day-trading

I wanted a book that would take me step by step through all the technical day trader jargon and explain what all of it meant. Getting Started in Online Day Trading by Kassandra Bentley was just what the doctor, or in this case, the beginning day trader ordered. She takes a very solid approach to explaining what the stock market is all about, what day trading is all about, the procedures of doing day trading and the pitfalls of day trading. She is not shy in pointing out other books in order to gather good day trading information. This shows that she is very open to learning herself. Her book does a good job of not assuming that the reader already knows all about day traderese. There are plenty of sidebar notes that refer to terms and phrases within each chapter. This is a very good way of reinforcing what your have just read. One specific area that was very clear in explaination are the terms bid and ask. While other books use these terms almost interchangably and do not explain correctly who is the buyer and who is the seller, she does an excellent job of clarification on this subject. This point is probably obvious to old pros, but her insight that a beginner is not savy to these nuiances is good thinking on her part. She also goes into some detail on charting and day trading methodology, but not too much in depth. If anything, this was the only negative about this book. However, after reading other books on day trading, I believe that this book is the most straight forward and understandable of all of them. The book is well thought out and very concise.

I loved this book. I knew very little about the stock market and was interested in day trading. This book was perfect. It covered it all. In addition, it recommended other books and websites on the topics as you went along. I borrowed it from the library, then decided I had to buy it as a reference.

As the title indicates, this book is for the total beginner. The author takes the reader by the hand and guides him / her through the complex world of online day trading. All of the major areas of concern are covered: Everything from what is day trading and opening your online account to strategies and techniques used to gain profits. This book provides a great bird's-eye-view, kind of a road map for the long journey ahead. This book is not intended to cover every area of day trading with an exhaustive explanation, but rather, introduce each subject and point the reader in the right direction for further study. I strongly recommend this book. Happy trading.

Although the day-trading fad largely disappeared along with the paper profits of the 1990s high-tech bubble, a committed cadre of extreme investors continue to test their mettle against an unforgiving market. Day traders use computer links to stock markets to trade fast and frequently in the hope of profiting from small moves in stock prices. They are lured by the promise of riches, but many are unsuited for the risky venture and ultimately lose everything. Gregory Millman traces the history of day trading, with an emphasis on the unique pitfalls posed by this endeavor. Millman deciphers trading jargon and includes a section outlining the most common techniques utilized by day traders. We from getAbstract recommend this book for its insightful glimpse into a little understood phenomenon.

If you're thinking of becoming a day trader, this book is not a "how to" manual, but it's a good start, providing some invaluable insight into the personalities and forces at work in the world of electronic stock trading. Author Gregory Millman uses the term "extreme" to refer to day traders, much in the same way as we might categorize those athletes who master balance and gravity-defying acts to achieve a sporting "rush" beyond that achieved by professionals in the mainstream sports. Look upon the successful day trader in the same light as the skateboarder who had to fall thousands of times prior to succeeding in the X-Games. The only difference is that the skateboarder is more likely to make it big.

Millman has talked to the true movers and shakers in the field, and relies on some great behind-the-scenes research and his experience in writing for numerous financial publications, to bring us a book that is at once a history lesson, an eye into a day trading "boot camp," and even a test kit for the reader to see if he or she is fit (financially, emotionally, etc.) for what may turn out to be the investing (gambling?) craze of the new millennium.

This book is easy to read and quite captivating. Whether or not you're a broker, a "buy-and-hold" investor, a gambler, or just plain intrigued by what all those playing in the stock market seem to be talking (i.e., bragging) about at parties these days, you will enjoy this book. Even the Electronic Traders Association risk disclosure statement was interesting! Millman's style is smooth, and won't trip you up with dry details or obscure jargon. I read this in just a few hours; can't wait for his next one.

An excellent and highly objective overview of the '90s day trading fad written by a journalist, rather than an author trying to sell a trading book by exploiting the reader's presumed desire to get rich. How ironic that the former book is now out of print while the latter books continue to sell like hotcakes.

The book accurately reports that every time regulators have reviewed the records of day trading firms, a minimum of 90 percent of the traders were losing money. In one instance, at the Boston office of a national day trading firm, 67 out of the 68 traders there were losing money. The book also mentions that a very small number of traders are successful, although the market environment that most likely allowed them to succeed no longer exists. That is, most of these traders played momentum swings in grossly overpriced Internet and high-tech stocks. Many of these stocks, the ones that still exist, are trading at a fraction of their former prices, for example $8 vs. $280.

The chapter on day trading "boot camp" ironically is probably the most informative discussion of day trading strategies I have read.

I was particularly entertained by the account of how one individual left his one million dollar nest egg with a day trading firm and gave them discretionary trading authority over the account before he left on a trip, probably too naive to realize what he had done. The firm's traders traded the account down to $30,000, while one of the firms principals was continually hitting on this individual's attractive girlfriend. When she repeatedly rebuffed his advances, he finally said, "what do you see in him, you know he is broke". This is a perfect illustration of the type of people that operated these day trading firms. Their strategy was to soak the traders by charging $25 commissions while all along knowing that the chance of the traders succeeding was extremely remote.

It is possible, although very difficult to make a living as a trader; in every era of history where there have been securities markets, some individuals have done this. However, the infamous "day trading" phenomenon (the term "day trader" now being pejorative) attempted to sell naive individuals the notion that anyone could do it, all the while playing on their desire to get rich quick.

Awesome ideas to make money with. I have been trading 35 years and feel the ideas in this book are timeless techniques that I know work. The book was written with experience and it shows. I've read many and this is one of the best.

This guy is honest, period! He tells it as it is. Nassar never makes claims that day trading is easy or that the course will deliver trading results, but instead teaches the mechanics of day trading. I got more from this course for $300 dollars than two solid years of trading. I only wish I had taken it sooner. I also saw this guy trade at the Ontario Trade show with live capital. He made $1700 right in front of 10 people in less than than 10 min. That was really cool watching a man walk his talk!

Buy this course, it is undervalued and delivers so much.

Finally a man who is willing to provide real value at a real price. David Nassar is the only professional in the day trading business willing to share what is needed to be known about trading at a price that reflects his integrity. Thank you, David!

In terms of the course, this course is packed with great information. I was particularly impressed with the strategies that are clearly illustrated and the interviews with other professionals. Bill Lupien's interview was very insightful as the founder of Instinet, and a great contribution to the course.

Mr. Nassar obviously has the well deserved respect of other industry leaders which he shares throughout the course. I enjoyed his easy manor on the audio tapes while providing excellent analogies and insights. I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to trade, invest, or just learn about the stock market. I gave the course to my son (age 13)to study as early survival training for investing, and feel universities should use courses such as this to offer to its students. Simply a great course at a great value!

This is a good introduction to technical analysis of stocks. It is best used in conjunction with the Telechart 2000 software and data.

If you subscribe to Telechart or are thinking of using their software, this is a great place to start since the author gives you the formulas of TC2000 to do technical analysis.

Once again, Mr. Larson has come through for me. I have seen him on T.V. and attended some of his seminars. I also have his last book "Trading Stocks On-line". He knows what he is talking about. As long as I stick with him, I'm sure to be successful. Thanx Mr. Larson.

This is the second Jake book I had read up till now. The first one is "Investment Quotient" which I gave my highest rating. That does not lead to my negative comment on this one because of over expectation. It's just that the content and quality of this so named guide just cannot be described as compleat.

In one single book of only 200 pages, Jake tried to discuss many important elements of day trading, including history, mechanism, player characteristics, market structure and even sophisticated technical tools like Stochastics, MACD, Momentum, various forms of Moving Average and even AI. The problem is: he tried to cover so many things that the whole book becomes very shallow and far from what is needed for this highly risky game.

I dont understand why many reviewers gave this book such high ratings. I am afraid that many amateurs had already been lured to enter the game under the false illusion that they became better, if not well equipped, after reading this book, and had already fallen prey to the market crocs.

The Compleat Guide to Day Trading Stocks is just that: one of the most complete and very best books ever written on the subject of day trading. Its highly regarded author, Jake Bernstein takes the reader from the very basics such as realistic risk/reward considerations, the essential mechanics of trend-following systems, fundamental vs. technical analysis, timing indicators, stochastics and charts, all the way to clear and precise systems and methods as well as the Psychology of Day Trading. He goes out of his way to make sure that the reader is absolutely aware of all aspects of day trading before making a commitment - including the long and painful learning curve that is inevitable - and clearly states who should not undertake day trading. Having said that, if the reader understands this, and is still firmly committed to making day trading a success, Mr. Bernstein gives his utmost support by going deeply into the nuts and bolts of the art by providing a solid foundation with proven strategies that can be thoroughly back-tested. This is really the most beneficial part of the book for the experienced investor, and is that which sets it apart from the many more general works on the subject. The reader is encouraged to learn and test these methods and systems and to incorporate the ones that are best suited to his/her own investment style. Pitfalls are clearly stated and the writing is extremely fluid and easy to understand. Best of all, the reader subconsciously develops the proper attitude that is so essential to succeed - that day trading should be treated as a serious business which can and will only be successful if done with the proper frame of mind, diligence, hard work, and risk management as well as a dedication to discipline. I highly recommend it!

This is an excellent book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is willing to work at day trading. This isn't a book that promises riches in a few easy steps. At the start of the book, the author writes: "If you seek success as a day trader, you'll have to make your money the good old-fashioned way: you'll have to do some work."

In addition to doing a good job of providing an overview of several technical indicators (including lists of the PROS and CONS of each one), the author devotes several chapters to detailed explanations of various approaches.

He also provides information on (the indispensable idea of) system development, practical considerations of day trading, and the psychology of day trading.

Again, to anyone who is serious about day trading, I would HIGHLY recommend this book.

There are many daytrading books out these days. I've read quite a few of them, each having a different slant on how to attain success at trading the stock markets successfully. Most involve trading Nasdaq stocks exclusively, while focusing on market maker activity, support and resistance, chart setups or patterns, etc.

Christopher A. Farrell's book stands out as a different and brutally honest look at both the Nasdaq and the NYSE, how they work, and the pitfalls they hold for traders. Numerous quotes by market notables supporting the author's contentions are interspersed throughout the book.

One of the book's major themes is technical and fundamental analysis are useless to the daytrader who is contemplating a trade where a large market maker could be manipulating the stock's price. I couldn't agree more. However, I believe the author goes too far in discounting the usefulness of these valuable tools, as he sounds as if he believes that charts and fundamental information would never enter in as valid trading criteria in any other styles of trading. Nevertheless, I found his insights about market makers to be invaluable.

Ways in which a trader can gain somewhat of an edge over the Nasdaq market makers are spelled out, such as how to use "hidden orders." Also, "Spoofing" was a very interesting tactic exposed by the author: the advertising of huge size to buy or sell on Level II with no desire to be filled, but to manipulate the stock higher or lower. The author is very experienced at trading.

Insights into the NYSE specialist's role are covered in great detail, as well as a number of NYSE daytrading tactics. The author puts us in the specialist's shoes, giving various scenarios of market conditions and what a specialist does in his own interest and in the interest of the public. A more informative piece I have not read.

The author concludes by speculating on a trading world of totally fair markets, or "The 24-hour Unified Exchange, the Virtual Specialist, and the Extinction of Wall Street." A nice sentiment, but a lot of big money and influence stands in the way. All told, this book is an excellent read for any trader.

as a somewhat active online trader, i was both surprised and blown away by alot of what I read in this book - particularly about the kind of nonsense that is allowed to go on in the NASDAQ -

As someone who has bought about 14 day trading books in the past year,I guess I'm as good a critic as anyone - this book is so far ahead of the other daytrading books in both quality, illustrations, and content that it stands alone -

I am a firm believer that if you can walk away with 1 or 2 lasting ideas from any book than you are ahead of the game - Farrell book has about 15 such ideas - not to mention I think that the 3 sections on how the market makers, NYSE specialists, and day traders manipulate stock prices is the most informative chapters in any of the daytrading books out there -

I bought this book after reading the recent positive review in Online Investor Magazine (Feb issue) - this book is not some loose, "how to" book on day trading - instead, the author spends his time slicing and dicing many of "the shady ways" in which both the NASDAQ market makers, and NYSE specialists operate -

is by far the most in-depth day trading book of the 10 I have bought because it talks about issues that, literally, none of the other day trading books I have ever read even mention - this books wastes no time on the "getting started 101" nonsense that so many other day trading books talk about (how to get started, what broker to choose) - also, this guy actually worked as a bond trader on Wall Street before he got started - so I think his perspective on "the shady side" of how Wall Street works is a bit more accurate than the others - Here is why I liked the book: Farrell attacks things like: why the NASDAQ can be so tricky, how the NYSE specialist can made a stock collapse by cancelling bids, how big firms like Goldman Sachs can hold a stock down with the appearance of 100 share sell orders, how hidden orders affect the supply and demand in a stock - this is all stuff that I had absolutely no idea even went on -

I have folllowed the markets for years. A friend of mine recommended I purchase this book. I am skeptical of system trading. I was intrigued by the credentials of the authors. These did not appear to be people who needed the money. Rather it was apparent that they truly wanted to share their creativity and reearch. Having read the book 2 times and the second half of the book 2 more times, my conclusion is correct. This book is a value and a significant contribution to the writings of how markets behave and how to use indicators to trade successfully. I recommend this book to serious traders and investors.

My friend who is a successful trader recommended this book. I was skeptical at 1st but reading the first few pages I realized the authors knew what they were writing. The methods for trading described in the book were easy to learn and have paid for themselves thousands of times over. trading has now become sport for me and a profitable one to boot!! I can't recommend this book too much. It's great!!

I develop trading systems and have found many rich trading ideas described in the various chapters. I do not trade options often and elected to skim over the 1st half of the book. The back half has ideas for intraday trading as well as longer term trading. Al though the author does not serve these important ideas on a platter to a trader emphasizing thir relevance to successful trading, almost all discussions are packed with menajngful information and trading ideas that I can apply and test easily.
Bottom line: if you are looking for a black/whir turn-key systmeatic approach to trading, this book does not go that far. However, what this book does provide is a plethora of risch, new trading ideas that will definitely improve timing of trades.

Tony does an excellent job in a concise book that coverseverything from daytrading technical analysis to level 2 case studies.I enjoyed his practical, brief style that has enough advanced content to interest those of us who trade for a living. I recommend this book as one of my top 3 picks to all my traders at The Daytrading University, and recommend it to anyone who is serious about trading. Give it a read; it's a useful reference. I even picked up a few techniques, and I train daytraders.

I would like to strongly recommend this book to everyone. I have been trading stocks for over 15 years and read almost every book ever written on investing and trading. What I liked the most about this book is the fact that it covers the most important elements of short-term trading: TA, Psychology, Level II and Money Management. The book doesn't only touch these issues but explains them thoroughly with illustrative support. In fact, I counted over 160 different illustrations with tables, charts, level II, and T&S images. And if you are anything like me, you will I appreciate it, because I need the visual aid. I also liked the chronology of the book. It is very well organized. Each new chapter builds on previous chapters which make the book a very smooth read. My overall rating is 5 stars. It is well worth its price tag. In this case, you get what you pay for.

10 Stars !!!!

This book has saved me a fortune. When ever I'm in a slump, I stop trading and read this book again. It always gets me back on track. My main problem was I wasn't letting the market tell me which direction to trade. I was trading on the long side of the market when I should have been on the short side and vise versa. I've stopped watching the tape so closely, and focus now on general market conditions for my long or short signals. Now I don't get caught on the wrong side of the market as much. I feel that you can take many pages of this book and say that each one of those pages is worth far more than the price of admission. That is my honest opinion.

Pattern cycles show swing traders where to find consistent profits

Future trading is where you hold a position for 1-3 days and capitalize on cyclical swings in buying and selling behavior.

Master Morning gaps

Use multi-time frame Fibonacci retracements to locate turning points

Watch the market clock

New high generate greed carrying prices higher

Use math-based indicators to verify the price pattern

Buy at support and sell at resistence

Strong price movement pairs disciplined momentum strategy with preferred swing trading.

The swing trader checks the 60-minute chart for support-resistance but uses the 1-minute chart to time execution of the short-term flow of the market

Market insiders use the volatility of first-hour executions to fade clean trends and empty pockets

Time should activate exits on nonperforming trades

Decide how many bars must pass before a trade will be abandoned, regardless of gain or loss

Volume leader predicts price change. Volume reflects latent energy that releases itself through trend

Expect to stand aside, wait, and watch when the markets offer nothing to do

Constricting price bars, lowering volatility and range placement signal the end of one swing and the beginning of a new impulse
Oscillators measure this important guage through overbought-oversold polarity

Price acts differently at tops and bottoms

Breakouts and breakdowns attract many participants but require precise timeing to turn a profit

The highest profitability will come when entering a position at the end of a low-volatility period (contracting bar) and exiting on a volatility peak (expanding bar) just as the trend pulls back
Technical Analysis teaches traders to execute positions based on numbers, time and volume

As volume cranks up at 3:00pm don't expect anyone to change the channel

Big volume kills moves

The Commodity Channel Index (CCI) is a timing tool that works best with seasonal or cyclical contracts

RSI indicator is supposed to track price momentum

Sixty percent or more of total daily participation occurs during the first and last hours

Spend more time controlling losses than seeking gains

Every good analysis should validate current conditions through both forward (strength) oscillators and backward (momentum) indicators

Popular oscillating tools, such as RSI and Stochastics, identify overbought-oversold markets. Moving averages and MACD look back and measure momentum change. Or swing traders can just draw simple trendlines and channels in all time frames and use those instead as primary momentum tools

The lack of a simple linear relationship between volume and price change frustrates attempts to make accurate predictions

Don't fall into the complexity trap

Wow, this is a very good book. I don't understand why anyone would attack the language or the approach. If you want to read a comic book, head over to the grocery store. They have quite a lot of them.

The language and terminology used by the author adds greatly to the comprehension of the material. And there is an EXCELLENT glossary in the back of the book. I've also noticed that his terms are not grabbed out of "thin air". Most of these concepts originated in excellent studies on the futures markets done over the past 20 years. For example, "negative vs positive feedback" comes from research done by Raschke and others in the early 1990s. Farley just does a much better job explaining the complex ideas to the average trader, and telling them how to take swing trading positions based on their power.

This book is very original and not part of the cookie cutter garbage that passed for a "trading book" before the bear market started. It's SO appropriate that MST showed up just as tougher days hit the stock market. Farley's book offers a very effective way to deal with these choppy markets. And he does a fabulous job getting the message across. Reading the book does not take an advanced college degree. But it does require a commitment by the reader and a willingness to learn something new.

Highly recommended!

I found the text to be powerful, informative, and very helpful. Its not for everyone. It does requires the reader's attention but overall its an outstanding work. 5 Stars. This has become one of my favorite TA books without question. At the time I read it, it seemed to incorporate everything together. I have kept it close by my computer and have referred to it many times.

Farley is not for beginners by any means. And he has to be read carefully to be understood. But this is a a very, very good book - probably one of the best. There are many pages of in-depth strategies. Yes, the book should be written more clearly but reading it is absolutely worth your time.

I heard Farley in an interview state he purposely challenged traders by starting the book with topics that confused and frustrated them the most. He also said he left the noise level "high" in the charts because that was the real world that traders had to trade.

As for the one star ratings - I cannot understand how much they missed the brilliant content. Definitely not for everyone.

I feel that Day Tader II is really a rip-off as it basically just reguritates most of the material found in volume one. THIS is typical Bernstein -- the goal is dollars from book sales, not educating the reader. Mr. Bernstein does not respect his readers, and this is the sad part because he obviously is a highly intelligent man who probably could contribute a lot to the field of daytrading education if he weren't so needy and greedy. I wouldn't go so far as to call him "Jake the Snake", but I do think he should put more care into the content of his books.

Bernsiein has another excellent book. He reviews the tactics taught in Compleat Day Trader I and then goes on to elucidate a number of more advanced topics that, like his other systems, give very clear entry and exit points and therefore help to minimize the risk.

Jake also again warns of the risks of day trading and shows the importance of developing one's own rules and consistently following them in order to avoid making costly mistakes.

I also cannot help but be impressed with an author who plainly states that he is willing to help his readers, provides a means for his readers to contact him, and then actually makes good this statement. I had some difficulty with one of the trading systems Jake presented because the charting program I was using had a mind of its own. While the manufacturer couldn't help me to clear things up, Jake went out of his way e-mailing and faxing me to help work through my system problems, even though the problem has nothing to do with Jake's system.

Jake has another highly informative and easily read book which should be on every day trader's bookshelf.

Having read many books on Day Trading and attended courses and seminars, this book added "confidence". It gives you simple systems to work with, 30MBO, InsideDays, Gaps, etc.. It also tells you what the indicators lack and what most traders lack to succeed, discipline. Use the 30MBO but don't change the method. Stick to it. Be disciplined. Aimed at the futures and commodities traders, these methods also work with fast high volume, high votility stocks. I emailed Jake with a question on the 30MBO and got a reply in hours, that's value. I have ordered his next book, "The Complete Guide to Day Trading Stock". Can't wait. I cannot see how anyone (who is not a beginner) would not benefit from this book.