Book Description

For commodity traders and portfolio managers—a practical, hands-on guide to profiting in today’s growing international cross rate markets. Cross rates trading is growing increasingly popular, fueled in no small part by banks and multinationals seeking creative strategies for hedging currency risk and speculators seeking profits from interest rate plays and exchange rate moves. Trading Currency Cross Rates is the passkey to this vastly profitable financial sector. Written for the experienced trader moving into the currency futures and foreign exchange cash markets, as well as for the corporate portfolio manager seeking to limit company exposure, this professional guide covers the fundamentals of today’s cross rates markets and delivers the step-by-step techniques needed to trade cross rates successfully. Packed with charts and tables that apply over a broad range of international markets and currencies, the guide:

• Explains what cross rates are and profiles the different types that currently are traded
• Shows whether to trade on an agency or principal basis, and how to avoid counterparty failure
• Covers the building blocks of currency valuation and the best methods for forecasting moves in currency cross rates
• Reveals how to profitably trade exotic cross rates among currencies from the Pacific Rim and Middle East
• Explains how to cross over to the growing interbank currency market, and which fundamental and technical analysis techniques specifically apply to it
• Discusses how to easily adapt any current trading system and its input to the profitable cash markets

Book Description

In The Gold Ring, Capitol Hill veteran Kenneth D. Ackerman tells the story of two dazzling con men who rose to the top of the Erie Railway Company before fixing their ambitions on a scam so great it would make them two of the richest men in America-and cement their reputation as two of the most corrupt. They were Jay Gould, the ruthless self-promoter who came to be recognized as the most hated, if brilliant, man of his generation, and his partner, the extravagant showman Jim Fisk, whose insatiable indulgences finally led to his demise. Featuring a cast of supporting characters that includes Boss Tweed, Albert Cardozo, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Ulysses S. Grant, The Gold Ring evokes an age of scandal and depravity in the world of high finance that makes today's climate of corporate excess and deception seem positively tame by comparison. Featuring numerous historic photographs, this is a compelling and fiercely entertaining insight into Wall Street's early years. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great book.
I loved reading this account of the money game in old New York played by the masters Fisk and Gould. The story was gripping and the themes amazingly relevant to today. ... Read more

Book Description

Excerpted in The New Yorker and hailed by the business press, The Predictors is destined to become a classic of its generation--an antic, subversive odyssey into a universe defined by the mystical convergence of physics and finance.

How could a couple of rumpled physicists in sandals and Eat-the-Rich T-shirts, piling computers into an adobe house in Santa Fe, hope to take on the masters of the universe from Morgan Stanley? Doyne Farmer and Norman Packard may never have read The Wall Street Journal, but they happen to be among the founders of the new sciences of chaos and complexity. Who better to try to find order in the apparently unreasoned chaos of the global financial markets? Thomas A. Bass takes us inside their start-up company, following it from its inception as a motley collection of longhaired Ph.D.s to its passage into the centers of financial power, where "the predictors" find investors and finally go live with real money. The Predictors is a dizzying, often hilarious tale of genius and greed.
... Read more

Reviews (32)

Anticlimatic
I am a trader. I traded in the pits for years. I traded over-the-counter. Futures and options, vanilla and exotic. I also hold degrees in physics and electrical engineering from MIT. I was hoping to relate to the characters in this book. I didn't at all.

First, my comments on the book as a story. I was interested at first, but was struggling to get through the last third of the book, as characters were developed that seemed like little more than filler. I tired of the endless descriptions of wardrobe and scenery. And, in the end, we don't really find out what happened. Some reviewers complain about lack of technical detail. The book was obviously not written as a scientific treatise, but as a story, so those readers really have no reason to be disappointed in that aspect.

Secondly, my thoughts about the science and the scientists featured in the book. Nonlinear dynamic systems have been studied by all Wall Street firms, even at the time Prediction Co. was doing it. I actually have a fair amount of distaste for this whole subject. What it amounts to is traders, banks, uber investors, etc. looking for the next quick money making opportunity within the latest development (fad some might say) in informational science. That in and of itself is not a bad thing, but a reasonable quest. The reason most of these kinds of endeavors fail is that unification of Wall Street and academia can only be successful if the researchers or modelers have a firm grasp of BOTH worlds. The models ultimately fail because what is really being modelled is human psychology and reaction. Numbers alone do not tell the tale. There is no (legal) way of knowing that the trader at MS just had a blow up with his risk advisor and is angrily dumping his yen position inefficiently, and that UBS knows MS is also long calls so they begin crushing call volatility since they know MS will liquidate them as well. Sure, a chart may have predicted a squeeze, but the details of the actual trading couldn't have been prophesied. Prediction Co. was running thousands of models? This should be the first tip off that they had no idea what the principal components of the market were. They were shooting in the dark.

This was a perfect example of banker types with no technical prowess whatsoever trying to work with ivory tower types with no street savvy. It doesn't work. "Well, traders and quants work together in most trading firms." True, but this is different because there was no established program or models that the quants were running. This was fly by the seat of the pants almost. While I admire the accomplishments of these researchers in academic realms, they were definitely not cut out to be businessmen with their communistic, hippy, and honestly, somewhat lazy, approach to life. Yes, some succeed, you have your accasional Bill Gates (although I would argue he was extremely business-headed), but not many. Look at the dot-com debacle. Same story.

Lastly, do you really think that anyone who truly tapped into the Holy Grail of trading would actually allow a book to be written about it?

You would learn a thing or two,
Well I picked up the book as I am interested in complexity science. Most of the reviews here are quite harsh, and probably it was bad expectations management on writer's / publisher's part.

Even though the book sometimes is promoted as an investing book, it is not. It is not meant for day traders who just expect to discover next holy grail of financial markets reading such books. There is no holy grail in markets, but thats another thing. With that said, it may be clear that it is not a TRADING / INVESTIING book.

The book is story of two renowned physicists turning to use their physics, specifically chaos theory, to model financial market. The story part is dealt with great care. I am sure you learn a thing or two reading this book. This book was quite reasy to read and time I spent reading was worth more than had I spent reading a Grisham novel or watching some stupid soap on TV. It is real life here folks.

Bass is not a novelist so I did not expect him write a literary piece here. He has written a true story in a very good way and struggle of Farmer and Packard in estabilshing a company and utilizing their knowldge in a productive way is very cleverly depicted. There are tonnes of other relevant information that come and go, and an intelligent reader would surely pick something here. There is a lot of current history explored here.

With that said, this is NOT a book for the NEXT TRADING SYSTEM, nor does it preach that their system was PERFECT.

Interesting Topic not Handled Well
I agree with many of the other reviewers. This book is 90% filler. Instead of discussing the topic at hand, we are repeatedly bombarded with a desciption of the weather, the El Paso fiesta season, etc... This is a story about a group of (in my opinion, uninteresting) characters, and not a book on Investing or Science. Not recommended.

Another book about a start-up
This book is less about the market and more about the personal relationships and dealings of a business start-up. I'm surprised that the book lists its category as BUSINESS/SCIENCE when truly it lies in the former. I guess mentioning chaos theory, neural networks and genetic algorithms was all that was needed.

Regardless, it was an entertaining story about a group of physicists, being totally ignorant of the market, decide that they can predict the market. The storyline follows what I would consider typical of any start-up; the fights, arguments, doubts, meetings galore, etc... As I said, entertaining but not too much different from any other story about a start-up.

My two biggest complaints:

1) The back cover from the San Francisco Chronicle calls this book "one of the best books ever written about commodities, currency, and derivatives trading." I don't think they even read the book since this book isn't about trading but all about the traders.

2) The over use of descriptive fashion and landscape. I lost track of how many times we needed to be told who was wearing what and how blue the sky was in Santa Fe. It really got annoying after awhile.

Full of adventure
Interesting adventures, better than the Hardy Boys! On one page Doyne's replacing the differential in his old van in the desert, several pages later he's suited up (unwillingly, presumably) dueling intellectually with the experts at Goldman-Sachs. In between he's writing checks to keep the fledgling company alive. Like I said, beats Hardy Boys hands down! Bass includes a good description of neo-classical economics ideas, still widely believed by many economicsts far and wide, as in the case of the failed LTCM, not to mention Enron, the IMF, world Bank, and US advisors to Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, thailand, Russia, .... . Significantly, LTCM was guided in part by two Nobel Prize winning neo-classical economists who characteristically proceded implicitly as if there would be 'springs' in the market to enforce the 'no arbitrage' assumption at long (but not too-long...) times. I personally don't believe that the future can be forecast reliably, but then according to a member of The Company they found a small (few %) advantage and sold it to UBS. A gambler with a small bankrole would suffer the gamblers' ruin while trying to bet on such weak correlations. Actually, the hat on the cover looks vaguely familiar, but then what's in a hat? ... Read more

Book Description

The True Life Story and Time-Tested Strategies of the World’s Greatest Trader

"Excellent read! Captures the spirit and times of Jesse Livermore, legendary trader. The book tracks two major market crashes, love affairs, the shooting of Jesse Jr. by his mother, and two family suicides. . . . Never a dull moment." –Ace Greenberg, Chairman, Bear Stearns

"Terrific. I started reading it when we took off from Seoul’s Kimbo Airport on my way to Germany. By the time we reached Novosibirsk, Russia . . . I had finished it. I just couldn’t put it down! Not only is it a great lesson in investing and trading, it’s a fascinating psychological study of what makes a great speculator tick.The rise and fall of a great speculator as well as the rise and fall of his family is great reading. The fact that it is based on interviews with Livermore’s survivors and witnesses to the events makes it even more interesting. Great writing."–Mark Mobius, Managing Director, Templeton Asset Management

"As one of the most shrewd traders of all time, Jesse Livermore demonstrated how important discipline is when trading the market. Smitten . . . covers how Livermore created his rules . . . also reviews the lessons Livermore learned along the way to develop his strategies."–William J. O’Neil, Publisher, Investor’s Business Daily

"A stock market classic! Most entertaining and informative book on the market that I have had the privilege to read in the last twenty years. A must-read for students of the stock market–great even for those who have no knowledge of the market. Grabs you from the start and holds you enthralled from cover to cover. Great book!"–Dan Sullivan, Publisher, The Chartist, Fund Manager, and Investment Advisor

"After reading Smitten’s magnificent biography, two Japanese proverbs came to mind: ‘Fortune favors the bold’ and ‘Darkness lies one inch ahead.’ Smitten shows how fortune and darkness were integral parts of Livermore’s life . . . has the intrigue of a mystery novel and the lessons of a trading master. What more can one ask for?I eagerly recommend this book to anyone interested in history, the markets, and trading psychology."–Steve Nison, author of Japanese Candlestick Charting ... Read more

Reviews (12)

How to make, lose, make, lose, make, and lose vast fortunes.
While Livermore started out with nothing and died more or less bankrupt, his career in-between was genuinely meteoric. The man could turn a few thousand into a million within months, then lose it all in a couple of hours. Shows how much you can succeed (and fail) if you really put your mind to it.

This book is a worthy companion to Edwin Lefevre's barely-fictional biographical novel REMINISCENCES OF A STOCK OPERATOR. The first 180 pages or so of this one closely mirror the story in REMINISCENCES, giving real-life names to people and places, and disgorging more details on Livermore's non-trading life. It goes on from there to discuss his staggering 100-million dollar win during the Great Crash of 1929 (when so many other investors and traders opted for suicide to curtail their losses) and the steady, tragic disintegration of his family life and trading instincts that followed thereafter.

Smitten has produced an entertaining, briskly-moving account of the great trader's life that doesn't require any prior knowledge of the stock market or investing ("speculating" is a better word, as Livermore would put it). Also included are a few chapters on Livermore's trading theories culled from his 1940 book HOW TO TRADE IN STOCKS.

Trading Discipline and EQ
A very engaging real life story of one of the world greatest speculators : the great success of Market Trading (making 100 million during the Great Crash of 1929, while others committed suicides), and the tragedy of himself and family.

While maximum trading disicpline calls for emotionless and cold behavior to observe the unforlding patten and trend of the market, the EQ seems to suffers badly.

His success story in market trading is better appreciated when one has good grounding and experience in Technical Analysis TA(refer my internet tuition class on TA coaching, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/360qBC03/). It seems that Livermore's mind is equivalent to today computer with TA software of charts, patterns and trends, and having the highest disicpline in objectivity he turned thousand dollars into millions.

For those who want to be successful and skillful investors, read the book and follows some of his discipline, while maintain you EQ.

QuaSyLaTic, Andrew

http://www.360q.com

It's a biography, but also a great trading secrets book
People who don't understand TA, have no concept of what this excellently written book is saying. I derived over 12 pages of trading notes. Yes, it's an biography on JL who was a classic manic depressive and desperately needed to take Prozac. If he lived through this market crash, he would have been richer than Gates and Buffet put together, and a whole lot happier.
Read in to this book and you will derive the secret to market success.

Very poorly written
Sorry for giving only 1 star: although the life story Livermore has been communicated to the reader, this book has been just too poorly written. I have never read a book so poorly written. The author simply gather all the raw materials together with little organization, and NO literary kill whatsoever. Worse, apparently the author did not proof read his manuscript, nor did an editor. It would be desirable for the author to collaborate with a true writer in writing this book. It is a shame, and the author even claimed in the preface that he knows about Jessie Livermore than anyone else: too bad that someone who knows him more than anyone else can't write a biography of him of even average quality. Just a couple example to let you have a flavor of this book: after quoting in more than one places that Livermore's wife called him "Laurie", in a much later part the author suddenly thought it necessary to explain that this may be a nickname they used between them. In many a part of the book, there are passages that, after describing someone involved in Livermore's life's event, immediately adding: he/she later became such and such; or, years later he/she would do such and such.

Now regardless the writing of the book, it does give facts, so let's just struggle to read it through and get what we want, the life of Jessie Livermore. All I can say is this: I started with the desire to know about the stock market, I ended with a very sad feeling. What I've found is a very, very sad story; almost everyone involved had a tragic life, a number of them tragic deaths as well. Get psychologically prepared before you read it.

Read Reminiscences of a Stock Operator Instead
I have read "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" three times now. The more I read it, the more I get out of it.

My main problem with this book is that 3/4 of the content regurgitates the events of "Reminiscences" almost verbatim. The writers approach however is to retell this story through reconstructing dialogue between Jessie (the protagonist) and all the various characters met in Reminiscences. I found this approach extremely irritating - especially since I was familiar enough with the original Reminiscences text to detect where the author had "made up" segments of the conversation using "artistic license to capture the flavor of the original conversations" (authors own admission).

The other 1/4 deals with Jessies private life, which although I found interesting, was plagued by the same "conversation reconstruction" style.

If you have already read reminiscences, and are truly hungry to learn more about Jessies private life and selected exploits after 1923 - then buy this book. If you have not read reminiscences, read it instead - you will learn far more out of the original source. ... Read more

Book Description

Explores two neglected mathematical tools essential for competing successfully in today's frenzied commodities markets: quantity, which shows the proper amounts a trader should trade for a given market and system, and intercorrelation of returns (diversification), which shows not only which markets and systems to trade, but how to diversify with respect to trading the right quantities for each market. By using these lesser known tools in conjunction with the more popular trade/system selection tools, readers will see mathematically how success in the markets can be achieved, and how``success'' without using all three is most likely incidental. In addition, non-stationary distribution of profits and losses and drawdowns are incorporated into the discussions to expose traders to the highs and lows of commodities markets and how best to leverage their assets. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Excellent coverage of a difficult topic
... this book is incredible. I have a degree in mathematics and the principles expressed are extremely sound -- but far more important than the formulas are the first couple of chapters which cause you to view trading in a very different, and statistical, manner. Although the theories in this book can really only be applied to a trading system (which I haven't really used), after reading this book over several times I understand that there is a mathematical certainty that I will eventually lose my trading capital if I don't start approaching trading in a more systematic fashion. Anyway, I highly recommend it -- the sections on gambling theory alone are worth buying it.

Beware applying optimal f to actual trading
The problem with optimal f is that the calculation is highly dependent on the largest loss on a trade (not drawdown) experienced in backtesting. If you use optimal f and the largest loss in actual trading is greater than the loss experienced in backtesting, you will go bankrupt. Vince deals with this problem in an offhanded manner by suggesting that the actual f you use should be "padded". OK, so in the end you don't even use the actual optimal f, you pad it. And how much do I pad it by? Vince is silent on this question. So the purpose of optimal f - to decide by formula how much capital to allocate to a trade - is totally negated by the fact that you must "pad" optimal f. And you must pad it by a qualitativly determined amount because, again, Vince gives no formula on how much to pad it by. Optimal f is totally useless for system traders or any other trader for that matter.

full of fluff, platitudes, generalities, and inaccuracies
"This book is about mathematical tools". That's the first sentence of Vince, who as it turns out markets his books as heavy on math. I'd bet that he never had college classes in math, or physics, or finance for that matter. His book is full of mathematical depths like explaining why 1+2*3 is equal to 7, not to 9, or giving four reasons why asterisks is the best symbol for multiplication. Another brilliant example is when he illustrates how to combine three assets with different weights: 10% of A, 10% of B, 80% of C; 10% of A, 20% of B, 70% of C, and then three more pages of other different combinations. General math level of this book is a level of B-student in the seventh grade who has never derived a mathematical formula or proved mathematical fact. Then, considerable part of the book is authors comments on trading wisdom, like "first loss is the best loss". Then, there are some ramblings on normal ditributions and Capital asset pricing theory. About 60 pages are appendices on completely irrelevant topics like he writes Black-Scholes formula, or normal distribution, or his grandiose program duplicated in C and Basic.

The "stuff" of this book, which is the so-called "f-ratio" is explained on about ten pages. You can understand it, although it is not a clear explanation. Better probably to read it where the author got it in the first place. It is difficult to say if f-ratio has much practical importance because of assumption of indefinite divisibility of trading contracts.

Most of all this book reminded me a project done overnight for a school or college class where you put a little stuff in the middle and then pad it for volume with anything you can come up with because you need to satisfy the minimum length requirement.

Simply the best investment money management book out there
I bought this book about 4 years ago and put it on the shelf for later reading (I collect books in this subject area). I sure wish I read it thoroughly at an earlier date. Concerning the area of money management as related to investing, this is simply the best book I have ever seen, and like I said, I collect books dealing with this subject. While this book at first seems oriented towards the futures markets, its principles may be applied to any market. Personally, I invest in stocks, not futures. Just this weekend, using the theory discussed in this book, I set up a spreadsheet that I feel confident will greatly improve my trading returns in the future. Highly recommended. The material is explained very well and very thoroughly and is very convincing.

The best book on money management
This book changed my trading life. It tells why money management is as important or more important than a trading strategy itself. It also allows one to make apple to apple comparisons of trading systems; after the analysis you then allocate numbers of contracts (or shares) to each system. Without proper money management most traders, even with winning strategies, are doomed to fail. ... Read more

Book Description

The Transformation of Wall Street offers an in-depth look at the history of the SEC’s origins, accomplishments, and failings since its creation in 1934. Each chapter in the book takes historical look at the tenure of the various SEC chairmen.The first edition, published in 1977, covered the SEC through the Nixon-Ford presidential administration. A revised edition was published in 1995, updating the book through 1992. Now, the third edition continues the history until 2001, the end of Arthur Levitt’s Chairmanship, with a treatment of auditing issues through the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (July 2002).In this revised edition, author Joel Seligman draws on unpublished SEC files and extensive personal interviews to provide a comprehensive examination of the origins, accomplishments, and failings of the SEC and its leaders, from the creation of the SEC in 1934 to the presentThe new material, among other things, will address:• The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, which has had a significant impact on private securities litigation after its passage in 1995; • The structure of the securities markets (which are in an important transition because of Electronic Communications Networks; decimalization; international competition; and the continuing evolution to greater institutionalization of our markets as well as the growth of several new products, most recently security futures products);• Municipal securities markets (which were largely ignored before the recently resigned Arthur Levitt);• Several issues with respect to the accounting profession (most notably auditor independence and the independence of accounting standard-setting boards). In addition, the work will focus on Chairman Levitt, whom the author believes was one of the most accomplished of the post World War II chairs, and had the challenge of being a Chair appointed by a Democratic party president during a period when Republicans controlled both houses of Congress as well as a period of extraordinary ferment in the securities market.

This book offers a rare perspective into the work of corporate finance and capital markets through the eyes of one of the most respected and prominent members. His unique involvement with Louis Loss and the history, theories and legislation and regulations of this complex area offers the reader great insight. ... Read more

Book Description

The New Fibonacci Trader Workbook allows you to practice the innovative techniques and strategies associated with becoming a "new" Fibonacci trader–without suffering the real-world consequences of mistiming the markets and losing valuable capital. Robert Fischer familiarizes you with the ins and outs of utilizing new Fibonacci trading tools and brings you up-to-speed on how computer graphics and calculation technology have changed the way the "new" Fibonacci trader tackles the markets.

The New Fibonacci Trader Workbook offers a wealth of practical exercises that will help further your understanding, as well as test and apply what you’ve learned.This indispensable, hands-on companion to The New Fibonacci Trader reviews the most critical aspects of trading within the "new" Fibonacci framework, including:

• Fibonacci Summation Series
• Corrections and extensions
• PHI-channels
• PHI-ellipses
• PHI-spirals
• Fibonacci time goal analysis

Put your knowledge of The New Fibonacci Trader to the test first, then go into the markets and turn your dream of becoming a successful trader into a reality.

For more information, go to www.fibotrader.com
Visit our Web site at www.wileyfinance.com ... Read more

Reviews (3)

New Patterns
Interesting new patterns to add to your trading arsenal. The workbook runs thru examples for you to calculate and set up to learn the details of the method. Unfortunately, the stocks don't always behave as simple patterns, so it is still a risk. If you trade counter-trend, this has specific tricks for you.

Can't say methodology has made significant profits to justify the workbook, book, data feed, computer and analysis, but this is a work in progress. OTOH I would continue the data feed, computer and analysis anyway to look for my favorite spot plays anyway, so really this is still undergoing test trials.

Don't waste your money.
This book is a piece of junk. Don't waste your money like I did.

The Companion Workbook I've Been Waiting For!
I was waiting for a workbook to guide me through this difficult but important trading technique! I love how everything is so well illustrated at every stage of the process. ... Read more

Book Description

Trading

The Plan is a powerful instrument to help you achieve control over your financial destiny. It equips you with the tools you need to maximize your profits, control your risks, and, perhaps most importantly, develop a money management program that will limit your losses. In the course of reading this remarkable book, you'll grow to regard author Robert Deel as a trusted advisor who gives you tough, straightforward advice and helps you implement the changes you need to make. And, unlike the "one-size-fits-all" approach of other advisors, Deel shows you how to tailor a strategy that fits your specific needs, goals, and risk tolerance.

Drawing on years of experience as an investment advisor, Deel has packed this book with both detailed practical advice and hard-won wisdom about how trading, investing, and human nature really work. Emphasizing the danger of unchecked losses, he makes the case that a strong money management program is absolutely essential to acquiring and keeping wealth. He examines the many faces of risk and thoroughly explores the key money management questions:

• How much of total available capital should you risk?
• How much do you risk in any one trade?
• How much leverage should you use?
• How can you project losses and preserve your capital?

To help you establish your own money management system, Deel provides a simple but powerful formula —the Direction Discipline Risk Leverage equation —which examines your trading ability and helps you control risks.

In his invaluable "15 Rules of Investology," based on 40 years of trading results by professional and private investors, Deel offers trading and investing guidelines that will spare the reader wealth-draining losses and many sleepless nights. Here is concise, practical information on how to use fundamental and technical analyses to select and screen trades, determine market trends and trading cycles, categorize different types of stocks, and select the computer equipment you need to trade successfully.

In a brilliant summary of all the key features of the trading plan, Deel walks you through the entire trading and investing process from beginning to end. This "Anatomy of a Trade" illustrates all the important decision points in an actual trade and offers a hands-on application of the trading plan to a working example.

For all futures, stock, and options traders, Trading the Plan is an essential field guide for acquiring —and keeping —profits.

Maximize profits, control risks, and limit losses with this total plan for investing and trading

Like no other book of its kind, Trading the Plan gives the individual trader in futures, stocks, and options a superb resource for investing, managing money, and limiting the profit-draining losses that can lead to financial disaster.

"Robert Deel offers traders and investors alike a solid overview of real world trading advice. The subject matter covers everything from the psychology of trading to practical money management techniques. Trading the Plan: Build Wealth, Manage Money, Control Risk is a definite must read for any serious investor." —David C. Stendahl, President, The OEX Trader, Inc. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

You Not Only Trade the Plan, you Learn to Plan
Deel teaches you, from an insider's mind (he used to work the Floor), how to trade the markets.

He teaches technical analysis and he doesn't stay clear of fundamental analysis although he stresses the technical side of things.

It is his view that all the information is in the price. It is.

But he goes on to teach that in spite of the price being the ONLY thing that matters in knowing where to place your investment money, he also explains that every stock does exactly what it's supposed to do... just not exactly WHEN it's supposed to do it. Therefore, your plan has GOT to make room for contingencies. I appreciate how he stresses stop losses. I know of many (poor) investors who heard the lie, "Don't place stops or the specialists will take you out!"

If you're brand new to the market, I'd get a VERY intro book on investing first, and then I'd read/devour this text. It's not an advanced book but if you've never bought or sold a stock, it will confuse you. You don't need much experience though to make this work for you.

Disappointed
I was disappointed by trading title. The large text (12 or 14 type font) and small size should have been warning signs.

While the book definitely imparts important information every trader or investor should know, the advice is very simplistic. For example, chapter one explains that we should "buy low and sell high" or that we must be emotionally prepared for losses and gains. One rule he gives could be dangerous if incorrectly applied, and this involves selling too early. The author says that selling too early does not cause you a loss, after all. However, this could be hazardous to a trend following system which depends on a few large gainers. If those few large gainers are sold early, they will never develop into large gainers and offset the many losses. In short, and as other trading experts have noted, one CAN broke taking profits early because this may avoid the big gainers - unless your system is one which is more dependent on the frequency of winners than the size of those winners (e.g. a day trading system).

The text is very introductory and should be for the introductory trader.

Basic, but effective
This book is a paradox. How can just a few simple concepts explained in a somewhat shallow way be 'enough'?

Well, i've read books on money management that go too far on systems and techniques that aren't that easy to grasp or implement. This book by Mr. Deel goes a long way on showing you ways to complement your trading system with just a few rules that will keep you alive for many losing trades in a row, if such a tragic situation ever occur. So, don't waste too much time on making a buying decision. This book is for you. If you're into mathematics, this one will leave you wanting. If you just want a simple and effective way to complement a trading system so that you'll be right there for that next trade with enough tradind capital, than this is it.

If you trade futures only, look elsewhere...

Fantastic, Well Written, In-depth Information
I can't believe the insite of the author and useful information which this book covers. This book makes you think about what you are doing and how important risk management is to your trading plan. The book delivers a clear well written and versatile approach to developing a winning trading plan.

I have been trading for 15 years and very few books are as on the mark as this one. The author takes very complex information and explains it in a concise and crystal clear explanation.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to trade or invest. WOW!

OK as an introduction, not useful for the experienced trader
This text quickly covers a large variety of topics in shallow detail. If you need to be told that you should cut your losses and let your winners run, then this is your book. If you want a text that will help you find winners (or the losers you are supposed to avoid in the first place) you best look elsewhere. ... Read more

Book Description

Sparked with wit and humor, this clever and insightful book provides clear evidence that the stock market is inefficient. In the author's view, models based on rational economic behavior cannot explain important aspects of market behavior. The book tackles important issues in today's financial market in a highly conversational and entertaining manner that will appeal to most readers.Chapter topics include: estimating expected return with the theories of modern finance, estimating portfolio risk and expected return with ad hoc factor models, payoffs to the five families, predicting future stock returns with the expected-return factor model, super stocks and stupid stocks, the international results, the topography of the stock market, the positive payoffs to cheapness and profitability, the negative payoff to risk, and the forces behind the technical payoffs to price-history.For anyone who wants to learn more about today's financial markets. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Good Analysis
The Inefficient Stock Market is a nice slap in the face to Modern Finance. Getting my MBA, i was always turned off by Portfolio Management Theory because of the unrealistic assumptions made on the onset (such as everyone being rational and everyone holding an efficient market portfolio). Mr. Haugen provides a great analysis and statistical evidence to show that many of those critical assumptions are in fact wrong.

He also provides an investment strategy of sorts that outperforms the S&P 500. All hedge fund managers should read this book.

Good accessible book on market inefficiencies.
Most investors would benefit from reading this book. It is a good overview of what is known about market inefficiencies and how they can be exploited.

For those who find it too down-market, he also has a weighty tome called "Modern Investment Theory" which is more thorough and more academic in tone. As an example, it describes how to combine Markowicz's techniques with factor models to exploit the inefficiencies more effectively than the approach suggested in 'What works on Wall St' etc.

Badly written book with lot of mistakes
I think that CAMP, APT, etc aren't good for investors, but this book misleads them even more. There are several mistakes, and opposite data in various chapters.

Investment Heaven
Prof. Haugen does not show you how to beat the market by a little - he shows you how to beat it by a lot (I hope!).

The material is demanding but is understandable by the intelligent layperson, and is leavened by a very entertaining wit as Haugen does battle with the efficient market theorists.

What may pay off a little bit, and why
One major school of investment and finance is that markets are so efficient, or, so random, that it is virtually impossible to consistently beat the market. (Remember that half are always above average, and exactly half are always below average.) Readers of "The Experts Pick:..." columns in business magazines or the Wall Street Journal may recognize that such national investment experts fail in their "best" stock pick about half the time, or, in the case of the WSJ, a "dartboard" (literally) performs about as well as half the experts. There is a school of Finance (folks with PhDs) who work on proving this is so. Inefficient Stock Market is a fairly complex work, with lots of graphs and tables, which shows that fairly complex models with dozens of factors may beat the market - by a few percentage points, sometimes. The author is indeed very knowledgeable and writes clearly (given his sophisticated material). But don't expect a "get rich quick" theory of investment. You know, the market is too efficient to allow that ! It's not really behavioral finance (except in his criticism of the status quo). It's something of a very sophisticated approach to "value investing", with the goal of securing a few extra percentage points of return over an index fund. Note: this is not a book for starters. You should know something about the stock market and investing for the whole point of this book to make sense. A book like Lebaron's "ULTIMATE INVESTOR" could give you some background knowledge for this book. ... Read more

Book Description

A comprehensive overview of the supply and demand picture for natural resources globally.

Many analysts now believe that a tightening of natural resources (oil, gas, grains, metals) is opening the door to tremendous investment opportunity. Roland Jansen provides a fully up-to-date examination of investing and trading in natural resources through prudent, realistic, yet profitable means, including stocks, futures, and mutual funds.

Roland A. Jansen (Liechtenstein & the Netherlands) is Director of LLB Fondsleitung AG, the fund management company of Liechtensteinische Landesbank. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Keep buying energy: Oil has already doubled in price .
"Profits from Natural Resources" appeared in the book stores in November 1998, when nobody paid attention to commodities and oil was trading at $ 10 a barrel. Now oil has doubled in price and natural resources as an investment sector has been sofar one of the hottest and best performing sectors of 1999. Say no more ! ... Read more

Book Description

This book is an introduction to the markets in deposits, bonds, futures and swaps. It explains the purpose and design of these financial instruments, and how they are used by the various players in the financial system.

The book is for new recruits and potential new recruits in financial markets, as well as accountants, lawyers, and those wishing to understand the basic principles of finance. The author's engaging, accessible and non-mathematical style is comprehensible by those with no prior financial knowledge. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A readable and thorough introduction to fixed income markets
Extremely readable. One could read this book in a single sitting and get a great jumpstart to an understanding of fixed income markets - the why and the how.

Wiseman has an engaging style of writing which prevents the stifled yawns normally associated with reading this genre, and keeps one turning the pages...

The book nicely covers the fundamental theory of why there exists a fixed income market, then turns to the players and discusses what they do, and finally covers some of the fundamental trading strategies and math employed to turn a buck.

Nice one...

i could not put this book down
i found this book very well written. It provides detail and yet covers that what it says it does. I find that Wiseman explains concepts in a verystraight forward way. Although i had to pause to eat and think about some of the financial products discussed such as "par yields". I found I was able to understand the book. The book contains some of the trader jargon and a outline of the players involved in the market. I think that anyone who wants to something with securities or trading should read this, before/during/after an intership. As the english say "Wiseman" is the dogs ballocks!! get this book! ... Read more

Book Description

The psychological aspect of trading is considered by many to be the most important. In this classic, veteran trader Roy Longstreet explores many areas that are of psychological significance to the futures trader and offers guidance on how to deal with each effectively.

This is a behind the scenes book in the strictest sense of the phrase. When Roy Longstreet was first confronted with the question: If you know so much about commodity trading, then why aren't you rich? He determined that the best answer would be a conspicuous measure of financial success in the trading of commodities futures.That he achieved his objective is evident, because now he is the head of the largest brokerage firm in the country dealing exclusively in commodities.

The techniques and the methods he employed over the years to achieve financial success is what is important to the reader and in this book we have those methods ably described by Mr. Longstreet. His approach to commodity trading is more fundamental than technical. He believes that psychology plays a basic role in the movement of commodity prices. As a matter of fact, he has often expressed the desire to hire a psychologist to apply specialized knowledge and find out what people who trade commodities think and why they make the mistakes they do.

Roy Longstreet's views will prove to be invaluable for those who want to increase their financial standing along intelligent, crystal-clear and forthright lines. As publishers of many books in the financial field, we recommend Roy Longstreet's book to you. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Bunch of cliches
Dozens of two page "chapters", basically trading maxims, cliches and rules and a small description of what and what not to do. Nothing special.

If you enjoy trading books!!
This is a great read if you like to read stories of traders. The book is filled with lots of tales that traders or would be traders will find both true and useful. The second thing is that the book stands the test of time in that it was written years ago. But, it is not a how to book, so if that is what you want you will have to look elsewhere.

nice.....but
The books collection of short stories, is good for the begining trader, but doesn't solve the age old questions of how to trade. it is no Dancing With Lions, by trader X

Great meditations for traders!
I originally bought this book because a trading advisor recommended it. Now it has become a cherished companion. In it are a number of short chapters covering a range of issues that are germain to the business of trading. Each of the chapters a suitable for a thought for the day, a quick pick me up, or a meditaion. A real goldmine for the futures trader. ... Read more

Book Description

Once considered a rare and exotic sweetener, sugar was not always as widely available or important as it is today. As part of the human diet for nearly all of recorded history, sugar has evolved over time, becoming quite a common commodity. Yet the very simplicity of this common sweetener masks the highly complex and elaborate global trade that has developed around it. Now, The International Sugar Trade offers the only comprehensive reference guide to the worldwide market. A sweeping analysis of the entire sugar industry, it covers everything from the product's historical beginnings to the complex geopolitical and financial forces that have dominated the worldwide sugar trade during recent decades.

Over the past fifty years, especially, the international trade in sugar has changed dramatically. Since it is either imported or exported by every country on earth, sugar has become an integral component of the economic relationships among nations. Because of that unique position, the trade in sugar has both reflected—and been affected by—a wide range of divergent forces, including global politics, health consciousness, the emergence of developing nations as suppliers and consumers, and many others.

Perhaps the greatest change in the international sugar trade has been the trend toward price stabilization. Historically at the mercy of everything from war to weather, the price of sugar has always been extremely volatile. But, following such trends as the development of sugar substitutes, an overall decline in per capita consumption, and an increase in the overall amount of sugar on the open market, the price of sugar has leveled off considerably. This comparatively recent stability has profoundly altered the manner in which sugar is traded on the world market, and while this has created new opportunities to profit in sugar, it has also made trading in sugar commodities more complex than ever before.

In this important new reference, A. C. Hannah and Donald Spence explore the broad scope of the entire sugar market, providing an essential global tour of the international sugar trade in all its intricacy. Everything is here, from cultivation and refinement to importing and exporting, from commodity trading and tariffs to substitutes and consumption. The International Sugar Trade provides comprehensive coverage of:

• The history of sugar—from cultivation and refining to end use
• Trends in world production, consumption, and international trade
• Crucial information on export marketing, contracts, trade, and prices
• The policies of the world's major sugar producers—with particular attention focused on likely developments in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Cuba
• The impact of existing sugar substitutes and those under development
• The sugar trade cycle and marketing chain, descriptions of key players, and detailed coverage of the sugar futures markets.

The International Sugar Trade contains the most essential and up-to-date information currently available. It includes numerous tables and graphs describing production, consumption, and trade for nearly every country. It also includes five complete appendices exploring sugar and the environment; sugar and health; the Brazilian Alcohol Programme; international sugar agreements; and historical statistics covering the period from 1955 to 1994. It is a vital resource for anyone involved in the international sugar trade.

"[The International Sugar Trade] is a comprehensive account of sugar, the commodity. [It] is aimed at a wide audience, from specialists looking for more background to traders coming to sugar for the first time, students, nonspecialists, and laymen in search of an introduction to the fascinating world of sugar."—from the Preface.

The only complete guide to sugar, one of the world's most important and heavily traded soft commodities, this authoritative overview provides in-depth coverage of a wide range of essential topics, including:

• Origins, background, and production
• The world sugar economy today
• The sugar futures markets
• International sugar agreements
• Consumption trends of substitute products
• Key issues for the future

Book Description

A groundbreaking collection on currency derivatives, including pricing theory and hedging applications.

"David DeRosa has assembled an outstanding collection of works on foreign exchange derivatives. It surely will become required reading for both students and option traders."—Mark B. Garman President, Financial Engineering Associates, Inc. Emeritus Professor, University of California, Berkeley.

"A comprehensive selection of the major references in currency option pricing."—Nassim Taleb. Senior trading advisor, Paribas Author, Dynamic Hedging: Managing Vanilla and Exotic Options.

"A useful compilation of articles on currency derivatives, going from the essential to the esoteric."—Philippe Jorion Professor of Finance, University of California, Irvine Author, Value at Risk: The New Benchmark for Controlling Market Risk.

Every investment practitioner knows of the enormous impact that the Black-Scholes option pricing model has had on investment and derivatives markets. The success of the theory in understanding options on equity, equity index, and fixed- income markets is common knowledge. Yet, comparatively few professionals are aware that the theory's greatest successes may have been in the derivatives market for foreign exchange. Perhaps this is not surprising because the foreign exchange market is a professional trading arena that is closed virtually to all but institutional participants. Nevertheless, the world's currency markets have proven to be an almost ideal testing and development ground for new derivative instruments.

This book contains many of the most important scientific papers that collectively constitute the core of modern currency derivatives theory. What is remarkable is that each and every one of these papers has found its place in the real world of currency derivatives trading. As such, the contributing authors to this volume can properly claim to have been codevelopers of this new derivatives market, having worked in de facto partnership with the professional traders in the dealing rooms of London, New York, Tokyo, and Singapore.

The articles in this book span the entire currency derivatives field: forward and futures contracts, vanilla currency puts and calls, models for American exercise currency options, options on currencies with bounded exchange rate regimes, currency futures options, the term and strike structure of implied volatility, jump and stochastic volatility option pricing models, barrier options, Asian options, and various sorts of quanto options. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

This is solid book that has depth
This book covers so much in the derivatives marketplace. After being involved in the business for 12 years and writing three books on futures and commodity derivatives I was definitely refreshed and enlightened by Mr.DeRosa's book.

Excellent choice of papers!
DeRosa has picked excellent papers. If one reads the papers in detail, the currency derivatives literature, as well as related derivatives literature, becomes very easy to understand.

Comprehensive
This book presents highly technical papers on diverse topics from variuous academics. It would be very helpful to anyone looking to understand theoretical aspects of FX derivatives. Since most papers are written by different authors, notation is not consistent. In addition, academics do not always write like Hemingway. Nevertheless, the book covers everyhting from vanillas to exotics very well. ... Read more

Book Description

To Lead Is to Serve is about a quick and easy way to transform a group of volunteers into a thriving organization. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers
I remember very well the first time I read "To Lead is To Serve." I was on my way to a meeting that Shar McBee was going to keynote. I wanted to introduce myself to her philosophy of volunteerism prior to the meeting. Since then, I've re-read the book several times, and each time I get more and more out of it. The writing is fresh but timeless, new and invigorating. It's book that's so good you can tune everything else out when you're reading it. "To Lead is To Serve" is also a quick, easy read - you can read it in just a couple of hours.

The principles that Ms. McBee espouses in "To Lead is To Serve" can absolutely turn an organization - any organization, be it for-profit or a non-profit, around. Unlike many who write about non-profits, the author skillfully differentiates between management and leadership. The heart of the book is the recruitment and retention of volunteers. Membership-based organzations will find great benefit in using Ms. McBee's ideas to not only recruit members, but to also retain those members. Drawing upon her extensive background as both an employee of and volunteer for non-profits, the author sparks different, exciting and creative ideas for serving others. Truly, to lead is to serve. This book tells how; a real bonus is that many of the ideas can be implemented immediatly and individually. Whatever your position in a for-profit or a non-profit, I enthusiastically recommend that you read this book and then apply its life-changing and organization-changing principles and ideas.

A human approach to managing people!
The concept has always been with us. Shar McBee articulates these ancient, well-proven philosophies in human relationships. I highly recommend this book to anyone in management.

The book aptly fulfills its full title
"To Lead Is To Serve: How To Attract Volunteers & Keep Them," is well written, moving logically from one point to the next as it lays out a number of practical keys to leadership in a volunteer organization and to attracting and keeping volunteers. Its counsel applies, however, to leadership in other than volunteer organizations and to leadership in general. A good book on leadership from an author who began a complete novice but now has and writes from extensive successful experience in leading volunteer organizations of various types. The principles listed can be put to practical use immediately. ... Read more

Book Description

THE HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW PAPERBACK SERIES is designed to bring today's managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world.Here are the landmark ideas that have established the Harvard Business Review as required reading for ambitious business people in organizations around the globe.

Harvard Business Review on Managing Uncertainty presents leading-edge ideas to help managers make strategic decisions in an increasingly uncertain world.Includes the landmark piece "Competing for the Future" by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An useful survey on strategies under uncertainty
Why shoudn't we read the original books on the subject, the uncertainty ? If we are managers under pressure and without sufficient time, a similar collection is really useful. Of course, some auctors should be considered in total(Hamel & Prahalad), but this book offers a good insight on the matter. And some explications about companies strategies (competition based on the innovation rythm, for instance, in the last article) ... Read more

Book Description

All About Commodities is the essential primer for anyone interested in trading commodities as well as an invaluable study aid for the National Commodity Futures Exam. This book enables the reader to form a solid understanding of the markets and their participants, complete with explanations of trading rules, regulations and terms. Practice examinations enable readers to test their knowledge. Topics include: Hedging basics; Clearinghouse operations; Introduction to fundamental and technical analysis; Trading rules and regulations; Money management. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

a bit dated and rushed.
All About Commodities was helpful to me, but it is dated, having no knowledge of internet trading, and it seems rushed considering that 2 other books that summarize ALL types of investments gave better introductions to the basic concepts of commodities trading. These other two books are: "Stocks, Bonds, Options, Futures" by the staff of the New York Institute of Finance and "The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Money and Markets" by Richard Saul Wurman. These other two both introduce the term "mark to the market" (and other terms) very well, but this book only mentions it in passing on page 108. When discussing trading software, they mention, something called "neutral network" software, which obviously should be "neural network". Not at typo because they spelled it that way 3 or 4 times! Although the book has a glossary, neither of these two terms end up in it.

The book provided a lot of helpful info that is well-written and clear; I was especially appreciative of the excercises at the end of each chapter since there is a bit of math involved with commodities trading and one needs to practice at it. I was NOT appreciative of the chapter dedicated to studying for the NCFE. It was just a filler where they stuffed in a sample exam, answers, and some commentary. Something like that should be put in an appendix, but better yet, made into a separate booklet. I would recommend this book, but even more highly if the authors put out an updated second edition where they improve the introductory chapter, devote a new chapter to internet trading, and make sure the glossary covers ALL the terms.

Excellent for it's purposes.
I just started a job as a reporter for the New York Cotton Exchange and knew next to nothing about commodities and futures. After reading this book I felt I had a solid foot in the door and now feel ready to dive further into the complicated subject of commodity trading. Excellent choice for a thorough introduction to the subject. In fact, I just purchased McCafferty's All About Options: From the Inside Out. Recommended read.

A good place to start.
Warsendorf and McCafferty have written a well organized primer for the beginning commodities trader. As a rank beginner myself, I truly appreciated the glossary of terms. The nomenclature of this subject is considerable; however, the authors introduce the subject on a level that most will be able to understand.

The title is somewhat misleading as this is not "all" there is to know about commodities, but the authors do not profess to have covered the subject in its entirety. They even give a fairly extensive list of books for further reading. What they have done is to cover the major aspects of commodities trading in a comprehesive, well-written manner. Though even as a beginner, I would have liked to have had a more thorough explanation of the various trading systems (many are covered). Or, perhaps just more examples showing how the systems work in actual practice. This is about my only criticizm.

Warsendorf and McCafferty's philosophy on developing your own trading system was refreshing to me. Instead of saying that one should follow their system, they say that you should study many trading systems and then develop your own. It reminded me of Bruce Lee's "Tao of Jeet Kune Do." Much of the book is filled with this sort of sound, common sense advice.

All in all, it was a good read. I feel well grounded in the subject and ready to tackle more detailed books.

If you're a beginner, this is a good place to start; if you're a veteran, try the tests at the end of the chapters and see how your knowledge of commodities and trading stacks up! ... Read more

Book Description

Acclaim for The Education of a Speculator, a provocative and penetrating look i