Entries & Exits: Visits to 16 Trading Rooms (Wiley Trading) Review

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(More customer reviews)Having already stated in my review of the book that Trading for a Living changed my life (and it most certainly did,) I am obviously a fan of Dr. Elder and as such will be steadfastly determined to keep this review from falling victim to hyperbole. Entries and Exits: Visits to Sixteen Trading Rooms is an important and essential addition to any trading library. A novice trader or one of intermediate experience will find almost endless wisdom to be mined here, but there are also many, many gems for seasoned pros. Imagine being able to sit for hours with 16 traders and pick through in detail their philosophy of trading, their most commons errors, the wisdom they have learned from years of markets--bull markets, bear markets, consolidations, doldrums--and being able to view their trading logs and actually re-trade with them their winners and losers. These traders are both full and part-timers. They trade a variety of markets from futures, stocks, currencies, options, ETFs, mutual funds, and commodities. As a trader of currencies and stocks I found every single chapter to be relevant to my trading irrespective of the specific market favored by the trader being interviewed. The traders also use a variety of charts, methods, and indicators.
I was thrilled to see the MACD favored highly as an indicator since it is my personal favorite. For each trader we learn how long they have traded, the approximate amount of money they typically trade, and a fascinating and detailed description of their trading rooms including how their computers are setup and the specific tools they use (i.e. software, books, websites.) My own trading was immediately affected by the chapter which highlights William Doane, a high-dollar trader of stocks who made a very convincing case for watching longer time-frames. The voice of experience does not stammer. I immediately saw the long bases with breakouts that he favors. Another extremely helpful aspect of this book is the emphasis on and the practical, usable treatment given to money management. Any trader must understand the principles of capital preservation or he won't be a trader very long. Dr. Elder is a very careful teacher of this approach and his "rules" have helped me turn potentially devastating losses into smaller losses from which I can easily recover.
I remember when Market Wizards came out how revolutionary it was to have a glimpse into the minds of professional traders. This book goes far beyond that point because each trader gives examples of individual trades from their own records; some of them winners and some of them losers. The reader is invited to view the chart and set up rationale of each of those trades and determine for himself if the trade will make or lose money before going onto the next page to find out how it actually turned out. In every case, Dr. Elder gives commentary and wisdom. The traders tell the specific charting software and trading platform they use. They explain in detail which indicators they favor and why. Imagine the cost and logistics of gathering this hard-won wisdom. Entries and Exits is one of the best trading books I have ever owned. The information is of such a practical and useful nature that it was incorporated into my own trading within minutes of reading it on the page. The book itself, with high quality paper and boards, is beautifully produced. I expect it to last a lifetime.

If you are a trader of financial markets get this book immediately. If you hope to trade for a living, then think of how valuable it would be to spend some hours with 16 traders who have been in the trenches already with Dr. Elder as your guide. Just get it. It is a steal at twice the price.


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The New Sell and Sell Short: How To Take Profits, Cut Losses, and Benefit From Price Declines (Wiley Trading) Review

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(More customer reviews)I am glad that Dr. Elder took the time to update and publish this book in a new edition. He saw the warning signs of the 2007 bull market coming to an end and had the foresight to write a book about the importance of timing exits and the value of shorting stocks when the time was right. It appears that the author is also as good with his entries and exits in publishing as he is in trading. He could not have given the trading community a better book at a better time when it was first published in May 2008.
If you are searching around on Amazon for a book on trading stocks then look no further, you have found one of the best ones on the market. I have actively traded successfully for over 12 years and read over 160 trading books, this stands out as one of the best. The book is a complete book on trading, it does not skip over any of the most important areas a trader will need for long time success in the markets.
1. The trader must have a trading plan, even discretionary traders.
2. The trader must keep good records to understand his mistakes and successes.
3. A trader should not trade so big that it causes excessive stress and bad judgment.
4. A good rule is to cut every loss to a maximum of 2% or less to limit the risk of ruin.
5. Trading with discipline will put you ahead of the majority of traders.
6. Your trading must fit your own personality and risk tolerance.
7. If you use fundamental ideas for a trade cross check it with the technicals of the chart.
8. Stock option buyers are net losers in the market.
9. Traders can not give up on a stock because they are stopped out, successful traders keep trading the stock until they catch the winning trades.
10. False breakouts and rallies off support are two of the best trading opportunities.
The trading style of the book's author is to trade with a fast and slow exponential moving averages (13,26), along with envelopes. He explains how to use short term swing trades using the MACD and force index to trade when a stock is technically above or below its value zone. The style is not to catch huge trends, it is just to have winning high probability trades by catching half or more of the stocks average range. This is the way professionals trade in a normal market environment. Risk management using stops will protect you from any trend that does take off and falls outside the normal range.
While as the title suggests it teaches when to sell your stocks for profits, and also does the best job I have seen of explaining short selling and when technical indicators show to short. This book is a complete book for any trader. The main lessons of this book is when to lock in profits and exit a trade using a target, and how to double your potential for profits by not only buying stocks but also selling stocks short and buying them back at a lower price for profit.
Professionals sell short because while overall the stock market drifts upward, when a stock falls it falls over twice as fast as it rises. I sell short and it is a powerful tool when used correctly. This book will show you when it is appropriate to short.
Dr. Alexander Elder is the only author I am aware of that integrates trading psychology, money management,technical analysis, and record keeping into one book. These four factors will determine whether you are successful in the market or not, even more than the trading method you choose.
If you are going to be a trader you must follow the money management suggestions in this book. NEVER risk more than 2% of your total equity on a trade, If you follow the 2% rule from the book, it will save you from learning this major life lesson the hard way and save you from huge equity draw downs.
Your long term success as a trader is determined by your ability to learn from your mistakes and not repeat them. The best way to do this is to keep detailed records on a spreadsheet and charts of each trade and a diary of why you traded. You must look squarely at each loss and win. If you learn from each bad trade and limit your loss to less than 2%, it can turn into a long term positive.
This review only scratches the surface of this great book. It is packed with very helpful principles, real trades, humor, and is just outstanding. I really grew as a trader years ago from reading and implementing Dr. Elder's best selling classics "Come into my Trading Room" and "Trading for a Living". If your dream is to trade for a living some day or just trade successfully this is the book to buy.
I was also very glad that Dr. Elder added in trades from the bear market of 2008-2009. I found his explanation of his trades very interesting and informative. There were reviews of some charts from that time period that showed signals of the bottom and when it was time to quit selling and selling short and start buying again.

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Come Into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to Trading Review

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(More customer reviews)Book Review - Come Into My Trading Room by Dr Alexander Elder
It was with a great deal of curiosity that I began to read Come Into My Trading Room. Trading for a Living, Elders first and classic book was the second trading book I ever read and even 40 or so books on from there I still rate it in my top five and frequently recommend it to others who want a considered and honest introduction to trading.
I was interested to see how the themes and emphasis had changed and developed in the nine years since the first book was published. I had briefly read a couple of reviews that suggested it didn't add much to the previous book but I was eager to make my own mind up.
So the first question I asked myself was what hasn't changed?
The style of writing is as clear and engaging as in the first book. The layout is logical and in all key areas he suggests further, more specialised reading to take you deeper into the subjects that may interest you. For the size of the book (only 313 pages), it is very comprehensive and covers the three main areas of competence for a trader. Psychology, Technical Analysis and Money Management. So the three pillars from the first book are still very much standing.
What is different? A great deal in my opinion. The psychology section is vastly improved. I thought that to be the main weakness in the first book, with an over reliance on the AA model which (because of my professional background I have issues with) He draws the title of the psychology section from another excellent book by Mark Douglas, again giving the impression that Elder himself has been learning a lot over the past few years.
The technical analysis section goes much less into describing basic TA than the first book did and instead focuses more on the application of TA to trading. It also includes an update on a method first described in the first book the "triple screen" and a section on systems trading and system testing. As someone who is toying with developing systems at the current time I particularly enjoyed his discussion of the distinction between systems and discretionary traders.
The book is not just aimed at day traders, in fact he lays great emphasis on people examining their own motives to become day traders suggesting that you require at least a years successful experience with end of day trading before you move to intraday trading. He does ask his readers to answer tough questions about themselves and if you are able to give honest answers you will profit greatly from this book.
He also concurs with one of my prejudices, which I am happy to repeat here, he stresses that traders should take their first steps in inexpensive markets to trade. So with futures for example trading the Eurostoxx50 at 10 euros per point is a better starting point for the new trader than Dax at 25 euros per point. He also provides a helpful method for working out which markets you can afford to trade. It is this applied aspect of the book that makes it so valuable. There is no irrelevant padding here, every paragraph has relevance.

The overall balance of the book is about perfect now. In the first book the basic TA took up a large percentage of the volume, this time the sections are much more equitable, with quite rightly, money management and record keeping getting a much more through treatment than in the previous book.
One change in this book (and I did wonder if he had read Tony Oz's wonderful "The Stock Trader") is an addition of some actual trade examples. I always like seeing these because following them through gives a real insight into the traders mind in a way simple chart examples can't.
I think there is a more cautious/warning tone about this book than the first. I suspect this might be because Elder runs trading camps and has had lots of experiences with wannabe traders since writing the first book. He's very aware of the main reasons why people fail and makes these very explicit in the text.
There is also a very good and well referenced basic description of the major trading instruments their advantages and disadvantages something that was missing from the first book.
The section for new traders (or babes in the wood) as he calls them covers the basics of setting up to trade from home, which instruments and markets to look at and the issues of commission, slippage and expenses. He stresses the importance of the bottom line and the need to keep trading expenses such as commission under control
Conclusion
This is a book written by a mature trader and trader educator, who has seen and done it all and can now give the most balanced, practical and honest description of learning to trade you will find anywhere. I highly recommend it to new traders and improvers alike.

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Trading Rules that Work: The 28 Lessons Every Trader Must Master Review

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(More customer reviews)The author, a 20-year trader and market analyst, provides 28 concrete trading rules in this 192-page book that will aid the newbie or experienced futures and FX trader control their inner self when trading. It is also useful for traders of equities and other investment vehicles.
According to the author there are three keys to successful trading:
1. A trader understands their his own psychology
2. A trader masters the psychology of his personal trading rules, and
3. A trader understands and masters the market's psychology
The book is equally divided into four parts: getting in the game, cutting losses, letting profits run, and trader maxims. Jankovsky devotes one chapter to each of the 28 rules. A number of the rules are well known such as have a trading plan, cut losses and let profits run, don't overtrade, and never add to a loser. Others are not as well known such as keep good records and review them, don't second-guess your winners, and all markets are bearish.
In all cases, the author provides excellent insights, a thorough discussion, and good advice on how to implement each rule. Jankovsky notes that traders who consistently make money have a trading plan with specific rules, while losing traders typically have no plan. He believes that it is critical for the trader to keep accurate and comprehensive records of all trades, especially recording what you were feeling and thinking while making the trade.
The author suggests that those interested in trading read books by great traders and focus on how they think and leverage their experience into your own. Also provided is a list of recommended reading, which includes eighteen books focusing on psychology, contrary thinking, and crowd behavior. It is important how a trader creates the market in his/her head, since trading success will depend upon how you see and interpret the market's input.
The book has only a few tables and charts. Unfortunately, a few of the charts are only one-third of a page in size, and the small-boxed comments are hard to read. Half-page charts would have been clearer.
In summary, anyone considering trading for a living, whether using futures or equities, can glean very useful, practical and implemental trading rules that will provide a basis for trading success. This book is a welcome addition to the field. As the author of Day Trading on the Edge: A Look-Before-You-Leap-Guide to Investing published in November 2000, and a voracious reader of over 500 trading and investing books, I found Jankovsky's book easy-to-read and very worthwhile.


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