Customer Reviews

All About Technical Analysis : The Easy Way to Get Started

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I'm giving this book a middling rating, but I don't feel like I'm really in a position at this point to judge its actual value.

What I can say -- and what anybody just getting started should know before acquiring this book -- is that the book is more assuredly *not* written for beginners. The fundamental style of the book presumes a pre-existing familiarity with a set of terminology and concepts, and can be quite terse in its explanation of concepts and examples. It strikes me as probably well-suited to those who have engaged fairly extensively in the study of technical analysis already, and who are looking for alternative analysis viewpoints.

To her credit, the author does provide considerably more insight than just technical analysis -- for example, summarizing the fundamentals connecting different markets. So I would think this book would be quite interesting to one who has a solid foundation in technical analysis, but lacks a bigger picture of the market. On the other hand, as at least one other reviewer commented, the book does jump around a lot in discussing these relationships, making it a somewwhat awkward path to that comprehensive picture.

However, the most significant point, for anybody who is a beginner, is that the book's subtitle "The Easy Way to Get Started" and it's cover description "Everything you need to know about technical analysis..." are misleading, inasmuch as it makes it seem as if it is targeted to, and suitable for, beginners. It is not.

I was lucky to encounter Connie's work when I was just getting started with trading. The gem in this and her other writing is seeing her total dedication to uncovering the science of the markets.

She will never GIVE you ALL her secrets. Part of the message is do your work, study your market, learn your indicators and study timing. You will be slapped around by the market, and you need YOUR OWN disciplined approach to keep going when that happens. This book is not going to reveal a mechanical system that can be translated into instant trading success.

You won't find a targeted approach for one market...her approach works for all and any markets; that's why she includes charts and analysis for everything from stocks to fundamental housing data. The bottom line is that many free market activities can be charted and analyzed in much the same way as stocks or futures.

But there are very specific insights into the methods of a highly intelligent trader.... and you're challenged to rise to her level. This book and Technical Analysis for the Trading Professional give many specific insights into indicators and approaches: She points out features of indicators, how to choose non correlated indicators, simplifying "market geometry" and advanced considerations of support and resistance in instrument prices and in indicators, as well as target calculation--plenty of information, and simplified for an easy grasp of the subject.

I feel that this book provides an essential background and insight into how the market works. Whatever the level of trading you decide to do. I think a "non trader" can benefit too...we are all "at risk" of various markets throughout our lives. The charts of currencies and housing show other areas where a non trader could benefit from some technical analysis knowledge to avoid getting caught in a destructive cycle.

The book is written by an extremely busy professional. Therefore, it appears there was no time to organize the material in a manner suitable to either a beginner, intermediate or an advanced student. So, one gets a mix of all levels. There is poor order of chapters and the author does not care to present her material in a manner which makes the topics clear. Or present the subject from simple ideas to difficult. Many of the graphs/charts included in the book are left unexplained.
To be fair, the author is an expert in this field and has a lot of experience, teaching material and the professional competence to write this book. However, it appears as if the author had just enough time to put together each chapter at the end of a long day or during holiday weekends. The way the book is written, you are supposed to rise to her level, which is fine if her explanations are well done. But when it matters most, she lacks the clarity of expression and or presentation. Often she wanders off and forgets to come back to her explanations, where she left off. She includes a lot of irrelevant material about some trivial professional experience as if they matter to a serious learner of the TA. Many of them do not. Who cares she traded in WTC or near UN building.

After so many years of successful trading, one would think that, writing a book of this nature is like performing a service to the reader to teach, be it a novice or an advanced trader. I did not find that kind of attitude in this book. It is more like, 'I know all this stuff after all these years. I challenge you to become as good as I am. If you do not understand what I write, too bad'. Too bad, look elsewhere if you wish to learn about TA (Eg.: A. Elder, Schwager, Murphy, Kaufman).

Haphazard is the word that comes to mind when you read this book.

There is a valid reason why MTA have made Connie's second book "Technical Analysis the Trading Professional" ("TATP") required reading for their CMT course. It is so competently and refreshingly different from other TA books that it deservedly merits this position.

So too does her latest book where she explains in easier-to-understand language some of the concepts contained in TATP.

All investors/speculators who rely on TA for their edge, eventually realize that indicators per se do not achieve the results so loosely claimed by the software and trading system purveyors. The answer lies in which UNCORROLATED indicators are used over various time frames and HOW THEY ARE INTERPRETED. This is what sets this book apart from the plethora of others.

Having read in excess of 100 books on trading, my only regret is that I did not come across this book earlier in my quest to become a half-decent trader. This book is destined in my opinion to become a classic reference for new traders.

The choice is thus: remain a member of the "Indicator Default Club" (Connie's term for those traders who only use and interpret indicators as suggested by software developers) or get to understand how indicators can and should be used to give you that edge.

The added benefit is that this book is not only about indicators: money management, market interdependance, cycles, risk exposure etc are also extensively covered. I particularly liked the chapter on the universal higher order and the interconnectiveness of all things.

You will find this book is complete. It not only teaches technical analysis that works, but also teaches basic money management so a trader can "survive" long enough to develope his technical skills. I have paid for her market forecasts for nearly ten years. Her ability to predict market objectives based on technical analysis is unequalled by any investment service I have ever followed. You will find she reads through chart signals and patterns in a unique way. This book clarified for me how she has been doing it.

This book puts it all together, she holds nothing back. For example, using the techniques in the book, the rally target was predicted four months in advance for CMC including it's following decling that is still extending twelve months after her prediction. (I was confused at first until I saw CMC had a 2 for 1 stock split after the book was printed, adjust the price levels accordingly).

I think the book's title and cover bullets are too limiting for what's inside. The book covers the basics for those beginning, but the advanced trader or Portfolio manager will be mislead by the novice bullets on the cover. Inside is a gold mine of information as it's charts and predictions apply years into the future. You would do well to read it very carefully.

For me, the most fascinating aspect of this book is the discussion of a higher universal order that connects everything in nature. Fibonacci and W. D. Gann were leaders in discovering this mathematical harmonic relationship and how it impacts markets. Even after all of these years, this is still cuttting edge knowledge. Ms. Brown has explained something that is very complicated in a manner that I could understand.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand market action, and to profit from it.

i don't know to whom this book the author wrote. If you are a beginner, you must be confuse read it but if you are not a beginner again u won't get nothing from this book.There is no tip or trick. Trade for a living far better than this book

...because Ms. Brown never gets to the point. She talks around the subject for 300 pages, but never gives the reader the how, what or why of TA. This excruciatingly frustrating book ends up with a discussion on pyramids and harmonic series - intriguing, but, since Ms. Brown never offers a thorough explanation of how to use these techniques, the discussion is completely useless.

This book provides nothing more than survey material to the subject. It would be a nice introduction for someone who wants to know something about TA, but is unhelpful to the serious investor seeking to learn how to apply TA methods to one's portofolio.

Covers a little bit of everything, but nothing extremely well. As the other reviews say, this is not book for beginners and more for an intermediate level student.

The book is not well written. The author does not clearly explain her thinking, she hops from topic to topic without connecting the ideas behind the topics, and always assumes that the reader has some working knowledge on the matter she is writing about.

That is not to say that the book cannot be useful. The author has some good points on why technical analysis can work, but it is a petty that more often than not her message does not come across.

I read about half of the book, the author keeps talking about how great technical analysis is, and how she is one of the experts on that. She shows some examples but I don't feel I got anything out of them. I understand what she tries to find, but she doesn't explain well how she finds it. I am not going to waste any more of my time on this book, the author probably is very experienced on the subject, but not a good writer/presented.