Futures-market

I am revisiting this book, 5 years down the track, looking for the gold beneath the gross.

1. The first difficulty: All the charts in this book are done manually. This seems a long way out of date with current charting software available. It is also extremely tedious.

2. All channels are drawn at 45 degrees with width of 8.5 units. Why 45 degrees? Why 8.5 units? No explanation. I assume the 45 degree requirement goes back to the old Gann ideas and time/price symmetry. But I see no obvious reason for the 8.5 unit channel width.
Both the slope and the width of these channels appear arbitrary and unproven.

3. The book is essentially based on cycle analysis, where we are looking for the number of days between two highs to equal the number of days between two lows. Unless you're a cycles fanatic you're straight away going to find yourself out of your depth here, especially since cycles (if they exist) are not constant.

4. The explanatory charts and notes are very difficult to follow and some charts and notes are simply incorrect (eg fig32 P.15).

I intend to come back to this review to elucidate the heart of the PAMA methodology.

In the meantime, with apologies to Jeff, I am still unable to give this book a decent recommendation.

I found his trading method difficult to understand. He glosses over his trading method and does not explain it with enough detail. I had to read the pages over and over again just to get a grasp of his system. Basically, he is using channelling to detect reversals of up and down trends. Half of the book uses his method to analyze the Dow Jones Industrial Average for a ten year period. In following his analysis, there were quite a few times when it seemed like he did not follow his own rules. It looks like he was doing that to make his trading results look good.

This is a difficult book to review. And difficult to read. A true rating could be anywhere between one star and four depending on what your perpective is. It is a thin book (only 155 pages counting the index and lots of white space, also big printing and full page graphs) but I don't think it is gutless. Jeffrey is pushing something he calls the PAMA Method (Pivotal Area of Market Analysis)and he may have something there. But trying to read the book is like sawing hardwood with a disposable plastic knife. I still scarcely know what the hell he is saying, and believe me I have tried. He may well be offering something of value but it is bloody difficult to understand what. The first part of the book is just simply badly written and the last part I've never gotten to even after several attempts. He spends a lot of time developing arcane laws and conditions (and sub-laws and sub-conditions) that may sometimes work for him but to claim them as the "Ultimate Breakthrough" well.... I would like to encourage a serious student to buy this book and then elucidate it to me or study it together because I still believe there is something in it. But if you want a holy grail or an easy read to riches, this book ain't it!

This was a huge disappointment. The book is simplistic, disjointed, and offers nothing that even a novice could use. It has a feeling of being written quickly to cash in on the forex trading phenomenon. Look elsewhere for advice in particular anything by Jack Schwager or by Wiley Press, they are usually excellent.

If you have absolutely no knowledge of the Currency Markets then this book may be useful to you. The subtitle of the book is "Manage Risk and Reward in the Forex Markets by Learning How to:..."

Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of the book is about Currency Futures and Options but NOT Forex.

This book is not worth the paper that it is printed on. Author does not know the subject, and does not offer any information that could not easily have been obtained online for free. Tried to contact author at his website to answer question and never responded. Classic example of take the money and run. Will never buy a book again from these authors nor from Prima Publishing.

If you are attracted by the name "How the foreign exchange market works" and want to know how, this is not the book to read. The text hard to understand and it does not give a clear explanation of the foreign exchange market. Take my word because you don't want to waste your time and your money. DO YOU?

Well, maybe my heading isn't entirely fair...there are at least a few pages on international futures, but not much more. The title of this book should have been "The Complete Beginner's Guide To Daytrading" since 80% of the text is just basics on trading like standard TA indicators, how to find a broker, etc. I got the distinct impression that Mr. Bernstein wrote a chapter or two on international futures, and then his editors flushed it out into an entire book and stuck his name on it. I am returning this thing tomorrow and gettig my money back.

About financial transaction and technical for the EFTPOS of the book.

The book easily shows its age in its focus on standards and issues which have long ago fallen by the wayside in this dynamic market. Far worse is that the book is preciously short on quantitative and analytic methods, and long on third-grade-teacher types of admonishments. I read the whole book becasue I paid for it, there are better, more up-to-date volumes out there. Could possibly be re-named "Swaps for English Majors", although, English majors as a group might correctly be upset at this association.