The Art of the Trade: What I Learned (and Lost) Trading the Chicago Futures Markets [Hardcover]

Jason Alan Jankovsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 2008

The Art of the Trade is a searing portrait of the futures and options industry as seen through the eyes of someone who has participated in this arena for more than twenty years. On one level, it's a brutally honest, no-punches-pulled look at the individuals and institutions that comprise this unique community. On another level, The Art of the Trade is a personal story of the challenges author Alan Jankovsky faced as he battled the markets, the brokerage industry, and his own early penchant for self-destruction.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Trading is an intensely personal and subjective endeavor—one that is more an art than a science. And like all forms of art, the results are clearly visible, but the struggles of the artist involved are rarely ever seen.

Over the course of his career, author Jason Alan Jankovsky has experienced both the best and the worst that trading has to offer, and now, in The Art of the Trade, he puts this discipline in perspective by taking you on a personal journey that reveals the harsh dynamics of this world.

The Art of the Trade is a searing portrait of the futures and options industry as seen through the eyes of someone who has participated in this arena for more than twenty years. On one level, it's a brutally honest, no-punches-pulled look at the individuals and institutions that comprise this unique community. Page by page, Jankovsky deftly describes the pseudo-professional brokerage offices that spring up like weeds in Chicago's financial district, only to suddenly disappear months later, and lays bare an industry where drug use, financial irresponsibility, and personal vendettas are commonplace—and where the customer is often the victim.

On another level, The Art of the Trade is a personal story of the challenges faced by Jankovsky as he battles the markets, the brokerage industry, and his own early penchant for self-destruction. With each chapter, Jankovsky takes you through his journey of self-discovery and discusses what it takes to succeed on your own terms. He skillfully shares his hard-won experiences—from realizing that markets have a reality all their own to unlearning things we might consider essential to trading success—and shows you how these insights can put you in a better position to make it as a true trader.

Both entertaining and informative, The Art of the Trade will help you come to grips with the realities of trading today's markets and deal with the constant state of adversity that is so much a part of them. With the lessons found throughout this book, you'll be prepared to survive and thrive in an environment that is far from stable.

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Art of the Trade

"Mr. Jankovsky's The Art of the Trade is a fascinating account of trading futures and options from his perspective as a professional in the business. The harsh realities of the brokerage business he describes are sobering, if not frightening, to retail traders. Though some of his points are controversial, Jankovsky's emphasis on the necessity of self-study in obtaining consistent trading profits and his conclusion that so many people fail in the markets because they refuse to discover what market reality is and adapt to it make this book an important contribution to trading literature."
—BILL KRAFT, author, Trade Your Way to Wealth: Earn Big Profits with No-Risk, Low-Risk, and Measured-Risk Strategies

"This book is a must-read for anyone interested in learning to trade or those who have never quite been able to make trading profitable. It is not often that you get an author who bears his soul to his strength and weaknesses, and his conclusion that you should never believe in anything but yourself is worth the price of the book. It is learning to know 'how to think' as opposed to 'what to think.' "
—LARRY PESAVENTO, author, Trade What You See: How to Profit from Pattern Recognition

"Having traded for over twenty years, I've seen dozens of books about trading techniques and methods. But this is the first time I've encountered a book that goes into the unchartered territory of a trader's soul. Jankovsky delves into places that others haven't ventured, and this book's mixture of philosophy, theology, and real-life trading experiences provides a jolt of fresh perspective. This is unlike any other trading book that's ever been published."
—TIM KNIGHT, author, Chart Your Way to Profits: The Online Trader's Guide to Technical Analysis; founder, Prophet.net; and Senior Vice President, thinkorswim Group

"Jason tells it like it is: he packs a real punch in telling you the true story of what it's like to be on the other side of the phone, from the broker's perspective. What you'll read might shock you, it will surely entertain you, and most of all — it will teach you things about the market that you can't learn anywhere else. One of the best books I've read about the market in the last ten years."
—Rob Booker, independent trader and host of TraderRadio.net

"I have read hundreds of trading books, and The Art of the Trade is the first book that kept my interest from beginning to end. I have been weary to endorse books in the past. Not only do I endorse this book, I am also giving it to all of my friends."
—GREG G. SWEET, President, Lotusbrokerage.com and Forexte.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470138998
• ISBN-13: 978-0470138991
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #220,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jason Alan Jankovsky is a 20+ year veteran of leveraged transaction trading. Trading extensively in Futures, Options, and FOREX since 1986, first as a customer and then as a registered broker, he is self-taught and self-educated. Working in almost all facets of the trading business, he has authored several trading systems, trained other successful traders and has been published in many industry periodicals; his numerous articles on global cash FOREX have appeared in "Traders Savvy", "The Perspective", "SFO Magazine", "Futures Magazine" and other industry publications. He is a regular guest on FOREX TV and the Jack Bouroudjian Show as well as other business radio and television shows. He is the author of "Trading Rules that Work: The 28 essential lessons every trader must master" (John Wiley & Sons, October 2006), a regular Amazon top-100 best seller in the category of "Futures". His second book "The Art of The Trade: what I learned (and lost) trading the Chicago futures markets" (John Wiley & Sons, October, 2008) is an autobiography of his education as a trader and is also a regular Amazon top-100 bestseller in the category of "biography/business". His latest book titled "Time Compression Trading: exploiting multiple time frames in zero-sum markets" is due for release from John Wiley & Sons in October, 2010. He has focused on the psychology of trading as the key component to a successful trading methodology and teaches a six-week course on trading psychology every quarter to traders around the world. He appears regularly as a guest speaker at many public and private trading forums and has been invited to speak at round table discussions offered by events such as "The Orlando MoneyShow" and "The New York Trader's Expo" He provides daily trade coaching and analysis for customers of Core Financial Group, INC. working directly with traders of all skill levels. He trades his own accounts every day and provides a regular weekly wrap-up of his personal performance every Friday afternoon for interested customers and guests. Born and raised in Chicago, IL. He is an avid Sailor and Private Pilot.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars old book, new title, January 28, 2009

By 

rwk (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of the Trade: What I Learned (and Lost) Trading the Chicago Futures Markets (Hardcover)

This is a reprint of "Dancing With Lions", a 1999 book I already had on my bookshelf. I Liked it better the first time I read it, but maybe that is because I am a better trader now. Or maybe it is because some of the material is somewhat dated. "Dancing With Lions" suffered from poor editing. This book is better, but there are still mistakes. I would not have bought this book if I had known I already had it.

I give this book a cautious (3 star) recommendation because there is so little available from people who really know how to trade. The author also has an audio course, "The Art of Evolving as a Trader" which I do not recommend.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book is just as the title says it is, October 4, 2008

By 

Haritasha "haritasha" (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of the Trade: What I Learned (and Lost) Trading the Chicago Futures Markets (Hardcover)

I have to give this 5 stars because the book is just as the title says it is. It is about what Jason learned and lost trading the Chicago Futures Markets, so no one should be surprised or disappointed.

"The Art of the Trade" part of the title should really be "The Art of Jason's Trade", but that is ok. One thing about Jason is he has no lack of ego. If ego were energy, this guy's ego could power the entire city of Chicago, but that actually makes this book a little more interesting. To see and feel his ego boldly and unashamedly served up and spatula-spanked point blank right into your face is kind of entertaining.

He has had an interesting career with brokers and he shares not only the experiences he has had, but his thoughts and feeling towards those experiences and how it affected him personally and emotionally. Anyone that has traded for any length of time can relate to many of the emotional turmoils that this business can manifest.

Don't buy this book expecting a "how to" book on trading. He does have some verbiage alluding to some trading theory, but again, like his other book, he doesn't really give you anything you can use. For example, he tells the reader to figure out where the loser is in any given trade situation, but doesn't really tell us how to do that - which is actually the most important part. It's like telling us the secret to trading is to buy low and sell high, but if he doesn't tell us how to do that, then it is really a worthless statement.

So if you are interested in reading about the career and personal thoughts of a trader, and would like a little insight into how bizarre the world of brokers can be, and how it has affected this trader through good times and bad times, then this book is for you.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great info, iffy presentation, March 16, 2009

By 

Lucas Trengove "Tarigal" (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Art of the Trade: What I Learned (and Lost) Trading the Chicago Futures Markets (Hardcover)

This book has some really great things about it, and some really iffy things about it. If you do not know, then this is a reprint of the book "Dancing with Lions" written by the same author. I have never read that book, but I was drawn to read this book when I heard some people I know mention it, as well as after I read this guy's other book: 28 rules that work (something like that). Here is the break down:

PROS:

-This book has it; it has the key to trading, and it is right in front of your face. If you pick this book up and throw it down in disgust, you missed something very important. One of the leading causes of trading woes is when people do not understand the true nature of the market. After reading this book, pick up some Mark Douglas, or Rem. of a Stock Operator, or any other book you know that is packed with trading wisdom. You will start to see points from this book in those. Once you understand truly the nature of the markets, then right action becomes self evident, and to not make money in the market, you have to TRY to not make it. Once understanding comes, you will flow with the market and all the riches you imagined can be yours. But do you understand its true nature yet?

-I liked the way this guy told stories, and although some of them were pretty outrageous, without speaking to their validity, they were entertaining. I also think his stories got the points across.

-Some really great lines in this book that point to deep truths about both the markets, and reality. "There are only two realities, yours, and the right one." Also, when talking about the fact that when two people trade, they both believe totally opposite things, he says (I am paraphrasing): "That little thing that makes you believe your trade is right, that is why you lose." These sayings have some really deep truths to them, but you have to truly understand reality, as well as the market for these truths to set you free. This book has these truths, and discusses them in a way that can give you an understanding if you are open to it.

CONS

-This book, while probably better edited than the earlier version (from what I have heard), still is filled with quite a few mistakes. Mostly harmless things, like forgetting to put a space or two after sentences, or some small spelling errors. Still, it is not up to this publisher's standards and the errors in this book should be redone.

-This guy is a pretty sarcastic dude at times. It is actually a bit mind-boggling because at times, he seems very wise, and at others, he is like a closed off Neanderthal. A lot of his stories seem like bragging, but then he acknowledges this and this can be confusing about his intentions.

-It can seriously get annoying with how many times this author says "I wont go into that, but you know," "I wont say the name of this, but you know," or something to that effect. This happens once or twice, its not a big deal. But this guy does it quite a bit, and you start to wonder why he has to do this in the first place, what is he trying to hide? The cloak and dagger stuff he does is the exact opposite to the confident trader that he is trying to portray. Plus the book isn't that long, what is another few pages describing things you mention? This can be all very confusing, and sometimes exasperating, almost like a wise man who every once and awhile turns into a child. But I do not know this guy, nor the circumstances under which he wrote the book, so whatever floats his boat is fine.

Conclusion:

I would say, no matter the downfalls of this book (like mentioning 100% winning traders; seriously? I mean even if you know one, why mention it, its entirely unbelievable), it does have wisdom in it, and it has the type of wisdom in it that you CAN come back to. At its price, it is a no-brain buy because I know for a fact, you can come back to this book and its message will fit what you are currently experiencing. Like all great wisdom, a lot of people will not see it on the first, or even the second run through. That is fine, just keep it on your book shelf and know its there, and one day, you may decide to pick it up and it will speak to you.

That great line "You will Know the Truth, and it will set you free" really is the essence of this book. If you are struggling trading, the truth is right in front of your face, and it has been waiting for a long time to set you free if you open yourself to it. I know I have had to get smacked with a loss bat numerous times to open my eyes. If you are at the point where you are totally exasperated with your performance, your are angry with yourself and your emotions, pick this book up and KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN.