Customer Reviews

The Day Trader: From the Pit to the PC

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

...because nothing is mentioned on how to actually daytrade. No systems or trading tips. The worst book I've ever read on the markets. The only thing I learned is what an ego-maniac LBJ is. All he talks about is how great a football player he was, how tough he was, how rich he is...it must be sickening to be in the same room with this guy listening to him talk about himself. The last few chapters he pleads to anyone who will listen NOT to convert his precious CME (S&P pit) from open outcry to electronic trading. That's because floor traders make a living ripping people off on their order fills. He goes so far as to say that he can fill an order with a hand signal faster than a computer! What a joke. I had to force myself to finish this book.

You know when they say "Don't judge a book by it's cover?" Well here's a living proof of it! Well, the book is not about day trading. I founs perhaps around 3 or 4 sentences that talk about day trading and that's about it. The authors has focused more on his personal life. This should be named an Autobiography of Borsellino instead.

However, he is a good writer and has written pretty well, I must say. His personal life experiences are very touching and interesting to read about. He does warn us in the beginning that he will be talking about his life, but I did not expect it to be of such *great* extent. Perhaps he believes that if we know about his personal life, and understand it deeply, then we will be better traders.

The reason I am assigning a 2-star is just because of the misleading title of the book. But it doesn't mean that Mr. Borsellino is not a good writer. He writes very well indeed!

Thank you, Steve.

As a fellow CME member and trader I expected a lot more from a man I had heard much about before I stepped in the S&P pit. The book title is misleading, and he does repeat again and again about his father and his troubled youth. However, I had heard many stories about how LBJ took Soros (the man who broke the bank of England) for a "ride" the days following the crash of 87'; and his story matched. I had also heard stories, among others, that LBJ took a Concorde home from europe to get back for the 87' aftermath and proceeded to make a killing; his book again confirmed. Moreover, on a personal level, this book legitamized a lot of rumors that had floated around the CME. To sum it up, this book is auto-biographical with occassional insights into what made him such an exceptional trader; this certainly isnt a "day traders" manual.

This book contains many interesting (and some amusing) anecdotes from the life of a very unique individual. It also gives a good picture of the controlled chaos in the (futures) pits.

However, the book is very repetitious. The entire first half of the book can be summarized as follows: My father loved his family and felt forced to provide for us in ways that society rewards with jail sentences. My father taught my brother and me never to walk away from a fight. Along with other things he taught us, this is what has allowed me to be the success I am today.

Second, I was expecting (hoping?) for more than just a superficial treatment of the psychology and strategies used in trading. Those looking for a "how to" book will not find it here.

Third, there were a couple of chapters devoted to Mr. Borsellino's opinions as to how the Chicago futures exchanges must adapt to and incorporate electronic trading. These to me were quite technical and uninteresting, and seemed out of place here.

Finally, the last couple of chapters seemed a bit too much like an ad for the newly-formed Borsellino Capital Management firm. In fact, Mr. Borsellino writes, "I want my investors who read this book to know me as a trader with unique expertise in an increasingly unpredictable market and to know me as a man."

I don't want to discourage anyone from reading this book. I did enjoy most of it. However, you should be clear as to what the book is, and what it isn't.

While the title has disappointed some by leading one to think that this book contains the secret strategies of a successful day trader (it does not), I found this book to be perfectly appropriate for teaching everyone about an often overlooked concept and the one thing that kept him in the trading game: heart.

Through the lens of this notion, Borsellino gives folks a first-hand look of what it takes to make money in the S&P futures pits of the Chicago Merc. Much more than that, "Big Italy" gives you a no-holds-barred account of his humble beginnings and some of his more interesting episodes as a day trader on the Merc. The best story I ever read was about how he was able to earn over $1.3 million dollars on one trade...in about 1 minute! If you want to see what its like to be on the other side of the daytrading fence (the very profitable side) take a look at Borsellio's "The Day Trader". Also useful is an interview he gives in "The Best: TradingMarkets.com Conversations With Top Traders". There he discussed order flow and support and resistance from a pit trader and a pc-based traders point of view. Some useful nuggets there.

A hot contender for the title of worst trading book ever written. Rather than a discussion of the one issue that might lead one to respect the author - his trading - he subjects his readers to 200 pages of whingeing about his victimization on account of his father's mafia connections. While Mr. Borsellino goes to extraordinary lengths to deny that he has maintained these, he produces such a mind-numbingly tedious volume that one begins to wonder whether its publisher took the decision to publish on the basis of an "offer he couldn't refuse".

I didn't expect a book on "secrets" of trading; I did expect an entertaining read about trading in the pits and off the floor. The book fails miserably in both areas. The author drones on about his father and the "tough" life he was brought into. He spends more time telling us how great his father was than giving us a glimpse into what truly happens on the floor. If you want a very entertaining book on the trading life with wit and wisdom, I suggest Buzzy Schwartz's "Pit Bull".

This book is not about trading, it is about all the people Lewis and his father beat up. Borsellino must know something about trading but he fails to demonstrate it in this poorly written narrative of is his dysfunctional upbringing. I am embarrassed to have paid money and spent the time reading this book.

This tome will have little to offer anyone outside the pit in terms of practical information about trading.It dwells excessively on the authors heritage and the influence of his father. I found Marty Schwartz' PIT BULL to be a more entertaining story about the life of a trader. The one gem in the book is the author's revelation that he traded upwards of 250,000 contracts per year and his admission that if he had to pay normal retail clearing commissions he would not have made any money at all.

Dont know whether I had not expected much from this book or what,(I had read through many negative reviews here on Amazon that I know this is not the type of tool book nor sheer biography that one might expect), it is not so boring to me. However, in a trader reader perspective, it is at least 2,000 pips (in yen/$ term, the range in 2002) below the quality level of "Reminiscences of a stock operator" and "Pit Bull". So unless you had no other book in your mind that you wanna read or you are a contrarian, I strongly recommend you to spend your valuable time on other ones, like those I mentioned above, or scan through the Amazon database for better alternatives.