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Book Review

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Preston
Super Contributor
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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20 REPLIES 20
richardw
Super Contributor
Great review, thanks for the pointer
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_Marco_
Frequent Contributor
Nice review preston.. Did "trading for a living" come out before his other book called "welcome to my trading room"? I'm fairly new to trading but i'd like to get some decent books and start learning alot more. Are there any other books you could definately recommend? I want something thats not fairly complicated so that I can at least learn the basics without being thrown into the more complex parts. Will trading for a living be worth my while at this stage?
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_Marco_
Frequent Contributor
Has anyone perhaps read the new local book called "effective investor" ? Does it mainly focus on investing over the long term or is there sufficient information as well as trading is concerned as well?
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Mr_S
Super Contributor
Just a question...im very excited about finding a whole section on investing and trading at the vasity library, and have picked up a book called 'jungle tactics' by jacques Magliolo. Its abt global research, investment and portfolio strategy...its important for me to get a top quality book to use as my bible from this section(quality not quantity is important), but how do i pick out the golden apples from the bad ones? or do i just look for something that seems to make a whole lot of sense? thanks
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Terra
Super Contributor
You can get this book as a download from: http://www.cheaptradingbooks.com/comeintomytradingroom.htm I got the book (322 pages)in pdf format + study guide for only $6.99 Thanks for the recommendation.
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barry_1
Super Contributor
Great insight,wonderful reveiw,makes me want go out and buy the book at the first opportunity!
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divz
Super Contributor
Hey Preston also a big Elder fan. The one indicator i would like to have is the Force Index linking volume and price unfortunately i do not have the software that can plot force index i tried to re invent on excel but no luck yet if anybody is using it please let me know with what software or how i can write in excel
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Preston
Super Contributor
Hi, I cannot take credit for this review cos it is not mine. I often read reviews by other traders before purchasing these books from Amazon.com. I found this review to be rather interesting and it was for that reason why i posted this on the forum.
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Not applicable
Buy Amibroker for +- R1000 and I'll send you the force index graph formula.
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Not applicable
Force Index=(today's close-yesterday's close)*Volume.
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divz
Super Contributor
Thnks Hennie i know the formula do you know what software comes with force index? Even if you do programme it into excel it becomes a bit clumsy to use it with chart analysis software or is there no other choice?
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divz
Super Contributor
Thanks Vitorc i have never used Amibroker but i assume that your saying that with Amibroker you can programme force index and get the graph to use as indicator... if so will definitely buy Amibroker...where do you buy the Amibroker off the net?
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Not applicable
I see its on Idealcfds platform and Metastocks ... example i have of it on ideal ....http://www.zshare.net/image/649162593545a7fe/
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Werner_1
Super Contributor
you can get it from sharenet: http://www.sharenet.co.za/v3/amibroker/ - but also on their website: http://www.amibroker.com/
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divz
Super Contributor
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Not applicable
I think OST also offers Amibroker with a datafeed. I belong to the Sharenet datafeed though. As far as the force index formula is concerned, it takes some digging to get that. Pop me your email address, or send an email to [email protected].
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Not applicable
Divz, your domain has gmail.com blacklisted - I saw your email but can't get a reply to you. Have you got another email address? Please send to [email protected].
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divz
Super Contributor
Hi Vitorc sent you new mail address...thanks
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