day-trading Books

I found this book to be a great introductory book into the world of Daytrading. And that is probably all you will ever get out of any book on Daytrading, just a few bits and pieces of useful information that you can use. Unfortunately for us, like most trading books, especially Daytrading books, it is overpriced.

I will begin by saying that just a few days ago, I was sitting here reading these book reviews just like you. This book is hyped everywhere so I decided to buy it. Unfortunately, I thought that if it sells for $60+, there must be some kind of demand for it. Well I received the book today and I already finished reading the whole thing! The book is EXTREMELY short (the print is large too) and each chapter is about 3 pages long. I don't want to bash this book, because it is a good overview for an absolute beginner. However, if you're already a fairly experienced daytrader looking to learn more, this book is not for you. The book isn't even really for daytraders.. it is just a basic overview of trading stocks in general. If you just opened up a trading account yesterday, you might find the book useful, but I'm returning it.

I found this book to be extremely light on useful information. 230 very small pages with big margins, and very few pages per chapter to use up even more space. The author, many times, will start to talk about something that makes you think, "Now this should be interesting", only to change the subject just at the point where the information could get useful. Very frustrating. Before buying any book I would seek an independent review, where you can at least be sure that the reviewer is not the writer himself.

IN MY OPINION, WHICH IS WORTH LITTLE MORE THAN THE SERVER THAT THIS MUMBO-JUMBO IS SAVED ON, THIS IS A FANTASTIC BOOK FOR BEGINNERS AND INTERMEDIATE TRADERS, AND A WASTE OF TIME FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO DECIDED TO TAKE THE EASY ROUTE TO TRADING SUCCESS (WHICH IS TAKING A BASEBALL BAT UPSIDE THE HEAD ABOUT FIFTY TIMES BEFORE I FIGURED WHAT I WAS DOING RIGHT AND WRONG IN THE MARKETS.

I HAVE BEEN TRADING FOR A WHILE, AND FOUND THAT MUCH OF THE INFO IN THIS BOOK I HAD ALREADY LEARNED BY LOSING MY *SS IN THE MARKET (OOPS)...BUT HEY, WHAT'S AN EXTRA SIXTY BUCKS FOR A BOOK AT THIS STAGE :-)

IF I HAD READ THIS BOOK A YEAR AGO, I WOULD HAVE SAVED MYSELF A NEW BMW (AND UNFORTUNATELY FOR ME IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A 318I, BUT RATHER THE BIG BOAT 735...YEAH, YOU KNOW THE ONE!)

ANYHOW, I DIGRESS. THE POINT IS THAT THIS IS A VERY GOOD FIRST YEAR BOOK ON INVESTING AND ACTIVE TRADING, AND OF LITTLE USE FOR THE WAR-BATTERED TRADER.

IF YOU NOT YET A SEASONED VETERAN, BUY THE BOOK AND READ IT TEN TIMES. IF YOU ARE ON YOUR SECOND TOUR, SKIP THIS ONE AND READ BOTH OF JACK SCHWAGER'S BOOKS.

HOPE THESE WORDS FROM A SARCASTIC OLD PISSER LIKE ME HELPS.

DFD

PS- I'M UP FOR THE YEAR, SO DON'T THINK THAT THIS OLD CODGER DOESN'T KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE GAME!

This is a five star must read for people who have been actively trading for less than a year. It is a real blueprint for learning the dos and don'ts of this profession.

There are other excellent books on the subject, but this one is the easiest to understand and absorb.

I would recommend the book to stock traders,but also if you're trading futures -as in my case- the book is worthwhile as a blueprint for devising business and trading plans. Mind you, the advice given in the book about equipment, software and hardware is already obsolete since the book was written a few years ago.

This book contains a wealth of information - I strongly recommend it! The content is excellent, and the writing style is understandable and candid. Brian June not only discusses the nuts-and-bolts of day-trading (Level II screens, time-and-sales data, 'ax' market makers, direct-access systems, trading strategies) but covers in detail how one should prepare prior to the market opening and how one needs to debrief trading after the close. Dr. Van Tharp covers two of the most important concepts of trading: risk management (i.e., capital preservation) and money management (i.e., position sizing). If you have not internalized these concepts into your belief system already read these chapters, memorize them. They are key disciplines as they will keep you in the game.

This book was a great addition to the other books I have read about trading for a living. While Gary Smith's book was his actual trading process and Alexander Elder's covered the psychological dynamics of creating a system, this book really got into the technical dynamics of risk and expectancy with formulas and excellent explanations of how to be profitable based on your amount of trades/risk/expectancy.

The six key elements you will understand for making money in the market from this book are:
1. System reliability
2. reward to risk ratio
3. cost of trading
4. Your trading opportunity level
5. What you can do based on the size of your equity
6. Your position sizing algorithm

This is a more technical read than other books and comes across very tedious at times, but I found it well worth the effort for the added insights I received.

In his follow up to his first book 'Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom' Van K Tharp expands on some of the ideas presented specifically in the realm of trading electronically.

Though not as revolutionary as his first book, this one is still packed with 'not found elsewhere' useful information for both beginning and experienced traders. Treat it as a supplement to his first book and you will learn something useful.

My trading coach recommended this book to me so I could better write my trading and business plan for my trading business. After studying and applying the books material I was able to format a proven and tested plan. I later met with my trading coach to review my plan and he said it was one of the best plans he has seen. Thanks to this book I am able to sucessfully maintain a trading career.

Plenty of fluff in this book. But also some genuinely good trading ideas. That is more that can be said for most trading books.

I reviewed this book before and gave it fewer stars. i reread it a few times, and I must say its better than i thought. the "strategy" section is not much, but quite frankly you will have to find your own anyway, so that is not so important. the psychological aspects covered in the book as well as the interviews are quite good. Trading only has to be as complicated as you want it to be. you can learn that lesson from this book as well as many others.

Because of the author's name and reputation, I was anxious to open this book, read and gain something. Within forty minutes of the read, I found myself skimming through the book to find something with some meat in it. Instead, I found the first 24 pages covering "The Psychology of . . .", "Overcoming the Psychological Barriers . . .", etc., etc. Then we go to 8 pages that touch on "Market Analysis & Day Trading," and then, "The Innergame Trading Approach." Mind you, 8 pages, or a little longer than most forewards. The vast remainder of the book is the author interviewing several well know traders about this and that. The questions are general and as often as not the trader being interviewed rambles on in generalities. My impression of this work is the author was evidently long on positions in the market and decided to write this book while he waited for a price move. Conversely, a book I purchased at the same time,"Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom," by: Van K. Tharp is excellent. This book has something to say and information for anyone to consider or incorporate.

Interesting and well-written day trading volume. It has heped my trading immensely.

Im sure the author is a great trader. However, there is not very much content in this book. If you are familiar with basic trading ideas and the importance of self-control, confidence, and disipline, you will not find anything new here. This is definitely not charlitan material like so much of the other "educational" trading books out there. However, I did not find it worthwhile.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I have read both of Chick's books several times and have made good money trading his methods. This is what I do for a living -- I am a full time trader. His methods work equally well with equities (though do be careful because stocks tend to move together. In other words, you don't have on as many positions as you think) and futures.

The one star reviewers of this book obviously don't get it. This is not a book you skim and you can't criticize it for having no code. (Though if you think a little you can test the basic concepts of the book quantitatively...)

Out of all the trading books I have read this is one of the best, and maybe the only one that actually gives you a methodology that can make money as is. If you want a book that will give you a simple system to make a 500% annual return on your money you won't find that here.... but if you're looking for that you're not going to make it as a trader.

The reviews by Y. Kacija and SexyBeast "Terminally Ballistic" say what I'm trying to say much more eloquently.

Based on all of the positive reviews posted for this book, I had to see what the hype was about. After skimming it, however, I have to say it's just not worth it. The author basically uses momentum to create 3 moving averages - short-term, mid-term and long-term - then uses these to generate the most basic of trading signals which he then demonstrates to you with page after page after page of charts and examples. It's the same setup hundreds of times. And he keeps referring to a company called "SMR" which publishes the (very basic) indicators he uses throughout the book. This is not really a text for day traders per se - it might have some value for beginning swing traders with longer-term time horizons. You won't find any new ideas, any new insights into older ideas, any code, and you'll barely find an explanation for how to create his momentum MAs apart from "subscribe to SMR." Overall, a total waste of money. I returned it. For readers interested in an excellent book on momentum, try William Blau's "Momentum, Direction, and Divergence."

This book is basically about using moving averages. The author at times does not recommend using stop loss. Books by Elder + study guide I found to be more useful in money management area. The method is discretionary and is difficult to program into any computer for backtesting to see performance statistics.

What Chick teaches in this book has taken me from being a new trader to a profitable trader in less then one month. Check out his website and review his newsletter. This IS that one way of trading that you have been looking for.
It very well could change your life. It did mine.
Talk to Chick and tell him Steve Peters of FL says HI.

This book turned my trading around. It took me about 5 reads and I switched back and forth between his other book Intelligent Futures Trading, as they are two different presentations of the same subject, with this book being the more detailed.....(the way the IFT book is written appeals to the left brain-the analytical side, and TDBD is more of the in depth version the right brain would appreciate-if that makes sense). Now that everyone thinks I am sufficiently crazy, I will continue: This book will make alot of people gloss right over it without realizing the true power behind the information presented....the info seems so basic that alot of "experienced traders" will go right past it like it is some kind of cliche book....WHAT A MISTAKE THAT WOULD BE! The problem with most traders is that they want to outcomplicate other traders, or find the secret method or whatever you want to call it. Chick explains in a realistic format that we as individual traders must bring the other competitors down to our level if we wish to succeed. Many people will read this book and not appreciate the information- but that is their problem. This book, along with Chuck Dukas' book and Stan Kroll's books are the best books I have ever read.

However, If I had to pick only one book- this would be the one. Chick is a man of integrity and one would do well to listen to everything he has to say.

It took me almost two years to write this review because I wasn't sure if I even wanted anyone else to know about it! But hey, Chick deserves some recognition for outstanding and extremely generous work he has done.

P.S. I still read his book over and over again-being 375 pages and a large textbook size, there is alot to grasp.....very hard to do all at once.....I suggest to read it, read it again, and then repeat often. I learn something new every single time. But maybe I am just dense.

It's a rare experience picking up a book about a seemingly boring subject and not being able to put it down. That's what I call style. They call him "Tiny" but he's a huge source of knowledge and introspection. He makes the subject grow on you and you can feel the intensity of his expertise on the subject. This man is an obvious winner and this book is an accurate representation of that man. As you go through the basics your base of knowledge grows exponentially. The subject matter becomes interesting and even the charts and illustrations make sense the way he explains them. The writing is incredibly fluid and one subject flows into the next. I understand that this is Saul's first book but I ceratinly hope its not his last. His intellect and Parness's intuition combine to give us an unbeatable team. I really can't see either man working indeoendent of one another. Charting is the soul of the what stock to buy, when to buy and at what price and what is your exit and risk minimization parameters. All of this applied through charting to generate profits in the stock market. This is a winning book written by a proven winner. It is a must buy for anyone in or going to be in the stock market. I can't wait for the next book.

There are so many other books on technical analysis that are more comprehensive than this one (e.g. Kamish, How Technical Analysis Works). I bought it because I had received so much good information at Trendfund.com, the website affiliated with Tiny. I had hoped that this book would continue with great real life examples of successful trades. The book does a poor job of discussing general technical analysis tools. I was disappointed. I'm willing to sell my copy for $10. I can't imagine anyone giving this book 5 stars unless they have a financial interest in the book's success. Of course, you can get all this information for free by logging on to Stockcharts.com.

I ordered this book because I had received so much good information from Trendfund.com, the website that Tiny is affiliated with. What I got was a book that does an incomplete job of describing a limited number of general technical analysis tools. There are so many other book that are more complete, like Kamich ,"How Technical Analysis Works", which I also own and would recommend hands-down over this book.

It's a great book if your just starting to get into trading, a bit pricy but worth the info. On the bad side is that alot of trading info is on the web now. If you look really hard you could probably find all of the stuff scattered over the web. But a beginner wouldn't know where to start. Like how he goes over TA indicators like ADX and RSI, but if you didn't know what they were in the first place then you wouldn't know where to look. Concise and full of info.

I give this 4 stars, because I never rate anything a 1 or a 5.

This book is for serious traders, not for those with an MBA in finance. There is a difference. I don't have an MBA, but I make money almost every day using technical analysis. I have learned a lot of that from Michael Saul. There is a learning curve, and if you have financial baggage or a "sure thing" kind of investing attitude, you might as well forget this book.

The details can be a bit much for beginners, but just paper-trade with the info at first until you begin to get the feel of it.

This book teaches you how to recognize the signals (like reversal bars, bull flags) that the market is sending about shifts in momentum and direction. It is amazing how well it works. Not every time, but more often than not, it's correct. And that's all you need if you want to make money day trading.

This is not investing, and requires study (like charting/TA books) and daily research. It's not for everyone, and you must learn the material, and then test it on paper before you trade for real, just so you'll be comfortable with the accuracy of technical analysis.

I'm not sure what the previous reviewer was referring to concerning hawking infomercials - I don't think anybody ever sold a book by itself on an infomercial. Certainly not one as dry as a technical analysis book. And specialty books get self-published all the time, especially when the potential market for them is so small (that probably explains the high price, I would think). I'm not trying to defend Michael Saul; he doesn't need it. It just seems strange that someone would use those silly comments to try to discredit a book that he admits he can't understand.

On the negative side, it IS EXPENSIVE. If you can get it used, save yourself some money. I also agree with another reviewer that much of the information here IS available on the web, but you'd really already need to know it before you'd know where to find it. Not to mention you'd have to wade through plenty of bad info to find the good stuff on charting on the internet (been there, done that). Save yourself the time and hassle by getting the book.

Bottom line, it's a good, accurate, (but expensive), technical analysis book. I recommend it.

If ever I have bought a worthless piece of #### this is it. This man has absolutely nothing useful, except to warn you time and again not to be a day trader. He repeats the same very basic concepts in all the beginning chapters. I learned nothing useful except a ton of webpages and daytrading courses offered by the daytraders who he interviewed complete with thier 800 numbers....A real waste of ... I kid you not.

I have been looking into trading in general for the last 2 months or so. I strongly believe this should be one of the first books to be read.

Why such a strong recommendation/endorsement ?? Because of a very interesting survey and discussion about the success rates of day traders and their age profile for example. How much money did aspiring day traders make during the first 6 months ?? And so on ..

So it is a strong overview of the industry. It is available in the local library for me. If it weren't I wouldn't have bought it because some of the reviews on this forum were so negative. But I did read it. It is a great source of information ..

If you want to be successful in this field. You probably need minimum a dozen books for perodically refreshing your mind. Just like you need a minimum 12 stocks to achieve the diversification.

This one will do the job. I doubt you have the time to go over all the books ever published in this field.

I have heard the importance of money management in every of the hundreds book I have read in the past few years. I believe it is true. But this is the only book finally push me to the immediate action. After I spent whole afternoon do a experiment try to veryfy the statement on Percentage of Risk on page 184. I only did 33 tosses instead 100 tosses.

I also believe day trading is hard. But just as the old adge "you will not shed the tears until you see the coffin." This book will do the trick. This book give you some of the other side truth.

This the second time I read this book. Both time by borrowing it from local library. Now I am going to buy one for keep. Even though not every chapter is to my liking.

This was a fun book to read if you like trading books in general. There are some good points on system selection (almost too much), tax tips and an interesting section on Psychology. The interviews with traders are very general and do not contain any information on strategy of the traders. Had the interviews contained more strategy and less chit chat, this would be an excellent selection. As is however, just so so..

As others have said, this book really doesn't tell you anything about trading. Instead, it focuses more on what kind of person would make a good trader. It reminds me of the articles about different professions my high school guidance counselor gave me when I was a kid.

There are many contributing writers to this book, which is a bit confusing since the cover only mentions Leslie Masonson. It appears he was basically the editor of the book, who also wrote a few chapters. He conducted a survey, and published the results, which is worthwhile, and could be interesting to prospective traders.

I found Chapter 11 on tax evasion (er, I mean planning) by Ted Tesser to be written poorly. I haven't read something so repetitive since Wade B. Cook's "Wall Street Money Machine". Tesser has a few ideas (which may be good, who knows), which he repeats (often in bullet form) over and over again. I couldn't imagine buying Tesser's book which he plugs in that chapter. Just hire a tax attorney... might cost more up front, but the at least you won't be wasting your time.

The last few chapters contain interviews with many different traders. Masonson plugs each of their websites (about half of which are out of business as of May 2005). Some of these traders seemed to have intelligent advice, others seemed to barely know what they are doing themselves.

In summary, I found this to be another run of the mill book on trading. Like so many books on the subject, you feel like the main goal of the book was to promote other businesses offered by the writers. I suggest if you still want to read it, you do as I did, and borrow it from your local library rather than waste your $$.

This book is a real gem for beginners, it gives lots of great tips without the egotistical mumbo jumbo.

This book is mainly for beginners, and offers a good introduction into investing.

This the type of book that benefits one early in one's trading process and merits re-reads after more experience. While there is very little from the technical point of view, the practical, "real world" advise rings very clear. People often buy books that are too complicated for their current level of understanding. Accordingly, they acquire more "knowledge" but not more understanding. Confusion can lead to a lot of lost money in trading. Thankfully, this is not such a book. It deserves a permanent place on the traders and investor's bookshelf.

The worst trading book I ever purchased. The book is full of catch phrases and waffles page after page. Example: more than 100 pages of advice such as:
Don't trade scared (1 full page)
Be patient (1 full page)
Trade like a robot, wothout emotion (1 full page)
Always have a profit goal (1 full page)
etcetera
The book does not show any examples of successfully backtested strategies. Better go for "Trade like a Hedge Fund" from J Altucher.

THIS BOOK WAS NOT USEFULL TO ME. IF YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW THE BEGINERS INFORMATION IN THIS BOOK, YOU HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO.

I bought this book specifically because I thought from the title that it would be about swing trading, and in particular Gann's method of swing trading (since he was the one who coined the phrase), so I was terribly disappointed after reading it to discover that it made no mention of Gann, nor any mention of the method of swing trading. Sure it mentions the word "swing" a lot, but nowhere in the book does it actually tell you about the method of swing trading itself.

The book is no more than a general introduction to the whole business of trading, which as a previous reviewer noted, information such as this can be gained from any of 100 sources. And if its an introduction you want, you're better off getting John J. Murphy's "Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets".

The "Buy Used and New from $5.99" says it all...

sorry, this book is not what it says it is.

Iam looking for a good book and this one is a real waste of money. First 12 chapters are very general. If you want a hardcore book on swing trading this not the one for you.

I bought this book some years ago and I still love it. It was the first book that I bought on trading and I did not appreciate how good it was until I started buying and checking out regular investing books at the library. You know the kind of lame books like Susan Orman's book 9 steps to financial freedom. The kind of book that's all fluff and no substance other than the same advice that my grandfather had told me (use your home equity, lower your expenses, balance your portfolio, ect, ect.). Most investing books are all about personal finance and not investing. As well, most trading books that I have read or looked at are more about market mechanics than actual case studies or trades themselves. Also, Dr. Sarkovich does not waste your time or money on stories from his past to fill up his book. You will not find chapters here about how trading was at a desk somewhere back in the day. Why? Because he has spent the time telling you what you need to know to start trading, not his past life in the field.

That review on here about the book being for beginners really chaps my hide. It says right on the friggen cover "From Beginner to Advanced Trading". And that is exactly what I need. Heck, I still read it from time to time because I am still learning how to do this correctly and not lose money at it. I practically need to memorize this book since I look at it so much. I have post it notes sticking out of about 30 pages of it right now. And its so easy to find what I need when I need it. I mean the sections are , How to trade, When to trade, What to trade, and in those sections is all the info and explanations about what you are seeing on the screen (level 1 and 2 info, trade order and execution, candlestick charting, charting patterns, moving averages, Bollinger bands, market measures and volume, and much more).

What I needed at the time was a book that would explain to me everything going on the screen when I had my scottrade account opened, and that is exactly what this book did for me. I could just sit there, make theoretical trades, and watch what happens, then go back to the book, read some, and then get that ha-ha moment when I finally figured out what was going on. This was possible because unlike many other books, this one tells you what things are going to look like when moves happen. Other books just give a brief basic description of how the screens work, this one goes the next step and tells you what things will look like when something happens.

One other review complained that it is more about day trading than swing trading. Once again, man, read the darn cover. It says, "Day-trading with long term techniques". What do you think Swing Trading is anyway? That reviewer is an idiot in my opinion for that remark. If you want to learn trading then read this book. However, if you want to learn investing then go read Graham and Dodds "Security Analysis."

PS. I bought it back when it was 40 bucks + tax. It's a steal today.

Since I lived in Nevada I tend to compare stock trading, whether it is day trading or swing trading, to speculation. If you are inclined to speculate and take a short term stock position, I recommend that you read the book before you engage in stock trading. It will help you understand the risk, tools and strategies required to survive in the business of stock trading.

I like the book a lot because it was an honest introduction to short term stock trading. The book did not contain any hype or promises of returns or road map to fortunes. All of the trading risks in specualting on the stock price movements were disclosed upfront. Most importantly, the tools to manage such risk were introduced.

Secondly, the book has more than 400 pages of stock trading information and so the book is complete. In my opinion, all of the trading information, from technical and fundamental analysis to Level II screen, was systematically presented in an easy to understand language. The book was also well organized and well illustrated so it was easy to read.

In short, this book is one of the most complete introductory texts to stock trading that I have read. I particularly recommend the book to novice stock traders, although experienced traders will also benefit by reading it.

One of the best on the subject I have read... and I have read a lot. I particually enjoyed his charting and mathmatical explorations. Very good analysis on the importance and uses of MACD, EMA, and Bollinger Bands. This book took my trading to a new level.

I have recently read two other books on day trading and they were much better, so I think the only reason others gave this such a great rating is becaue they have never read anything else. I found this book to be vague, abstract and just a HORRIBLE book. He does go over many definitions of concepts, but then he alway says he will discuss which ones are important later. How am I supposed to know which concepts are important if you don't tell me which ones to keep in mind. He cites numerous books and authors to find more information, but the beginning day trader wants to be told what to do. If you are a day trader who is hears of a concept and want a quick overview of a concept this is the only time I would say I would open this book, although normally I just go online a financial dictionary. If you do read this book, skip the first 80 pages. Other books that are great and simple, and go over concepts over and over so there is no doubt you understand them include "A Beginners Guide to Day Trading Online" by Toni Turner.

Jake has writed no news about trading world, but all that the traders need is into this book. Sometimes we read a bit of trading system, a bit of psicological approach, etc. Jake said that the book is dedicated to day traders and aspiring day traders the world over. Doing day trading is arduous: the challenge immense. The promise of victory and lure of wealth inspire you daily to confront the odds of success. Jake give us this book in the hope that his efforts, research, suggestions, systems, and methods will help us achieve our goals.
Great buy!

Although there is much informative basic material in this book, I cannot stand the fuzzy math this author uses. The percentage gains he reports in some of his examples are blatantly deceptive. An example is Fig. 5-10, where he shows the possible gains achievable using the "gap" method. He quotes a profit potential of $21062, which I dont dispute. However, there is no mention of the actual money necessary to make the trades shown, which is probably somewhere around $30,000 (minimum). This would yield a profit of around 67%. The figure, however, quotes a profit return of almost 700%!! Whether or not these figures are his, or if he borrowed them from another source does not matter. He should know better! This sort of misleading "fluff" does nothing but confuse the amatuer and leads to the expectation of gains much better than realistically possible with a small account balance. Throughout the book, math like this is used to over exagerate possible gains from day trading.

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 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.