Reviews (1)

Management should wake up and read this book-now!
I have just finished this book and it is excellent! This is not just another book on Lean. This is an indictment of executives, managers and concrete heads in organizations that aspire to mediocrity.

These authors have obviously been in the trenches and understand what most of us go through as we try to implement this process. There is great advice and hard-hitting commentary on why companies are failing to get the full benefits of Lean. Check out the Lean Math Chapter where Offshore Outsourcing is compared to a Lean alternative.

Executives and managers have a huge responsibility and they are not (from what I exerience) living up to it. The authors explain why engagement is critical as well as commitment. Management should read this book and then ask themselves a lot of tough questions. Also, the whole discussion on education and institutionalization is right on the money.

This book shows why you need to change and how to do it. It focuses on the whole Enterprise and not just Manufacturing and explains why Lean is not a new fad and why it will not go away.

You are going Lean or you are not going anywhere, and this book shows why you need to do it before you are forced into it by your customers or your competition.

I hope these guys write another book. This is a breath of fresh Lean air. ... Read more

Book Description

Few books depict both the up and down sides of the trading world as completely as this.

The author leaves his job with a generous, secure income to pursue the life of a full-time floor member, and in so doing endures the loss of security, the consternation of his family, and personal demons that threaten to undermine his dream.

His odyssey is poignant and funny, harrowing, and altogether human. His trials will strike familiar chords with anyone who has ever traded a market, and his tribulations will similarly enrich the reader.

The book includes some highly effective trading ideas and methods that have earned Art money over the years.

A must read for anyone who appreciates honesty over hype. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

finally, someone seems to have shared my own experiences
This book was honest, funny, and thoroughly entertaining. Mr. Collins obviously is not afraid to appear less than cool or all-knowledgeable about his subject, but he obviously knows enough to give his reader a ton to think about. In my life, I've encountered many traders who come up with systems, but I haven't met one who doesn't frequently circumvent them. Collins' own experience with such improvisations merely confirms what I've observed--a winning trading approach is incompatible with human emotion. The trades we feel the most sure about are almost always the ones that lose money. But it's obviously hard to stay one-hundred percent committed to a mechanical approach, as Market Rap confirms. I don't know how effective the systems in the book are, (I will get around to testing them), but they seem simple and straight-forward; characteristics that work the best in my portfolios also. Finally, most traders can't get enough of trading books just because they love the subject so much. What's especially cool about this book is, the author obviously shares our passions.

Funny, poignant, harrowing, riveting, highly recommended.
Market Rap: The Odyssey Of A Still-struggling Commodity Trader is the story of Art Collins who left a job with a generous, secure income to pursue the frantic and frenetic life as a full-time floor member of the commodities exchange. In making this transition Collins endured loss of security, the consternation of family, and personal demons that threatened to undermine his dream. Market Rap is funny, poignant, harrowing, and a riveting read. Included throughout Collins personal story are highly effective trading ideas and methods. Market Rap is immensely rewarding reading for anyone who aspires to become a successful commodities broker, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in this significant aspect of the American economic system. ... Read more

Book Description

The futures industry is unique, entertaining and, for far too many people, ultimately heartbreaking. What other industry possesses such an entertaining cast of soothsayers, self-proclaimed experts and charlatans? Where else do people become fabulously wealthy simply by acting on their own convictions? And where else does the possibility of failure loom so large and so constant? No other book captures the essence of the futures industry better than Winner Take All. With a penetrating intelligence and a sharp wit, Bill Gallacher dissects many of the industry's leading lights, exposing the frauds, deflating the pompous and poking fun at the seers who believe they can predict the future. Along the way, he demonstrates why most traders lose and, most importantly, what it takes to win. Winner Take All is a book for all traders. For those who believe in easy-money trading systems, it is a sobering antidote. For those who think the markets can't be beaten, it is a work of great inspiration. And for those who are trading profitably, it is an affirmation of the trading success principles. Winner Take All is a wise and profound book. But it is also perhaps the wittiest book on trading ever written. Read Mr. Gallacher on Fibonacci numbers: "Surely the medieval mathematician would be astounded at his impact on the twentieth-century commodity man. His mathematical series was constructed from observations on the incestuous copulation patterns of rabbits. Let's see, you start with a male and a female, then you take the first female offspring and you...well, better not get into it". Mr. Gallacher, a successful private trader, questions all conventional wisdom. He exposes the false premises that underliemuch of technical analysis, and he demonstrates why mechanical trading approaches - while sometimes producing marginal profits - can never provide truly superior results. Although out-of-favor in today's computer age, Mr. Gallacher shows why fundamental analysis, if con ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Short, easy to read but truly excellent
This is one of the best of the hundreds of books I have read on investing.

He systematically demolishes numerous myths about trading. For this reason some readers are likely to be upset by the book e.g. devotees of Elliot Waves, Gann's methods and other nonsense.

The important topics are covered extremely well i.e. money management, what IS important, what is snake oil, some of the realities of trading such as slippage, why over 90% of traders lose all their money, etc.

Most books on investing are thinly disguised marketing exercises.

This one is different - the author is doing his best to share his hard earned learnings. An excellent investment.

Before you blow $1,000's on the "holy grail" read this book.
I was contemplating the purhchase of an expen-sive computer trading system when I bought this book. The author is a brilliant satirist of the current mania for "trading system's".Unfortunately the author failed to provide a workable fundamen- tal trading methodology as an alternative. The author mentions the CRB YEARBOOK as a good place to start,but failed to mention the Bridge/CRB FUTURE MARKET SERVICE newsletter-which provides weekly and daily trading information based upon

fundamental criteria. The author also states he uses technical analysis for "timing" purposes! Really? The author could have devoted some of his time to show us how he puts on trade-from fundamental analysis to his technical timing methods. Nevertheless, I feel this book has merit.

Winner take All
An excellent book on Investments (commodity).
If rules of investment are followed rigoursly, one should make some money.

Helps you to look at yourself and others!
This is one of those books that help you gain some balance if you plan to dance with the elephants on Wall Street and in the Futures Pits. Often books on trading deal with the buy this pattern, sell this pattern, go to the bank, repeat.. But let's face something, if it were that easy, no one would sell you a book. Gallacher paints a rather dim yet cogent argument against searching for a holy grail in someone's elses ideas. He also gives you some insight on how a (fund manager/trader) may put good trades into his account while putting bad trades into your account.

All this said, if you enjoy trading books, or if you are pumped up because you just read Wade Cook, Robert Allen, or got a brochure from Larry Williams, then this could be a very wise choice.

Not recommended.
Previous reviewer Justice covers things pretty well except when he says, "Gallacher is neither totally wrong or totally right in his methodical destruction of TA." This is incorrect. Gallacher IS totally wrong in his critique of TA, and his is also totally, we might even say "brutally" DIShonest in presenting his case. Setting up a straw man and knocking him down is the method of someone who really does not know what he is talking about and refuses to learn. But Gallacher does worse than that--he prevaricates. To see this for yourself without buying the book you'll have to pay attention and do some work, including getting through this unfortunately but unavoidably long review.

The cornerstone of Gallacher's case against TA is his treatment of trendlines using a chart of the June '85 Live Hogs contract, on which he draws the "true" trendline in contradistinction to the one Murphy drew on the same chart in his Technical Analysis of the Futures Market. Gallacher claims trading this "true" trendline would have had the technical trader long on the day the market went limit-down against him. This "true" down trendline connects the tops of 3 rallies between mid-Jun and early Aug '84. In mid-Aug price breaks above the DTL, dips back to the same DTL in early Sep, then bounces back up for 5 days. Gallacher rightly says that TA teaches buying this bounce because resistance, once penetrated, becomes support. So then the limit-down day comes and slams the hapless and naive technical trader with a huge loss. It does look bad.

But it's not, and here's why. Go to futuresource.com, charts, and pull up LHM85, Density: High. This chart shows the situation Gallacher examines. But it also shows Gallacher's dishonesty. Note that the supposed long position was held in mid-Sep in the Jun '85 contract. I guarantee you, folks, there was not a single technical trader trading LHM85, either long or short, in Sep '84. Not one. The very first thing technical traders learn is to trade the most active contract. Hedgers are the only ones with positions in far-deferred contracts like the Jun85 was in Sep84. This is an egregious and inexcusable error. If Gallacher is simply ignorant of this elementary distinction between active and deferred contracts and who trades them, he is certainly not the one to write a vitriolic and condescending attack on TA and the people who use it.

But that's not all. What about the technical traders who WERE trading the most active contract in Sep84 when the "massive gap down" occurred? They would have been trading the Oct84 contract. Go to futuresource charts and pull up LHV84, Density: Low. Draw a DTL connecting the highs in mid-Jul, mid-Aug, early Sep, and mid-Sep. This is one of the most perfect trendlines I have ever seen. There is NO DTL break to the upside here. In fact, following Murphy's elementary TA principle of selling on contact with a DTL would have had you SHORT, not long, when the gap-down came. Look it up! Do the charts yourself. The truth of the matter is EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what Gallacher says. Q.E.D.

This is not an isolated error, but it is a glaring one, and it characterizes the poor quality of the thinking expressed throughout the book.

If you want learn what TA is about, get Kaufman's Trading Systems and Methods, then go to futuresource or prophetfinance.com and study about 10,000 charts. That will be a good beginning and give you some idea. If you read Gallacher, you'll have no clue, except maybe that fundamentalists are irrational and disingenous in making such confident assertions about things they do not know. ... Read more

Book Description

Teaches the revolutionary, and highly profitable technique of techni-seasonal trading.This utilizes technical analysis tools to confirm potential seasonal trades. Outstanding results presented along with complete rules for trading. ... Read more

Book Description

Trading by the Book contains 376 pages of explicit information on futures trading. Included are discussions of how and when to really use Fibonacci techniques, how to recognize congestion, how to set and trail stops, how to get in step with a market, how to select trades, and how to conduct your trading on a businesslike basis. Trading by the Book is loaded with charts. In it you will see an entire year's trading of a protfolio of seven commodities. Illustrations and examples of every single concept are shown, in an easy to read, easy to understand format. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Something original
Great work, where you can learn in details how to apply flexible trading rules from real teacher.
I love both Trading by the book and Trading the Ross hook. simple realistic methods you need to be calm and confident to apply them and make money.
very well written and illustrated

thanks Mr. Joe Ross

not very good
This author does NOT Trade. So how can he write about trading?!

I'll give this one 6 stars!
My second book by Joe. Incredible and powerful stuff!

Trading techniques on futures trading that really work and will make money if you follow the simple rules on it. Pattern recognition at it's best will blow you away on things that you already had thought about but never tried before... a strange feeling indeed. It improved immensely my trading style with strategies that will work on any time frame. They will work also on trading stocks, so don't feel discouraged if you're not ready yet to go into the futures market and you think that the trading style is different. It's not that different, just the money management techniques... and they are also covered here, ok?

Read and re-read. On my trading desk all the time!

Learning How to Manage Your Futures Trading Business.
I have every book Joe Ross has written on futures trading. In fact, Joe taught me how to trade via his courses. That's what his books are, courses, and less than a 3 hour course at a jr. college.

For any trader not even covering his overhead, (how many traders even know what his real overhead is?) Joe offers the management elements required before teaching you how to trade. He knows that if you learn how to read a price chart without understanding money and risk management, your days are numbered. Instead of throwing money at the market, take a couple days worth of slippage and buy his books. You do know what slippage is, right?

If you study what he offers after all of his years of experience, and it will take re-reads to sink in, you can succeed in this business.

Lastly, try all of his books. It's an investment that will reap returns you cannot imagine. The costs are cheap compared to what you can (and many of Joe's followers/students have) earn in this difficult business.

This is it!
This is an awesome book. I have just read the first 10% of the book and already I think this is the best bargain at on the market. He has rules and methods that work! I have some friends that are great traders and his methods are similar to theirs. This is it! He gives complete systems. So many books may give a good entry and then leave it up to you moved by greed or fear into a bad exit. Joe tells what to do in every possible condition so when it happens, you are ready. Save money on seminars, books, software and just buy this book. ... Read more

Book Description

a groundbreaking look at trading the markets with one of the most important forecasting tools available . . .

"If you've ever wondered about the validity of seasonals or how to trade them, buy this book now!" —Glen Larson, Genesis Data Services

"Jake does it again. This time his extensive research really leaps out as he makes seasonal trading easy to understand and a very useful tool for any commodity trader." —Jeffrey H. Fox, Fox Investments.

Is there a "holy grail" of price prediction? Traders have long been in pursuit of one, and while a handful of strategies, techniques, and methodologies have proven noteworthy, the search continues for the ultimate forecasting instrument —if one does indeed exist. The theory and methods of seasonality may well prove to be a step in the right direction to this goal. In this unique new book, a leading seasonal trading analyst examines seasonality in-depth, elucidating the concise principles, numerous advantages, and enormous potential that make it one of the most important —and effective —methods currently available for targeting futures price trends.

Over the years, considerable attention has been paid to the effects of interest rates, money supply, earnings, inflation, and other key factors on stock and commodity prices. Yet, the immense impact of seasonal price tendencies has been either grossly underestimated or completely ignored. Often overlooked, but equally significant, seasonality is based on the assumption that seasonal influences cause biases in the movement of market prices. Among its many advantages, seasonality allows the trader to formulate objective decisions founded on a logical, verifiable, and operational methodology, creating a backdrop of probable market trends in most time frames and in most markets, and providing historically valid input for use as an adjunct to other analytical methods and timing indicators. The essence of seasonality is found in its lengthy history and statistically testable methodologies.

However, seasonal correlations are not 100 percent foolproof. Using seasonal data to time the market involves an unavoidable degree of subjectivity —unless you have a firm grasp of seasonal timing concepts and techniques. Now, in the first resource devoted exclusively to the subject, Jake Bernstein gives you the foundation necessary to implement this powerful tool effectively and with confidence.

Balancing theory and practice, Bernstein provides a thorough, real-world understanding of seasonal timing concepts and techniques. Along with results of his own extensive research, he integrates the work of numerous market analysts, such as W. D. Gann, Art Merrill, Burton Pugh, Samuel Benner, and Yale Hirsch, among others, to create a pragmatic and highly functional analytical framework. With his accessible, comprehensive coverage of significant concepts such as seasonal spread relationships, key dates, and cash tendencies, you'll be able to discern seasonal patterns in monthly and daily cash and futures data. Once the basics are firmly in place, Bernstein leads you step by step through the essential process of formulating a seasonal trading program that incorporates important timing strategies and risk management tools.

An ideal overview for any trader, investor, or analyst, this lucidly written and clearly organized resource emphasizes the validity and significance of seasonality. Jake Bernstein has compiled a comprehensive guide to the effective use of seasonal concepts and methods in the futures markets. This is a major work that belongs on the shelves of all serious traders. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Seasonal trading doesn't work like it used to
Most seasonal trading is already factored into the price, right before the season starts. Something like 2 out of 10 seasonal trades work nowadays. Technical Analysis has eliminated many of the seasonal signals.

In fact it is prohibited by the National Futures Association for brokers to even discuss or promote on the basis of seasonal trading. That says a lot to me.

In the past 11 years I have been a futures broker, futures investor, and author of several futures books and I tell all of my clients not to rely on seasonal trades. And if they do follow seasonal trades use tight stops for when the market goes against you.

Decent theory - Not alot of practical trading strategies
I was expecting alot more from someone referred to as the foremost authority on seasonality in the futures markets. While I give Jake alot of credit for bringing greater visibility to seasonal trading strategies through his earlier research from the late 70s on, this book was somewhat of a disappointment. My first concern is that a large portion of his data modeling is based off of cash market data. While this often allows one a much greater data pool to tap which in turn can assist in lending statistical significance to apparent patterns, I have to question the validity of this approach since as most traders know, futures prices often diverge significantly from those of the cash market. There are no clear trading rules elucidated for particular seasonals, and individual contract months are not well touched on. In addition, while technical filters are mentioned, there is no clear integration with seasonals. For anyone actually interested in trading seasonals with very clear rules spelled out with specific seasonals based on individual contract months, I would highly recommend John Momsen's "UltraReliable Seasonal Trades." While I haven't traded Momsen's methods long enough to draw a 100% conclusion, I've already made significant profits with his systems. This text didn't add enough workable knowledge to warrant the price IMHO. It does however provide some decent info on performing your own seasonal research by data mining...

Good for pork bellies but very little on stocks
Mostly concerned with the commodities and futures markets. Interesting, lots of charts and tables, but the only information on stocks is a table on page 87 showing that from Jan 1897 to Dec 1983 the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a gain 68.1% of the time the day before an important holiday and 52.2% of the time the day after. Good to know. It was something I had already recognized, but knowing that the day before is significantly better than the day after is worth while. Also Monday is the worse day of the week for stock prices. There's even a book entitled Don't Sell Stocks on Monday(1986) by Yale Hirsch.

A great book on how to combine seasonality and timing.
Jake Bernstein is the foremost authority on seasonality and this book clearly demonstrates the power of this approach. It is also an easy read for the beginning trader. ... Read more

Book Description

This fascinating book is loaded with practical information designed to help you in the commodity market.The author's method...proven by his million dollar success...does not involve complicated math or subjective evaluation.There are two completely systematic methods; %R and Momentum.The essence fo these methods is that they tell you if the super powers are long or short; when the super powers expect a major move to start; what commodities are in true bull or bear markets; when to start buying and when to sell for gargantuan profits.This book is a must if you're a stock or commodity trader. It will expose to you an exciting new approach to trading and thinking--the same approach that has made Larry Williams a millionaire. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

This is a great book.
I have been trading futures for 11 years. ... In all that time I have rarely seen an investment guru as humble as Larry Williams. His love of the markets is evident in this book, as well as many others.

This book chronicles his meteoric rise and claim to fame when he singlehandedly turned $10,000 into $1 million in a controlled tournament environment.

There is a lot of good information in this book and much of it will be very useful to today's trader. Technically and inspirationally this book is a sound buy for today's investor.

Classics can't be ignored
This was the first book I bought about futures when I was 16. A whole new world open up before my eyes, and the credibility couldn't be paralleled turnin $10,000 into over 1.1 million in real time, no one has topped.

Three years later I sat and passed my Series 3 commodities broker license. I still kept this book with me and used some of the practical approaches detailed in the book to help my clients trade more successfully.

Now after being involved with futures for 11 continuous years as a broker, an investor, and the author of three futures books I still find myself referencing Larry Williams material.

Unfortunately, others have a hard time accepting his methodologies and ideas. But if you have read MarketWizard by Schwager, none of those traders were alike. They traded with their own style, with their own risk tolerance, and most importantly with their own goals.

That's why Williams' information should be used solely as a base for your own trade development and not as the gospel. Because of the few things mentioned above, and many other personal traits that individual traders bring to the trading experience, there are no "futures gurus" that can tell you exactly how to trade day to day.

So you have to decide for yourself what is most important being told how to trade or discovering how to trade for yourself. That's what this book, my books, and many other books can realistically do for you.

Good luck and God's speed.

oh yeah? trade this!
Take the sections on price structure and open interest - throw the rest out if you like. You'll still have the most valuable trading book I've seen written to date. I see ten other reviews here, and only a couple mention OI's significance - mostly in passing. Very sad. Open interest's relationship with price action on a few levels deserves at least a few years of study, although it won't take you nearly that long for you to at least appreciate its importance the way it's presented in this book. This was the first market book I paid for as a market newbie in May '88. I still have fond memories of this basic OI move for OJ may 88, COP aug 88, PA oct 88, CT fall 88, COF dec 88, HO and HU summer 89. Try telling me again how worthless this book is...quit criticizing and study harder. The answers exist and much of it is humanly achievable. You're given a small morsel of it here and yet I see nothing but a ho hum response. That in itself is an interesting market lesson.

I would like to comment
I was most successful with simple mutual funds and baskets of mini-futures. I read some of this book, and William's Batting 800, the mother of all manuals supposedly. I kind of feel like it was a waste of $200. I really don't know what to think of Williams, thus the neutral 3-stars. He's the toughest to scrutinize. Ryan Jones apparently thinks he's "scary williams" with his cowboy money management style.

I am a Tradestation expert combined with years of programming and trading, passed the Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney screening exams. They should have hired me even without $40 million worth of friends, because I could help a lot of investors avoid a lot of needless stuff.

I absolutely hate Ken Robberts, Jake Burnstein, Wade Crook, and Carleton Cheets. I would never trust Robert's character or wisdom; his stuff tests positive for maybe ten percent, forty percent of the time, maybe; But they can all say, hey it works.

I deciphered and tested a lot of clever "not a system" hype, which went right back before thirty day. William's stuff seems the most disjointed, tougher to integrate test. He has some unique methodology and it seems to work for him successfully, but his hotline calls on about a half dozen trades scared me clean away. I'm going to integrate test him soon though, somehow, maybe combining COT or AccDis with B and C and D or E, if somebody hasn't.

I wasted $2500 on Trade"Hype"station and another $500 on Omni"Clutz"Trader starting out. The thing is, I fully realize now there is no magic indicator, that it's more money management or something else like personal style, but most if not all of these guys needed to shut up a long time ago.

BELONGS ON EVERY TRADER'S BOOKSHELF
I am a commodity trader. i have probably read just about every book ever written on the subject and have even made money using the techniques illustra ted in a few of them. Williams' book is one them. I would if i could cut the book in half and keep the first 70 or so pages and toss the rest onto my ever growing scrapheap of commodity trading books. If you can get past the chapters on lunar cycle correlations and focus in on his study of open interest and trading ranges you will have

gained an "edge">despite the age of the book(1974) I feel it has something valuable to offer trader at all levels. good reading and good luck! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Ever since Hewlett-Packard emerged from one in 1939, a "garage" has come to symbolize the no-holds-barred mentality that fosters the kind of creativity that drove this company--and the dozens more it spawned--to heights theretofore unknown. Bernd Schmitt, a Columbia Business School professor who has written several well-received marketing books (Experiential Marketing, Marketing Aesthetics) takes this image to the next level in Build Your Own Garage by relaying strategies that readers can adapt to their own enterprises whether they are housed in a converted parking structure or not.

As one might suspect from a book that advocates the unorthodox, Schmitt chooses to deliver his ideas in an unconventional manner. Each chapter begins with an elaborate short story by Laura Brown that encapsulates its central concepts (such as a vampire tale based on Bram Stoker's Dracula that illustrates how "the strictures of traditional corporate culture are enough to suck the life energy out of anyone"). Also sprinkled throughout are photographs and images by graphic artist Gail Anderson, which simultaneously reinforce the book's themes (on topics including technology, branding and "customer experience management") and distance it from buttoned-down management tomes that espouse the very group-think Schmitt is trying to eliminate. Those seeking new ideas who are not turned off by unique presentations should find this intriguing. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Clever stories but no handbook
The book benefits from amusing anecdotes but is very light on actual help for putting in place a workable framework for managing business innovation.

Wake-Up Call for Traditional Marketing Literature
Finally somebody tearing down the "dusty" rules and old-fashioned formats of how to write a marketing book. This book is not only creative, well thought-out, and informative it is especially fun to read.
An absolute must-read!

Build Your Own Garage
Another brilliant book fom Bernd Schmitt (the man behind "Experiential Marketing"). Very creative, great ideas about managing and adding creativity to yr organization. I loved the website too --buildyourowngarage.com. Very creative, hand-drawn design!

Sparking Corporate Creativity
Having read Schmitt's books on marketing, I was very interested to see him branching out into the field of corporate creativity. "Build Your Own Garage" is a really interesting, quirky book that sparks the imagination and also offers practical, concrete tools that managers can use.

I believe that "Build Your Own Garage" is the first business book on creativity that really expresses the complexity of the creative process. Encouraging and managing creativity in a large organization is not a simple job. Schmitt and Brown approach the topic from different angles--analyzing the role of creativity in business organizations, detailing real-world examples of creative initiatives, and also offering creative "business parables" to show different facets of creativity in the workplace. (Look especially for the vampire story about "the Corporate Undead"!)

For all its quirkiness, "Build Your Own Garage" deals with corporate creativity in a down-to-earth way. This is not a giddy, dot-com, anything-goes approach to creativity. The book fully acknowledges the importance of business fundamentals and proposes a variety of realistic techniques to improve performance through creativity. Not surprisingly given Schmitt's background, the chapter on Branding is particularly strong.

"Build Your Own Garage" is a quick and enjoyable read that offers some useful insights into corporate creativity. I highly recommend it.

Excellent!
I found this book very fun, and very practical (an unusual combination!). The authors show how to make even an established legacy business more creative and dynamic. The book is timely, and applicable to the real-world, „post-interntet-boom era ˆ managers still need to bolster their bottom line with innovation. I‚ve ordered copies for all my line managers. ... Read more

Book Description

Prospectives on dynamics of creativity, cycles of innovation,Managing the process of innovation, and other related topics are examined. ... Read more

Book Description

The electricity, natural gas, and other energy markets are on the brink of becoming THE hot opportunity for institutional investors worldwide. In fact, the growth in volume for NYMEX and IPE energy contracts is the only proof you need of the enormous potential in trading these markets. Now, for the first time, this book gives you step-by-step directions on taking advantage of this developing resource. Energy Risk walks you through properly assessing and evaluating the enormous opportunities that are unique to this complex yet vibrant market. It provides not only an expert overview of energy trading but also the philosophies and specific investment strategies you need. Harvard-trained physicist Dragana Pilipovic reveals the intricacies and mechanics of today's energymarkets, provides practical answers on how best to get a foothold in energy trading, and also discusses: In-depth explanations of the primary factors that influence energy risk, such as spot price behavior, volatility, and the forward price curve; A detailed introduction to the fundamental price drivers of energy markets including electricity, natural gas, and heating and crude oil; Clearly defined ways that you can use tools introduced throughout the book to achieve your company's crucial risk/return goals. Containing unique trading models that were custom-designed for managing risk in energy and commodity trading, and with over 175 charts and graphs that illustrate key features of the market's equations, correlations, and methodologies. Energy Risk will be the standard energy market reference for many years to come. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

It gives me what I need to do my job.
Pilipovic's book provides a great model for trading energy derivatives. I used it as a starting point to come up with my own models that I have started to use in hedging my risk. I recommend it for both speculators and hedgers.

For the Technically Minded Only.
This is a very useful book for those who are looking for a basic primer on risk management tools where the examples are specific to energy related derviatives.
The test is technical so this is appropriate for those who can understand sophisticated mathematical and statistical concepts. BR>Unfortunately, for someone in that audience the information is not very much different from what they already understand.
However, since it uses specific energy examples throughout the text it is useful for those looking for techniques to apply to th energy markets. Also derivatives of the energy markets are reviewed.

Not for newcomers
I work in the energy products/generation industry and thought this will help explain what the whole energy-risk field is about. I'm still as confused now as I was before I bought the book .. probably because I dont have a strong background in computational finance. This is defintely not for newcomers and is really geared to the quants.

Would not buy with my own money
About 50% of this book is useless. The remaining, quanitative 50% is marginal. But given the relative scarcity of books covering this area, it is certainly worth filling out an expense report

Good book on energy, but read with other books
Overall a very good book on energy derivatives. The author's pratical experience is very valuable.

But there are quite a few things to improve:

1. The graphs are not good, particularly date axis.

2. Formulae are not typed well, there are some typos. The publisher can certainly uses some improvement. So if possible, derive the formulae by yourself before using them. This may cost you some money !

3. The models described in the books are good, but do not use them blindly. It is better to have have solid derivatives background before using these models. J. Hull's book is a good source.

Again, this is a good book for people with derivatives background. I'd like to see more examples, rigorious treatment of the formulae and expanded modeling techniques.

A must-have for the energy folks... ... Read more

Book Description

Reprint of 1973 classic in which legendary futures trader Stanley Kroll describes his trading adventures and discusses philosophy.

It is a first person look-over-my-shoulder account of his trading campaigns during the wild and woolly markets of 1973, and a close look into his trading philosophy and techniques.

Kroll's primary focus is on trading only with the major long term trend, and he favors entering trades only during significant reactions against the trend, and holding positions until either his long term price objectives are met, his protective stop loss level is violated, or it becomes apparent that the primary trend has changed direction.

The book is filled with charted examples of Kroll's actual trades in various markets.He discusses at length the reasoning and timing behind the decisions involved in entering, adding to and liquidating each position.Most positions were idle for weeks or even months, which will be hard to imagine for today's quick in and out day trader.

Kroll quotes throughout from the classic Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, which chronicles the trading experiences and philosophy of immortal speculator Jesse Livermore.The key sections to which Kroll refers are those in which Livermore advises that the big money is in the big move, and that his biggest profits were made simply by sitting tight.Kroll kept a copy of Reminiscences at his desk at all times for inspiration, whenever he felt tempted to exit a profitable position prematurely or to try scalping the market for small moves.

Of special interest is the time period under study (1973) which was the wildest and most unforgettable year in memory.That's the year in which beans went from 400 to 1290 and back down to 500, wheat went from 140 to 645, and other markets made huge moves as well.While Kroll grabbed the bull by the horns and realized huge profits in these runaway bull markets, others cringed in fear and withdrew from trading, petrified by the risk inherent in huge moves consisting of strings of locked-limit days in both directions.

Kroll's narrative is made credible by the inclusion of a summary detailing the track record of 38 individual accounts which he managed during the 1971-73 time period, which shows 37 of the 38 with net profits, with most showing annualized returns well in excess of 200 percent.The one loser lost less than 2 percent.In the aggregate, about $600M of capital was parlayed into almost $3 million during this period.

The Professional Commodity Trader is fascinating reading for futures traders interested in formulating a viable, long term approach. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Must read
I checked this book out of the library, read it and then went and ordered a copy to own. This book reads similarly to ROSO and Marty Schwartz's Pit Bull, except it makes an attempt to show you some of his methods through charts and thought process. Basically, align with the major trend, fade the counter trend at 50% retracements, scale in and scale out. Most of all, be patient, trust your trade and know when you are wrong. Whether or not he chose choice successful examples to write in this book is irrelevant. One gripe I did have though, was not seeing how he would come up with his price objectives, perhaps calculated off a 150% extension. I suspect this is in one of his other books.

I have read around 100 trading related books, this one was a sleeper book that was not expected to be great and so, caught me off guard. This book will certainly stay in my top 10 list and I will be sure to pick up the rest of Stanley Kroll's books.

Superb! Best for the veteran traders
You seldom find in the universe of trading books that a trader will use more passages to cover stories about his failure than success. This is just a rare breed. Perhaps Kroll was confident enough to do so with the backup of his outstanding trading record, and his determination to write a superb trading book.

To me, this is a modern day Reminiscences Of a Stock Operator ROSO. Of course, Kroll and his book are not as "great" as Livermore and ROSO. However, the tone/style of the books are not so distant, and so are their values. In fact, Kroll had voiced out his admiration for Livermore.

In short, cut loss short, keep profit run, plan your game well, focus on the major trend and buy on its minor retracement, keep absolutely calm and relaxed, see lights across the board and not just of what you trade, trade opposite to the news on mass media, mind the single/double day reversal, the sardine story (some commodities are for trading and not for eating), not to be worried about the beginning of a big trend coz it always lasts longer than most people expect, go along with the technical when it clearly shows something at variance with the psychology of the market, and much more wise words are present in this book.

As a value added service, I would like to quote one passage here for your reference.

"There's a great tendency to get carried away by the prevailing market psychology at that time and not doing any liquidating. But you've got to resist that tendency. When the market attains that major price objective, where you had projected closing out, say, half the position, do it. If you dont, you will probably regret it later."

In a word, a must read.

p.s. The only bad thing of this book is the exceptionally poor front cover design.

A Good Summary of Trading Experience
In this fantastic book Stanley Kroll discloses his secret of successful commodity trading. As a trader, I find that the book is very useful. The central theme is to follow the trend, than get in during secondary reaction or rally, and then set a rigid cut loss point. After retired from active trading, Stanley Kroll finally returned to the exciting scene of trading. But when he came back, he found that his theory is no longer applicable to the market. This teaches that each one has to be flexible and adapted to the market. He should also develop a new system to reflect the change in the market. Those who are interested in this field could also find the only book by Jesse Livermore, "How to Trade in Stocks" and read it. He could dig a lot of useful information from them.

Get this one if you can. Outstanding concept and theory.
A very excellent book on trading the futures markets. The author shares his personal experiences in the futures markets and shows how to use them in your trading. If you are looking for a solid foundation to invest in futures, this is it. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Getting registered? Then get this book.
Are you getting NASD series 7 registered? For quick references and review this book will make a wonderful addition to your study materials. It's definitely a keeper.

Average primer but badly needs an update
For the average newcomer to investing this is an OK book, but it does focus alot on subjects you probably do not need to know unless you plan on working for a brokerage firm. It does give good descriptions and examples of all the security instruments (stocks, bonds, options, futures, etc.) but it accounts for only about 50% of the book. The rest is in my opinion redundant to the lay-person and is in places woefully out of date (especially the taxation section). If updated, I would rate this a 4, but given the age of the text, I would recommend looking elsewhere for an introduction to financial markets.

Superior intro to financial terms, processes, & instruments
If you're new to the financial world and want to understand the lingo, terrain, and equipment of pure capitalism, this book is for you. Don't let the 1991 publication date fool you. Aside from some out-of-date tax information in a later chapter, this book packs an amazing amount of useful financial clues and explanations. One of the strongest features of this text is its use of examples. Whether it's options, futures, or IPOs, the authors provide number-based scenarios to guide the reader towards understanding. This book will not excite you or show how to make $2 million in the stock market. It will help you understand many of the financial instruments which comprise capitalism. ... Read more

Book Description

Exotic options have become indispensable to financial professionals. This book explains: the theory and application of virtually every type of exotic option. Benefits and potential risks inherent in each type. Proven, effective hedging and trading strategies. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Cogent Explanation of Exotic Options
Nelken is a clear explainer of how exotic options work. One of the key features of his work is to provoke thought about useful approaches to evaluating the products. There are no pat answers when dealing with exotics, but Nelken charts a fine road map.

good book for beginners in exotic options
good functional book. keeps things simple

Explains Motivation for Using Exotic Options
This book does a very nice job of both explaining how exotic options work and one's motivation for using complex derivatives. Good graphs, appropriate use of equations, and plenty of actual market-based examples. ... Read more

Book Description

Curious about commodities?

If you're looking for a good book with an overview of futures, this one works.

FUTURES 101 tells how money is made and lost in today's fast-paced futures market and does so in an interesting style - part commentary, part verse, snippets rather than long chapters. Plus it does not try to sell you something or promise the moon.

This is all about commodity futures trading,a financial arena bigger than the stock market yet relatively unknown or understood.

Profits, pitfalls and dozens of subjects are covered in detail.Some examples even have sprinkles of trivia and smiles for clarity and to keep the reader awake.

Ordinary investors,professional investors,corporations, municipalities and pension funds make and lose money every day in the trillion-dollar futures business-FUTURES 101 explains how they do it.

An interesting side chapter analyzes the $104,926.00 profit made by Hillary Clinton many years before Bill Clinton was elected . This is an impartial, non-political look at the details of her trading and finds she did nothing wrong under the trading rules of the time.

Readers of FUTURES 101 are in four groups:new traders, potential traders, college students and people who are just financially curious.

This not a typical financial book and one reason is that the writing style is for folks who have a sense of humor and who like conversational reading.

FUTURES 101 is also used in private seminars, broker sales training,and college courses.

Order a copy today to learn more about this dynamic big money game or to fill in some knowledge gaps you may have. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

A req'd reading for "Futures 101" An Intro to Futures Trad'g
This book is:
1) ONLY for non-futures traders looking to understand the art of commodity trading,
2) illustrating step-by-step of when, what, who, and how of futures trading,
3) depicting how you can win or loss BIG from futures.

This book isn't:
1) an advice on how to WIN,
2) a tool on how to beat the system.

Since I am a bystander looking to investing in the futures, this is a great book to begin. A perfect Futures for Dummies.

It's good, and it's fun, get it.
If you don't have a good general idea of what futures trading is all about when you finish this book, then you didn't pay attention, and paying attention is fun in this book! It is very well done and unique in its style that makes reading it very enjoyable. Just get the book and you'll be glad you did.

For Rank Beginners or Grade School Students.
If you have no experience in any market, this book is for you. Takes 2 hours to read/skim. I learned a little about the background of commodities. Book is also annoying to read because of it's unorthodox style of font (block lettering), strange page layout (Sentences are sometimes indented in a ladder-style, like poetry), and repeating of information. Find a meater text.

terrible
Very poorly written. No charts, No visuals. I bought it for a frind who is interested in a basic undertanding of commodities. I sent it back after trying to read a little of it. It doesn't flow. I got the feeling the author wrote with no outline.

tHIS GUY DICK MUST BE A GENIUS
THIS BOOK TAKES THE COMPLICATED DECISIONS THAT INVESTING IS ALL ABOUT AND BREAKS IT DOWN INTO A LANGUAGE THAT IS EASILY ABSORBED. oNCE THE INFORMATION IS DISPEARSED mR WALDRON NEVER TRIES TO LEAD THE READER IN ANY ONE DIRECTION, THUS THE INFORMATION SEEMS TO BE SENT AS A LEARNING TOOL ONLY. THANK YOU MR WALDRON FOR THIS MASTERPIECE IN COMMODITY TRADING. I LOOK FORWARD ANY FUTURE BOOKS REGARDING FUTURES. YOU MUST, IF YOU HAVE ANY SENSE OF FEAR, BUY THIS BOOK BEFORE JUMPING OFF THE CLIFF OF COMMODITIES TRADING. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED AFTER YOU READ THIS BARGIN. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

In Trading by the Minute, Joe Ross reveals his Major, Minor, and Intermediate intraday trading signals. He shows you exactly what they are and explains why they are important. He emphasizes the hows, whys, and whens of both stop loss and profit protecting stop placement. You will learn about hedging your positions, how to deal with the floor and your advantages over them. Joe reveals several methods for identifying a trend before anyone else sees that it is happening. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

MicroTrading
This is a decent book, but I do not believe it is Ross's best work...I also would say that if taken out of context, it might do more harm than good for most traders...Since the majority of aspiring traders are enamored with the concept of trading on the short-term time frames, a book with a title like this will prove to be a large temptation for most traders...Ross, in other books, states that he is very selective about most of his trading and does not regularly "scalp" in and out of the markets...That being said, I would say that I am not certain that some of the techniques that he advertises such as "bracketing" trades in the sp futures would be successful in the current markets...I do, however, agree 100% with time scaling and using larger time frames to enter the trades on the "micro" time frames...I just do not believe that trading breakouts on the micro time frame will lead to long term success...There is far too much "slop and chop" in today's markets for these techniques to have any real consistency...

Fasten Your Safety Belt!
I have read the reviews of Trading by the Minute and can identify with almost all of them. I have been there. It's not my intent to argue with some who say the book is too difficult.

Would you want a heart transplant performed by a person who read a book on the subject one time? This stuff does not just jump from the pages into your head and then you go do it. Life just doesn't work that way.

I too when I began to read my first Joe Ross book thought it was too complicated, too hard, too everything! But, I stuck with it, like many of his students. And years later, not weeks nor months, but years, (and after many losses in the market)I began to get it. And, if I can get it, so can you, and probably in less time than it took me.

I'm very slow. I was 50 years old when I discovered Joe Ross. I'm now 60 and things are more difficult to grasp nowadays for me. Joe is like am old friend and when I find myself taking some hits in the market, I pull out maybe, "Trading the Ross Hook" and discover that I have strayed yet once again.

His system for covering costs work. If the specifics he describes no longer fit a market, adjust yourself to the market, but the system is sound.

Joe offers consistency in a world of always looking for the next answer to making money in the market.

When things are slow, I read the S&P trading section of Trading by the Minute. I'm almost sweating by the end. That section is the most spell binding display of trading prowess I've ever experienced.

If you really want to succed in the futures business, do your self a favor, study Joe Ross.

Best book in trading
Excellent book on trading Buy it now

This is as close to the Holy Grail as you can get
I have bought over a hundred books on trading. Each has something to say, however slight. This one has more information than most.

Considering the book was written before E-mini and 8 second fills arrived, it is amazing how much trading technique is still valid.

If you are new at futures trading, it will take a while for the information to all make sense. The more I trade, the more stuff in this book comes home.

I make money (and keep money) on what this guy says in this book on a regular basis! What else do I need to say.

Also, check out the Ross Hook book. They are both classics.

Useful for "MoMo" Internet Stock Trading, too
Most people who trade Internet stocks know by now that these stocks behave more like commodities than anything else. Besides futures, Trading By The Minute will help you to trade these volatile stocks more accurately.

This book also just reads very well. Joe Ross is an excellent author and teacher and his 4 decades of trading experience comes through in his writing. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

The worst study guide of all time
I purchased the study guide plus CD Rom. Although I have never taken any licensing exam before, I was confident that with a little help, I would easily pass this test. After all, my IQ tested out at over 140, I have never failed any test throughout high school or college, and I have worked in related fields.

Foolish me.

First off, this "guide" was nearly impossible to get through. Read the other reviews, most say the same. There were glaring errors in the math, multiple instances of conflicting information, and completely wrong answers to exams.

I contacted Dearborn about this four weeks ago and still have not heard back.

I blew through the CD Rom exams with better than passing grades. When I took the actual series 3, there was little similarity between the CD exam and the real deal. In fact, the CD prepares you for a 70% or better overall score, while the real series 3 has two sections, each scored individually, with a 70% required on both sections.

Having not been prepared for this, I did get a passing grade on the combined average score, but failed one section individually.

Had I been prepared properly with a different product or class, I doubt this would have happened.

Result: No license, no job.

Thanks, Dearborn! You suck.

Please do not buy this product.

Crude but effective
This book will help you pass the test. I read the book once, took all the practice tests and got a 93% on the actual exam. If you study the material you will pass. Don't expect a literary masterpiece nor expect to be an expert in the futures industry and you won't be disappointed.

Training in house brokers with this is impossible
We are a commodities brokerage firm, liverpoolgroup.com, that trains in house brokers, and now other company's trainees, on passing the series 3. This book is impossible. It is not appropriate or conducive to any type of learning about futures and someone using this book may actually run afoul of compliance issues if they claim to have used this guide for learning.

If you are interested in better resources on learning how to pass the Series 3 don't hesitate to contact me.

Buy something else if you can...
Buy this book at your own risk. I bought this in spite of the two reviews above and have regretted it. It may be enough to pass the test, but you will be extremely frustrated using it for you primary study guide.

Frustration #1: You read a few pages and take a quiz. The problem is the material you just read didn't cover the information! (This happens on about every mini quiz and especially on the sample exam tests.) You have to assume the answers to the exam are correct and use those questions to learn from.

Frustratin #2: Repeated questions in the same exam, quiz etc. Absolute stupidity! One exam of 120 questions had 4 or 5 repeats!

Frustration #3: On the Sample final exams, you get the answers and explanations given to you with a reference to the page number in the book where the material was covered. When you go to that page, You often find that the material was never there. I wasted time trying to find the information in the study material but finally gave up and assumed the answers and explanations to the questions were the only place where the material is covered.

I will probably pass the exam because I have a knowledge of the industry already, but if you are taking this without a vast array of experience already, Good Luck you will need it.

(If I fail the test, I'm think about sending Deerborn a bill for the book and also for the testing fees!!)

bad, but all you need
What can I say? The book is bad, but that's all you need to pass the exam. There were so many mistakes in it. Many things were not explained clearly, some were wrong, and there were even two consecutive paragraphs in the text that were identical. In the same sample test the same problem appeared twice, and that happened at least three times. All you sense is stupidity. When I first read it I felt very uneasy. How could anyone pass with only such a sloppy book? The reason is the test is as stupid. There were even spelling mistakes in the test, with "that" instead of "than". Repetitive questions again and again, exactly the same taste as the book. There were about twenty questions exactly appeared in the book. Either the book and the test were from same people, or the book did a wonderful job to track the stupidity of the test. I found problem sets in the book helpful, though repetitive. The hotsheet is useful too. ... Read more

Book Description

Anyone seeking a clear introduction and guide to the complex world of commodity and futures trading will find everything they need in this book. Topics covered include: the development of the futures marketplace * the structure of the futures exchanges * clearing operations * hedging to manage risk * speculating in the futures markets * price analysis, and more.

All the important markets for commodities and futures--including agricultural products, financial futures, metals, forest and fiber products, food products, and the all-important energy markets--are described in detail. There is also in-depth information on various spreading strategies and options on futures, plus expert analysis of the likely future development of competition, over-the-counter markets, and electronic trading. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Just anwers for the Commodity Trading Manual
This workbook contents only the anwers for the questions inside the Manual. The questions are just text interpretation and don't represent nothing than a method of study. I don't think that it is useful for people that want to understand the markets and need case studies.

A good reference of futures market and commodities
The book tells the CBOT history and has tecnical information about the major commodities trader there ( agricultural, financial and energy ), including specifications, top producers and consumers. It helps to understand the market functioning and principal tools, like futures contracts and options, although dont't has useful technics about how to evaluate the prices or the market beaviour. It's a good reference book of futures market. ... Read more