Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This one must be in demand because I got it several years ago for around 10 bucks, now its $20.
Not an "Introduction to Commodities Trading" by any means, but if you have been trading for awhile you will appreciate this book a lot. You will relate to his experiences, success and failure, and will realize nothing much has really changed! We have the same joys and frustrations, emotional highs and lows, insight and bewilderment, successes and failures, we are geniuses one day and idiots the next, and so on. This book contains all the best trading wisdom you will find in all the best trading books, albeit, his language is slightly different.
He quotes Reminiscences of a Stock Operator quite a bit and reinforces the advice contained in that book with his own experience. Kroll was basically a Trend Follower, but this is easier said than done. He even says on page 21 that identifying the trend is only half the job (I would say it is far less than half the job) because you can still get killed if you get in on the trend at the wrong time. Isn't it easy to look at a 5 year old chart and see a clear trend? But it's a little harder to look at a current chart and buy at the right spot, then hang on to a position during those "minor" retracements.
This book was published in 1974, but "Reminiscences" is much older than that and no one seriously questions the soundness of that book. Keep in mind, Professional Commodity Trader was written primarily from the standpoint of a traditional commodity trader (corn, cattle, coffee, gold, and some currencies, etc. but not the numerous financial and stock index futures we have today). Here is a quote from the book:
"The secret of success: knowledge of the markets and of particular commodities, an understanding of both the fundamental and technical aspects of each market, fast reflexes and a good sense of timing, a bit of luck, and a great deal of patience and courage. Add lots of experience, a few `burns', and a goodly number of `killings', and you're on your way."
Does anyone who has been trading awhile question the truth of that statement?
Ch. 16 "Tiptoe into my office and be a fly on the wall" is excellent. It could have been written last week. He really takes you to the inside of the process here and gives you some insight into market activity, how it really works and how the mass of public commodities speculators get hurt. The whole book makes you feel like you are on the inside of the deal, but even more so in this chapter. In this chapter he gives a good example of a statement he makes in chapter 7: "Riding a winning commodity position is a lot like riding a bucking bronco. Once you manage to get aboard, you know what you have to do-hang on and stay hung on; not get bumped or knocked off till the end of the ride. And you know that if you can just manage to stay in the saddle, you're a winner. Sounds simple? Well, that's the essence of successful trading." That may sound like he is advocating staying in losing positions, but if you read the context of this quotation and the book as a whole, you will see he is saying nothing of the sort. In fact, the chapter entitles "The Most Important Chapter in the Book" is about "keeping losses small". Sound familiar?
Kroll apparently used technical analysis, but his approach is not overly technical or complicated, neither is his writing. He tells you the way it is and what it takes to succeed. Books that are nothing but charts and indicators and obscure calculations, are nearly worthless in my opinion. I look at charts constantly and use some indicators, so don't get me wrong, but a book that tells you about the reality of the market, how unpredictable it can be, how contrary it can behave at times, what rules you need to follow, gives sound advice, etc. are much more helpful in my opinion.
I could say much more, but to close this is a very, very good book, in my opinion one of the best. High Probability Trading, The Professional Commodity Trader, Trading in the Zone, and Reminiscences of a Stock Operator have been the 4 books that have been the most helpful to me. They all offer much of the same trading advice, they deal with reality, and they concentrate more on the trader than the trade.
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