not likely to be repeated.

The use of Bayesian methods based on a subjective interpretation of probability (ie. degrees of belief), are growing in usage, and can provide more appropriate answers to certain questions that the "frequentist" methods do not.

For experienced technicians, I can recommend it.

I got this book at a boookstore in Niagara Falls,NY and when I first read it I noticed all the mistakes and my copy has pencil-mark corections all over it because I can't stand things like that.

A. Ryan Nerz does a good job when it comes to the stats, but it's lacking something when it comes to descriptions. Most of them simply say what the Digimon looks like (as if the pictures didn't show us)and their attacks. That's usually about it, unless they add how scary or strong the Digimon is and that we should watch out for them. Sometimes they throw in an extra bit, like what part they played in the show, which is a plus. All in all, it's a nice book despite the not up to par descriptions. Extras include and FAQ, show information, and Digidestined information.

The official review of this book was misleading. As a result of the review, I expected to find each name written in both English and Japanese.

It was a pretty cool book, but I warn you-there are bloopers!Especially if you watch the show, you'll notice everything wrong in this book.There is A-LOT of things they messed up on.Well any how, this book gives info on Digimon you never knew. A great book for the Digimon fans.

What a great book. I take it with me everywhere I go. It's oosome. I mean, yeah, it has some mistakes, but it still has more Digimon characters and concepts than any other guide or book. A. Ryan Nerz rocks, and so does this guide!

Werner

Every spreader should probably have this book on his shelf. it reviews over 200 seasonal spreads in the commodities and financial futures.

While they have data only up to 2004 and commodity word has changed rather dramatically so since then, it is still great book to check your knowledge of seasonal trends in various markets.

As a subscriber for years of Moore research, I find it nice to have the spreads in one place....a book. Moore research quality. The only drawback is that 2006 data is not included, so this is a "perishable" item. Fair enough, it's still worth buying every couple of years or so.

Good book for starting into spreads. They tend to just give a small sample of seasonal spreads in the book and by this year(2007) the tables will be outdated. More of a basic intro book that tries to sell their(MRCI) data service where they show many more seasonal spread trades to look at.

It is a great idea to publish a book like this. When I received this book I was happy, but a few minutes later I was already disappointed. I own a few actual statistics from the same company (Moore Research Center) and couldn`t believe, that they have hidden the most important statistics. For example feeder cattle: in their statistic they published 2 trades with a winning chance of 100 %. In this book they published zero! For example lean hog: in their statistic: 9 trade-opportunities with a winning chance of 100 %. In this book: only 2! They filled this book with 80 % chances. I don`t know, why they have hidden the higher chances?! Somehow I have the impression, this company don't want to tell us the trades with the highest probability. What a pity!

This book is as good or better than any book you will purchase on options. Options can get as technical as you want it to be, or as simple. This book combine simplicity and technical jargon in a language you can understand and apply. Between the charts and the Appendix of every options play you can think of, this is a must in your library.

This book is almost as good as Natenberg, and much better than McMillan, Schaffers, and Fontanills. Although it is about options on futures, most of the strategies discussed are applicable to stock options as well.

A good choice for stock option investors despite it mentioning commmodities. This book will overwhelm a beginner, who should start with Charles Caes' great "Tools of the Bear" (which works for bull and bear markets). Far superior to George Fontanills. Caplan is creative, he writes well and gives the studious reader many important tips. I made two pages of notes from this book. With even a little experience, an options investor will truly ascend to a higher level of knowledge and trading mastery with this book.

I don't receive his newsletter, I haven't been to any of his seminars and I don't trade with his brokerage. That being said, this book is outstanding in teaching non-complicated option strategies to traders who want to receive an "Edge" in trading. I have been trading futures for 7 years now, and have recently implemented options into my toolbag of strategies. So far, I've made at least 20 times what I paid for this book. You do though, must understand the futures market first. Trying to read this book, before understanding futures in general, will leave you in a daze. In contrast, there are many books who over-do option strategies by trying to explain how they came up with different strategies by using complex mathematical solutions and explaining how these solutions can make you money. If you think your confused reading this book, wait till you read one of those kinds of books! Good Luck everyone

This book is very useful for those who are interested in trading futures and futures options. It really gives you the best strategies to use to capitalize in any market environment. If you do not have a very clear understanding of how to trade which options and at what time, this book will definately help.

Well written with a lot of new ideas and useful info.

However, with the money I spent, I wish that I got more quantity than a mear newsletter. Having known then what I know now, would I still spend the cash on it? Definitely!

pretty outdated... the ratio of the added value of the book to the time spent to read it is far below than i expected..

Anytime anyone is willing to credibly tell you what he does to make money over the long run with well defined low-risk strategies you should listen because casinos, banks, and insurance companies certainly do. The author implies a positive expectation to option trading and those who make a living doing it would agree. The book has a conversational read and has something for the novice to the successful option trader. Highlights are: Delta neutral trading, gamma scalping, the use of spreads to enter, lay off risk and adjust, and emphasizes long volatility trading. The title of the book has probably disuaded more traders from buying the book because it is equally benefical to those who are not option market makers.

Baird's "Option Market Making" is the *other* essential options book that any serious practitioner should read. Whether you are buy-side or sell-side, or trading your own book, this work is fundamental and extends where Hull leaves off. In short, pricing models do not a bid-offer spread make, and Baird illuminates this dark world with the well-crafted sunshine of expertise, mathematical rigor, and experience. In addition, Baird's prose is clean, clear, readable and lean, without glossing over tough spots or ignoring extremes.

Baird's 1993 "Option Market Making" while a bit dated, is becoming recognized as an enduring classic. Not because it is up-to-date with the latest smile dynamics from the research of Avellenada or Rebenato, but because it does what it does very well. Like a classic cookbook such as The Joy of Cooking, this work tells you how to make perfect pot roast, but not the latest slow braised chipolte-rubbed hand-aged hanger steak.

Baird's "Option Market Making", indeed, is an economic anomaly, for it refutes an old chestnut: "those who can't do, teach." In the financial publishing world a book that makes or saves you money should not exist, since the expected return of taking the time and work for authorship is much lower than another economic activity (probably including flipping hamburgers). What motivated Baird? Who knows? But this is pure saved gold here.

Option neophytes should not be misled: this is not a book of "secrets of" that will lead you to quick easy riches in the sometimes wild swings of delta and gamma in options markets. Rather, this is a sober, careful, useful book on the actual difficulty of making a market under uncertainty and rapidly changing information sets. This is a work for practitioners and professionals who want to survive and thrive, not "*just*drive!*" Cowboys and "feelings" punters look elsewhere to scratch your itch.

Standout chapters include "Options Risk" which treats delta, gamma, lambda, theta, kappa/vega, rho, skew, and time spread risks in a clear, although direct and quick, manner. "Position Risk Profiles" covers the meat and potatoes of an options market maker: what is in your book at any one time. This chapter mercifully is not in a "panic mode" tone, but rather carefully and soberly guides you through essentials of risk determination for your entire book.

The chapter "On Strategy" will be helpful for punters and those who have committed some capital to being a market maker, covering delta neutrality (yawn!), but more importantly time spreading, expiration, Fences, and high volatility periods (yeah!). It also treats broker order flow and open interest analysis in a sober way ("saucer bottom" and "reverse hook" technical analysis copter beanies need not apply).

The chapter "Market Making Tactics" is perhaps the most aggressive, but it also patiently spells out what option market makers do on a daily basis. The entry on "common mistakes" alone is worth the price of this volume. Baird closes with a lighter "Observations from the Floor," which it behooves all to read nd revist upon occasion. Having worked in a pit myself, all I can say is "amen Brother, and again I say amen."

Just out of curiosity it may be worth skimming through its pages, but the way Mr Baird used to trade in the past (with sheets to get ur position from) is far away from how this is done today. Hence, do not surprise yourself if discussions such as smile delta and smile gamma do not come into play.

I bought the workbook in conjunction with The Options Course and it helped my trading so much! The workbook lets you practice the information you're learning in the course book with quizzes and summaries. I definately recommend that you buy the workbook as well as The Options Course book.

If you're looking to read and assimilate information about options and then test yourself on the information just acquired - this is the exact wrong book!

This book contains only questions and multiple choice answers. The answers are in the back. The learning method is to take the tests blindly and then see how many you guessed correctly. It is learning in reverse.

I was hoping for an explanation of a term or concept and then a follow up test. There are only tests. As such it may live up to the letter of its title but it fails miserably as a teaching tool. For what it purports to be and for what it delivers it seems ridiculously overpriced.

A very unsatisfied customer.

I used this book in tandem with the OCB to pull the points that I wanted to understand. The author has used the additional book to ensure that each chapter of the OCB is pointed and hits the mark.

This book is a must to purchase at the same time as his first book Options Course Book. Great idea to reinforce for the reader the salient points that you want to get over

Thank you Mr. Fontanills

Dana

This book contains 90 pages of (mostly) multiple choice questions with the answers at the back of the book. It is the type of material that routinely follows a chapter in any textbook. Though the questions are to the point, my objection is that it is published as a separate book at the price of many complete works. Properly published, these questions would not add 90 pages to the original text which was itself under 300 pages. The questions did not help me understand the material, only tested my recollection. I feel that publishing this material as a workbook is only a marketing ploy and cheapens the product.

I have bought this book and the Options Course Book. This book is designed to directly relate to the hardback book (Options Course Book) and has no application to be read on its own.

The author has used the workbook to test your knowledge of the hard back book. The work book pulls the salient points out so that you ensure you got what you need.

The tests are accompanied by the answers at the back of the book. I thought it a great idea to combine the two books as I never know if I got it all when I read a book.

This book has no practical use on its own and should have been bought with the Course Book.

Great idea. However, if you are looking for the detail you should buy the Options Course Book.

Emshwiller is the man! I have always enjoyed talking to him and love his inside perspective on this.

Myself, I got little out of this book.

John Emshwiller is an investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal who specializes in writing about fraud. In this book, he focuses on some of the most famous characters who are known on the Internet bulletin boards of the Web site, Silicon Investor. These include Tokyo Joe (hyper), Big Dog (hyper), Anthony@Pacific (short), GA Bard (hyper), Janice Shell (amateur investigator), Jeffrey S. Mitchell (amateur investigator and no relation to me that I know of), SI Jill (bulletin board cop), and Pluvia (short). If you have always wanted to know more about these people because you read their postings, this book will tell you details that will intrigue you. As you can imagine, few people are what they seem on the Internet. Almost everyone in this account has something to hide, but as their fame grows access to the dirty details does too. As the book was being finished, the SEC filed suit against Tokyo Joe in what will probably be just the beginning of many such suits to stop scalping and failing to disclose payments from companies to hype stocks.

These individuals started as people who wanted to have some fun, run a few stocks to make some money, and gain a little fame. The rapid growth of Internet investing has turned them into influential commentators who can make enormous sums offering their services and investing. This is their story, as shared with and uncovered by Mr. Emshwiller.

If you already follow some of these people, you already know what a Scam Dog and a Mo-Mo Mama are. Since this is a book about Internet bulletin boards, I will assume that you may not know. The definition of a Scam Dog in the book is "a stock that combines the qualities of a 'scam' and a 'dog,' being at worst a fraud and at best overvalued and headed for a fall." You will meet a lot of them in this book. A Mo-Mo Mama is "a stock that is quickly rising due to excitement among traders, sometimes triggered by news, Internet chatter, disinformation, and sometimes by the need to be excited about something."

There is always a four-way battle going on with these investor bulletin boards. The hypers are trying to get people to buy (usually after buying themselves), the shorts are trying to get people to sell (usually after selling themselves), the amateur investigators are trying to debunk one side or the other, and the company is trying to either hype itself or correct misimpressions. One of the strengths of this book is that it contains a lot of e-mails that were posted. These are crude (in many senses of that word) signs of the battle. These Internet celebrities get death threats, hate mail, and insults by the ton. Why do they start doing it? "For one thing, the Internet offers anybody who wants it -- be he burrito maker, bard, or boob -- a shot at something at least as addictive as making money: the chance to be somebody in the eyes of somebody else." That seems to be the bottom line of this ego-driven book. People apparently cheat in describing themselves, their investment results, and how they behave relative to investors. The combined temptations of money and fame easily overcome them. In many cases, these are people who would not stand up to too much scrutiny in public, as this book reveals.

"Be very careful!" over the Internet is the simple lesson of this book. The person you are dealing with is likely to be out to pick your pocket.

If you enjoy long strings of insults, you'll find lots of funny reading here. If you don't, then skip those sections and go on with the story.

Then after you read this entertaining guide to what not to do, ask yourself where else you need to be careful on the Internet.

Good luck!

John Emshwiller's book Scam Dogs and Mo Mo Mamas is fine effort to introduce the reader to the little known world of internet pumping and dumping, and insider stock manipulation using cyber space as a tool to get it done. But with this book that's as far as it goes. Mr. Emshwiller missed a key part of the story when it comes to the myth that has been built around alleged cyber snoop, and consumer advocate Janice Shell. Mr. Emshwiller never does seem to get the story right about the "Two Ricks," and who Janice Shell and Rick Marchese really are. He seems to take Ms. Shell's word for who she really is, and does little or no real research into the allegations Ms. Shell is really Janice Evans living in Milan, Italy under the alias of Janice Shell without the knowledge of the Italian Government. There is much more to be found on the subject of Janice Shell and her friends, and the reader is encouraged to use this book as only starting point.

This is eye-popping stuff. If you read this alongside "The Trillionaire Next Door" you're guaranteed some big bellylaughs - the daytrading experience has never been wilder.

The book is a VERY basic introduction to developing a trading system and is literally geared for the newbie who knows nothing. With that said, he introduces the fundamental aspects of developing a trading system (such as identifying specific levels of risk, stops, etc...). and the different types of systems (trend following, support resistance, breakout...). He even provides examples of back tested systems that work over the given time frame he has chosen. The problems with the book are that since it is for the beginner it should probably contain the code for easylanguage or metastock so one can become use to programming in an indicator, signal, then building a strategy. He does not even go over the math of most of the indicators. I guess he thinks if it works then the investor should not know anything else. So basically what you have is a book that describes indicators and systems that are already present on most testing software. For example, there is already a parabolic trading system on Tradestation. So why do you need the book? Because you are a beginner, and that is why I gave it 3 stars, for everyone else, I would give it one.

I read this book before I started trading futures. I played around with a few of the concepts and since then (end 1999) have written my own trading system based on some of the theories. I have gone through a steep learning curve but have now started to make money consistently in the futures market.

I would totally recommend the book for down to earth explanations on how to develop a profitable strategy.

I refute any negative claims about the content of this book. The strategies outlined in the book are viable and very profitable approaches. I know, I have adapted a couple of them to my own use. I am in the minority as a profitable futures day trader because as every trader knows, most traders lose. I also lost money in my first year trading futures. There is a steep learning curve in trading. Here is my message to any newcomers to futures trading. NEVER GIVE UP! This book is a wonderful place to begin your own futures research. For day trading, I have found the very unique support and resistance methods found in the book effective in the S+P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Euro. Get some charts. Apply the methods, oscillators and indicators for yourself. You will see how effective they are. Then begin your own research using Jake's ideas as a springboard. Yes, you can make a living trading futures. There is a whole lot of very expensive bull out there about futures trading. If you do not want to take my word for it, consider this. Larry Williams recommends reading all of Jake Bernstein's work. So do I.

This is my first exposure to a Jake Bernstein book and I've read many mixed things about him. Well, after reading most of this book .. I'm glad i now have my own opinions.

This book appears to be written for a total beginner futures trader lemming, just waiting to blow out their account. There is absolutely no substance in this book, nothing to be learned and filled with verbose junk about indicators, patterns and psychology -- typical in most books. Jake provides numerous so called "backtests" of various indicator settings with variable moving averages. Every single system has different settings - which is such an obvious sign of curve fitting. The only thing I saw of some value was the 3 period high and low moving averages to serve as channels of support and resistance .. which a trader may be able to modify into something usable, since Jake's version is taught improperly.

I checked this book out from the library and I still feel I got ripped off .. and it was free.

This book looks just like a compilation of the "author's" position trading books but with editing to put in the words "day trading" where "position trading" used to be. There's no other difference. The only potentially useful info to a newbie was about monitoring the first 30 minutes to try to determine the direction of the day. However, everyone has been doing that for years and most websites suggest it, without charging. Who doesn't know what an oscillator divergence is? That's not a system and while a valid indicator for some trading styles, is certainly not unique to day trading. Mr. Bernstein was reportedly run off tv with his infomercials that made claims the government stated he couldn't back up. Put his name in a search engine to see what others say about him. If you want to get your money's worth, read whatever Larry Williams' latest book is. He'll show you his brokerage records, Mr. Bernstein won't. 'Nuff said.