Campaign Trading: Tactics and Strategies to Exploit the Markets (Wiley Finance) [Hardcover]

Jack Sweeney (Author)

Book Description

Series: Wiley Finance | Publication Date: July 26, 1996

Advance praise for...

The only professional guide that tackles the impermanence and built-in obsolescence of trading systems

Campaign Trading

"John Sweeney will help you overcome the tyranny of one-note trading systems by explaining the secrets of maximum adverse excursion and maximum favorable excursion. Sweeney shows you when to hold' em, and when to fold' em, so you can trade in all types of markets. Now you can trade with the best of them." — Tushar S. Chande, Ph.D. Author, The New Technical Trader

"This book is for the serious trader who wants to gain an edge. John Sweeney's Campaign Trading teaches you his concept of excursion analysis, a method that should be thoroughly understood by every trader who wants to win." — Thom Hartle Editor, Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities magazine

"Sweeney grabs the trading bull by the horns and addresses one of the most neglected aspects of technical analysis—how to best exit a trade. He demonstrates his breadth of knowledge and depth of research by describing how to optimize profits and avoid catastrophic losses in all market conditions." — John F. Ehlers Author, MESA and Trading Market Cycles

Success in the trading arena requires the ability to change strategies on a regular basis in order to accommodate moves in the market and shifts in investment preferences. And while having a solid trading system in place is important for attaining favorable and profitable results, it is equally important to have an overall approach that is flexible. After all, any given system is only effective for a certain period of time, under a specific set of circumstances. Campaign Trading gives you the tools you need to develop a strong trading style that can be adjusted, refined, and retuned, when necessary, to meet the demands of current market behavior.

Author John Sweeney, Technical Editor of the highly regarded Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities magazine, has written a one-of-a-kind book that focuses on the "big picture." He maps out a game plan with which you can win the trading war, not just the isolated battles. Covering essential topics such as the basics and anomalies of campaigning, reversing bad trades, reversing out of ranges, and using options to shift the odds, this invaluable reference shows you how to build a sound base for campaigning. You will learn what measurement techniques to use, how to test trading rules for effectiveness, and how to pick the types of trades you will use in future campaigns.

Campaign Trading uses case examples to illustrate how to create a profitable trading campaign that takes advantage of a specific trading instrument under a variety of circumstances. Once this campaign is established, you'll learn how to redevelop and adapt it to a new and different set of market conditions, thereby avoiding the built-in obsolescence typically found in systems that remain static.

With Campaign Trading, you'll be appropriately armed to battle system impermanence and obsolescence. Whether you're a futures, options, stock, or bond trader, you'll find this must-have reference an indispensable source of help and guidance for keeping your system effective and on target—regardless of what the market is doing.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The first and only professional guide that tackles the impermanence and built-in obsolescence of most trading systems. This book carefully shows futures, options, stocks, and bonds traders how to create a profitable campaign that works for a specific financial instrument, under certain circumstances, for a limited period of time. Then, instead of blindly staying with the system, the user learns to redevelop and adapt it for the next set of financial circumstances. Because the program is constantly adjusted to meet market changes, obsolescence is avoided and the overall trading campaign remains fresh, flexible, and even more profitable. Offers sound guidelines to implement trending into any trading system.

From the Inside Flap

Campaign Trading Success in the trading arena requires the ability to change strategies on a regular basis in order to accommodate moves in the market and shifts in investment preferences. And while having a solid trading system in place is important for attaining favorable and profitable results, it is equally important to have an overall approach that is flexible. After all, any given system is only effective for a certain period of time, under a specific set of circumstances. Campaign Trading gives you the tools you need to develop a strong trading style that can be adjusted, refined, and returned, when necessary, to meet the demands of current market behavior. Author John Sweeney, Technical Editor of the highly regarded Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities magazine, has written a one-of-a-kind book that focuses on the "big picture." He maps out a game plan with which you can win the trading war, not just the isolated battles. Covering essential topics such as the basics and anomalies of campaigning, reversing bad trades, reversing out of ranges, and using options to shift the odds, this invaluable reference shows you how to build a sound base for campaigning. You will learn what measurement techniques to use, how to test trading rules for effectiveness, and how to pick the types of trades you will use in future campaigns. Campaign Trading uses case examples to illustrate how to create a profitable trading campaign that takes advantage of a specific trading instrument under a variety of circumstances. Once this campaign is established, you’ll learn how to redevelop and adapt it to a new and different set of market conditions, thereby avoiding the built-in obsolescence typically found in systems that remain static. With Campaign Trading, you’ll be appropriately armed to battle system impermanence and obsolescence. Whether you’re a futures, options, stock, or bond trader, you’ll find this must-have reference an indispensable source of help and guidance for keeping your system effective and on target—regardless of what the market is doing.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 245 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (July 26, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047114150X
• ISBN-13: 978-0471141501
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,311,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An idea book rather than a cookbook, June 15, 1998

By 

Ronald Davis (portland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Campaign Trading: Tactics and Strategies to Exploit the Markets (Wiley Finance) (Hardcover)

Even though John Sweeney is Tech Editor for Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities, I had rather low expectations, expectations which most books in this field fulfill nicely. Mssrs. Sweeney have presented an idea book which focuses on what to look for, what to look out for, and, in passing, saves the cost of a piece of software. What this book is not is a set of formulae showing how to make a million trading. Thank Heavens!

The thrust of the book is to look at the phases a market can go through and to develop an approach for trading the phase now in evidence. Sweeneys also present concepts for turning a loss generated by a phase change into a profitable reversal. This concept builds on the authors' other work, Maximum Adverse Excursion. The concepts are fully explained and a methodology is used to illustrate each. The authors are careful to note that the method used may not be what they use and may not be optimum, but rather is presented for illustrative purposes.

At the outset I thought this work appropriate for only intermediate and experienced traders. Now I'm not so sure. Beginning traders, if they go back to this work from time to time, may be able to save themselves some time and grief.

I certainly recommend the book; I am uncertain whether I should post five stars or only four.

ron davis,CMT

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Study of MAE and MFE, June 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Campaign Trading: Tactics and Strategies to Exploit the Markets (Wiley Finance) (Hardcover)

This book beats the theories of Max Adverse Excursion (how much a trade moves against you), Min and Max Favor Excursion (how much it moves in your direction) and then applies it to varying trending, non trending and reversal type of situations. The idea is that a winning trade is not likely to move very far against you. A losing trade is likely not to move very far in your favor. Therefore, one can uses these ideas to construct proper risk management and tweak their methods. I did find the book to be a bit wordy, often taking several chapters to explain a few points that could be summarized in two lines. There is also an interesting chapter about using options to hedge your position, rather than relying on stops. I give this book a strong 3 or a weak 4. There are certainly some good ideas, but isn't anything to write home about.

4.0 out of 5 stars These MAE/MFE concepts alone are valuable reasons to backtest your trading system, August 28, 2011

By 

Straddle1985 (Belgium) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Campaign Trading: Tactics and Strategies to Exploit the Markets (Wiley Finance) (Hardcover)

I first heard about this book from a reference in Van Tharp's book Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom. In the chapter on `where to place your stops' I saw a reference to the MAE concept from Sweeney. In general, you just measure how far a trade goes against you after you initiate a long/short position. For example, a trade you initiate following a trading system may lose 3% before it gets back in the green. This maximum loss is the maximum adverse excursion. Sweeney suggests comparing the MAE's of your winning trades and your losing trades, and then place a stop-loss order based on these MAE levels. The MFE concept is generally the same, but this time it's the favorable excursion of a trade.
The general idea is that winners don't tend to lose that much before they start to rise, while losers can be recognized once they've declined below a certain loss level (e.g. 6% below your entry).

I find these levels to be very helpful in choosing stop-loss levels for my trades. I used to pick arbitrary levels for my stops, e.g. 10% below my entry point or 2 ATR's below my entry. Those stops aren't necessarily bad, but thanks to these MAE/MFE concepts I can quickly determine their effectiveness. Most of my stop-loss levels are now much closer to the entry points (3% to 4%), while I take my winners not so quick anymore.

For these stop-loss levels alone I recommend this book to mechanical/technical traders. One alert though: you have to be able to backtest the trading system you're following. If your just a technical trader following random technical signals in a non-systematic way, this book will not add much value to your trading.