Customer Reviews

The Day Traders: The Untold Story of the Extreme Investors and How They Changed Wall Street Forever

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This is a great book, it does not tell you how to get rich, and it does not tell you that Day Trading is the work of Satan. It gives an excellent concise history about the people who got all individuals the right to trade on their own, and then with examples, and a helpful glossary of terms, gives more than enough information for an individual to decide whether this Extreme Financial Sport is for you. Before reading any other "How To Be A Day Trader" book please read this. Mr. Millman uses the word "Extreme" on the cover of his book and liberally throughout the volume. I trade on-line, have real time quotes, Level II NASDAQ, and many of the other trading tools courtesy of high technology, I do not meet the definition of a Day Trader as I have never had a 50 trade day much less 300 or 500 or even more trades in one session. If you think you are ready for this type of trading a quick calculation may help put Day Trading into perspective. If a person trades from 9:30am-4:00pm, that person has 390 minutes with which to trade. The word extreme starts to come into clear focus. One trade per minute, 390 trades, how about a slovenly pace of 3 minutes for making a decision about your financial status, only 130 decisions need to be made in 6 and one-half hours. Training course of 30 days with some Pros?, $5,000, if that gives you any pause don't attempt this sport. Minimum investment to play at some facilities $50,000 to $100,000, if that gives you any pause stay away. And if you are not prepared to lose consistently when you start, again stay away. You can still trade on-line, and be the master of your own universe, but there is a difference between playing an occasional round of golf and walking up to Tiger Woods throwing down $50,000 and say "You first Mr. Woods". You are going to be trying to make money at the expense of another's loss. You are up against people who have done this all their professional careers, young hotshots who made $1,000,000 last year because, "the video screens are like any video game except these pay". Part of the thirty-day course includes lectures from a psychologist. Now what message is the author not so subtlety suggesting? Do you have the correct form of mental wiring to deal with making a couple of hundred decisions a day, can you handle the constant losses that you will experience, do you have any propensity for gambling. If the answer to the last question is yes, don't go near this game. If you want to trade for yourself, don't confuse a trade or two a day, and staying in stocks for more than a few seconds. Successful Day-Traders are few, like exceptional athletes, or any other occupation that a small number of people have the talent for. On-line trading is fun; true Day-Trading is for the few, not the masses.

If you're thinking of becoming a day trader, this book is not a "how to" manual, but it's a good start, providing some invaluable insight into the personalities and forces at work in the world of electronic stock trading. Author Gregory Millman uses the term "extreme" to refer to day traders, much in the same way as we might categorize those athletes who master balance and gravity-defying acts to achieve a sporting "rush" beyond that achieved by professionals in the mainstream sports. Look upon the successful day trader in the same light as the skateboarder who had to fall thousands of times prior to succeeding in the X-Games. The only difference is that the skateboarder is more likely to make it big.

Millman has talked to the true movers and shakers in the field, and relies on some great behind-the-scenes research and his experience in writing for numerous financial publications, to bring us a book that is at once a history lesson, an eye into a day trading "boot camp," and even a test kit for the reader to see if he or she is fit (financially, emotionally, etc.) for what may turn out to be the investing (gambling?) craze of the new millennium.

This book is easy to read and quite captivating. Whether or not you're a broker, a "buy-and-hold" investor, a gambler, or just plain intrigued by what all those playing in the stock market seem to be talking (i.e., bragging) about at parties these days, you will enjoy this book. Even the Electronic Traders Association risk disclosure statement was interesting! Millman's style is smooth, and won't trip you up with dry details or obscure jargon. I read this in just a few hours; can't wait for his next one.

This book is basically divided into 5 parts:

1) a brief history lesson on how electronic markets have evolved and how some savvy investors have pushed the limits to take a bite out of the exclusive realm of the market makers (the people who actually execute the trades and often make a lot of money on the spread between the best offer and bid). 2) Insight into the behind the scences world of everything that happens once a trade is entred into the system. This information alone, should be very interesting to anyone involved in stock trading (regarless of whether its once a month or a 100 a day) 3) The people who sell day trading, day trade or want to day trade and the strategies they each use or try to learn. This section is pretty interesting for both it's content and the characters it describes 4) A review of various legal cases relating to the use and abuse of day trading and day traders. Could be interesting to those into this stuff, I prefered to glance through most of this section 5) A short tutorial on Day trading. Obviously not a complete course, but does provide some interesting tips. (Although I would not quit my day job just yet)

Bottom line, A good read with lots of interesting information for anyone who is involved in stock trading, particulary the section on what happens behind the scences when a trade is exectued.

This is a work that my mother-in-law can understand and enjoy, a business professor could quote from and a potential day trader should devour as part of his homework! A most compelling and concise account of current day trading via computers. The overnight training or lack thereof is fascinating to read. Then, the next morning you are a Day Trader..... The tragedies outnumber the successes - but Millman goes into a number of scenarios that reveal the human aspect of this risky business. As a prolific financial writer, Millman again did his homework as is evident with all of his books but the inclusion of a Day Trading Primer shows his genius at understanding his marketplace - it sure helped me! I now understand this a lot better after reading Millmans book because it went into the nuts and bolts of the subject without overwhelming me.

If you are interested in day trading this is a must read book. The text does a very good job of making the risks of day trading real and tangible. Greg Millman does an excellent job of making the players in this drama into real people. I was curious about those who day trade and this book confirmed my suspision that it is not for me. I did learn a few things about trading that apply to my slow style of trading. Especially the way market makers handle my trading orders. I learned that making market orders is much more risky than putting in limit orders. The book tells you what these are and how they work.

The characters are well described and overall it was a good read. I am looking forward to his next book.

I absolutely love this book. As one who is--at least, theoretically--interested in becoming a daytrader, I have been repelled by a lot of the self-promotion and sheer drivel passed off as daytrading "instruction," whether in books or in daytrading courses. Because this author is a journalist first and foremost, he's a rare trustworthy source of information about the practice. I'm still not certain if I will indeed plunge into this crazy subculture. But if I do, a few things are certain: I won't accept anyone's pitch without serious scrutiny, and I will read and reread this book. The book doesn't provide particularly detailed instruction on the nuts-and-bolts of the game. But what it does provide is at least as valuable: a source of real, agenda-free information. That alone makes it much more valuable than any dozen of the typical "printed advertisements masquerading as instruction" books.

Nice job of providing an overview of the day trading industry in a highly readable presentation. As an important bonus, there is a lot of solid trading advice here. The monologue of one of the trading instructors is a particular gem. Millman has done his work and knows what he speaks of.

In Greg Millman's The Day Traders, we get an intense look at a bizarre sport and its' participants past, present and future.

Although I have no aspirations as trader,I found myself riveted to each page. It was like reading fiction and really caring about the characters.

I felt the information was authentic and the language real. I especially liked the quick dialog.

The Day Traders: An all-night read.

Gregory Millman's book is very well-written and an engaging read. It is particularly strong on background to the whole day trading movement, starting with context and detail surrounding the rise of Harvey Houtkin and the SOES Bandits.

This book, while containing excellent background and history, is not a day trading "how to" book, though the information and context it provides is valuable and interesting for the novice and experienced trader alike.

I particularly enjoyed the chapter describing a trader "boot camp." I found its description of and insights into the trading school to be right on when I went to a multi-week school myself.

Although the day-trading fad largely disappeared along with the paper profits of the 1990s high-tech bubble, a committed cadre of extreme investors continue to test their mettle against an unforgiving market. Day traders use computer links to stock markets to trade fast and frequently in the hope of profiting from small moves in stock prices. They are lured by the promise of riches, but many are unsuited for the risky venture and ultimately lose everything. Gregory Millman traces the history of day trading, with an emphasis on the unique pitfalls posed by this endeavor. Millman deciphers trading jargon and includes a section outlining the most common techniques utilized by day traders. We from getAbstract recommend this book for its insightful glimpse into a little understood phenomenon.