Customer Reviews

The Compleat Day Trader: Trading Systems, Strategies, Timing Indicators and Analytical Methods

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Trading especially short term trading need great concentration and a full-time commitment. Professional traders write few or no book.

Mr. Bernstein's books and articles are everywhere. Sometimes I came across his publications, I scanned through a few pages to see what he had to say about trading. Mr. Bernstein makes statements which are generally safe and easy to say. For example, I read his article the other day. He tells the readers "Do your homework.", "The trend is your friend." etc. Of course, these are the common rules for traders. But what are the concrete steps to implement these rules in the real-life situation? Well, I could hardly find any. On the other hand, he stated in that article: "...I maintain that a good trader can make any system works." I found this statement unprofessional and phony. The reasons:

1. Many systems on the market are just trash and can not be used at all.

2. Good traders wouldn't pick up any system and risk their money with it. Good traders are very selective and only trade a few systems that have proven record and are suitable for their individual styles.

I found similar problems in other works by Mr. Bernstein. Should I bother to buy this book? No, thanks.

I have read books from many different writers and have more than 10 year active trading experience. So I know something.

A few tips(IMO) for choosing good books on trading:

1. Only a small percentage of books on the market are good or great.

2. Popular books are not necessary good books. If you automatically think so, you've probably fallen into "Herd mentality" thinking.

3. Trading is a bottom line business. Find books written by traders who had proven long-term(5 year or more) successful trading records. They are the ones "know how".

4. Be wary of the authors who write many trading books.

Good luck.

Most books for "day traders" are so general that their techniques and advice can be successfully used by swing-traders (those who keep stocks for several days), and even by longer-term investors. This one is different. The author, Jake Bernstein, strongly advocates real day trading, when no securities ever kept overnight. Therefore, his techniques are usable for very short term trading only.

The advantage of this book is that it has very little general rhetoric and comes straight to the point, that is to the techniques which the author finds profitable. Basically, 90% of the book is about the use of technical indicators (such as various moving averages and oscillators) to determine potentially profitable entry and exit points. The topics discussed in particular detailed manner are the use of moving averages, stochastic indicator, moving average channel (MAC), relative strength index (RSI), momentum, and techniques for trading of opening gaps. The author also suggests several oscillators of his own. However, despite the simplicity of these indicators, one has to own software such as Omega Research Trade Station to calculate and plot these home-made oscillators in real time, or write a program yourself. There are also several chapters applicable to futures only (actually, the whole book is about trading in the futures market, but 95% of techniques are equally applicable to stocks).

The great advantage of the book is that it is very specific, clearly illustrated, and gives plenty of detailed technical advice and a number of potentially profitable trading techniques. Be advised, however, that those who are interested in trading but do not have enough capital to take profits from half-a-tick changes (and I, too, belong to this group) cannot really take advantage of this book. No trend and no trade longer than a few hours is discussed there! Therefore, this book is for the serious day traders, and only for them. If you are a day trader, this book is a must; if you are not, do not bother buying it but rather consider other options, e.g., the excellent book "How to get started in electronic day trading" by D.S.Nassar which is good for traders on any time frame.

Several of those whom are disatisfied with the book seem to be overlooking a couple of key points. First, the title is "The Compleat Day Trader." That is, "compleat," not "complete." The latter implies that the book is a comprehensive dissertation in the field of day trading in all markets. Compleat means; "highly skilled or proficient." One needs to practice and become proficient in the methods outlined in the book in order to profit with them. Second, Jake is a futures trader. The recent influx in day trading equities has led many to (perhaps mistakingly) to this book. This book focuses solely on trading futures on an intraday basis. Thirdly, the author refers to what is being taught in the book as methodology and not a system or systems. The important distinction being that a system is automatic. There is no interpretation on the part of the trader. Methodology is an approach to the market. It can be used with other methods or systems, it can be tweeked and fine tuned to meet an individual's own style. Unfortunately, this makes it more difficult to backtest than it would be for a true system. I trade futures short term and use many of Jake's methods (including the DSI.) There are a few indicators which are real gems. If you daytrade S&P, Tbond or currency futures, then you can use this book. If you are either trying to learn more about trading equities or the Holy Grail system - save your money for another title.

One of the most difficult things involving the markets, regardless of what you trade is timing.With this book, Jake not only gives you suggestions for timing indicators, but he also gives you some strategies to follow and shows real time examples which are clear and very detailed. In this book, Jake share his extensive knowledge about systems, strategies, technical indicators, and trading systems. I have purchased many trading books and this one is CRITICAL for your success as a trader. One more point that I wish for potential traders to consider is the source. Jake Bernstein has been involved in commodities and futures trading for 25 years. He brings real trading experience to the table. He does not promise you guaranteed results are a "pot of gold" under the rainbow. What he does give you is the information that you will need to be successful, REGARDLESS of the time frame you are trading. Also, he is available for you. I recently e-mailed him with a question from the book and I received a detailed explanation from him the very next day! I challenge you to find any author who will do that! Good luck and good trading!

This is a GREAT resource book for the kind of vital information a savvy day trader needs to know. It points out the mistakes a person could make and can prepare one for the hard job that awaits in the field of day trading, as well as long and short term trading.

What I found most important is that this book is specific in citing the methods and indicators. Some courses I have seen make bombastic claims about day trading that are too good to be true. This book helped me to see the realities of the game. It's down-to-earth, realistic, clearly written and truly understandable, and it doesn't promote any "secret" methods that have to be bought from the author.

This enlightening book holds your hand and teaches you the basic knowledge you need to become a day trader. With specific facts, instructions, methods and explanations, he walks you through everything you ever wanted to know to begin day trading but were afraid to admit you didn't have a clue. From basic definitions and explanations to precise methods, examples and charts, Jake instructs you in a succinct yet elucidating manner about the ins and outs of day trading. The section on psychology alone is worth the price of the entire book. And if you take the time to commit his twenty keys to success as a day trader to memory, it's truly the icing on the cake of knowledge. Once I completed it, I couldn't wait to read The Compleat Day Trader II which advanced the teachings even further than The Compleat Day Trader and went on to show you what systems work and don't work and why. The section on placing orders was really valuable too. To me, what makes Jake's books so meaningful is how he combines the psychology of trading with the trader's basic nature and intertwines that with the hard, cold facts of reality. This makes his writings and teachings much more real and down to earth than those I have read from other authors and traders. And he is also very accessible, which is almost unheard today. That's why I feel both books have earned five stars.

I picked up both the books in one day and was looking forward to finding out new information for trading. Essentially this book is filled with "indicator" information. This means he covers in great detail points in the chart such as Moving Averages, RSI, MACD, OBV, ROC, etc. Mr. Bernstein also believes that if one puts all the indicator info into a software, it can direct us when to buy and sell!

It depends what kind of philosophy one has on trading. If one believes that trading can be automated then this book can be analyzed and programmed, otherwise if one thinks tomorrow's prices will be influenced by asian markets last night, then no point. The book suggests to track an intra day 3-minutes(!) Moving Average of a stock's price for optimal results. Personally I vote against this type of trading.

I did not move onto the second book and returned both.

Thank You, Steve.

This was the first book I ever read about "Day Trading". It totally changed my life in regards to trading strategy. Before this book I only heard about Day Trading on the news, and it was a complete mystery to me. I bought this book a couple of years ago when it first came out, and was only considering "position trading" (holding positions for weeks at a time), but after reading this book, I saw you can the possibility of daily cash flow and you wouldn't have to wait for weeks to see if you had a profit or loss. This is a must read for anyone considering "Day Trading" as an investment strategy. Also a great follow up to this book is the "Compleat Day Trader II" which is an extention of this book.

Schaaf Kirkpatrick

The Compleat Day Trader : Trading Systems, Strategies, Timing Indicators, and Analytical Methods by Jake Bernstein

This text introduced me to some of the crucial concepts involved with daytrading the volatile commodity futures markets. Jake exposed me to some of the basic concepts behind his trading methods in a way that allowed me to apply them to my own trading. It is truly a valuable addition to any trader's library who is interested in expanding their base of knowledge using the benefit of Jake's experience. This book is an excellent start to learning about the strategies, methods and psychology traders must employ if they are to take their task seriously. More compleat strategies and methods for the advanced trader can be found in Jake's Compleat Daytrader II published by McGraw-Hill in 1998.

This book will not please the cash-market stock day trader nor even the futures day trader who does not have a Commodity Quote Graphics system hookup at his disposal. But if you do, you will learn some ideas to try, research, and refine, for S&P futures day trading. The book is a little sloppy in using the term "derivative", which has a definite meaning in Calculus, in an unusual sense; but this is a small hurdle to clear. The style is very readable. Purists will seek in vain for convincing verifications of the all the methododology suggested in the book, but this complaint is a common one for the genre. This is efinitely not a book on the psychology of trading, but contains carefully spelled out ideas on how to daytrade.