57 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
intro to etf, not a playbook, October 7, 2009
This review is from: The ETF Trend Following Playbook: Profiting from Trends in Bull or Bear Markets with Exchange Traded Funds (Hardcover)
This book is packed full of descriptions of various ETF's, however there is almost no suggestion on putting various portfolios together or how to use the selected portfolio other than based on your investing likes or dislikes. It makes a strong point to get out of the mindset of buy and hold and gives an brief intro to 200 d moving averages, but using the 200d average is not clearly gone into with much detail or examples.
The most useful suggestion is placing a stop or picking an exact point to get out of a position. You rarely see this in typical books promoting individual stocks and certainly never with mutual funds. This is frequently overlooked in stock investing and makes tremendous sense when following Lyon's strategy of trend investing with ETF's.
I think almost all the info from this book can be obtained by reading Lyon's interesting insights on his website and as listed in the above reviews. I was expecting more strategies in using ETF's. The author is an obvious knowledgeable proponent of ETF's, but this book fails as a playbook. I can imagine future versions of this book with chapters dealing with specific situations such as economic depression, inflation, weakened dollar, retirement portfolio, etc.
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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Introduction to ETFs, but not useful for tend following, January 16, 2010
This review is from: The ETF Trend Following Playbook: Profiting from Trends in Bull or Bear Markets with Exchange Traded Funds (Hardcover)
Thus book is really not much more than a brief introduction to the field of ETFs. As for the "trend following" in the title, readers interested in the technique will be sorely disappointed. The only recommendation is to buy when an ETF trades above the 200-day exponential moving average and sell when it falls below it. That's it. Seriously. Add to that the frequent plugs of the author's website and you really have to wonder why anyone would bother to put out a book like this and seriously claim to be providing any sort of useful service to the investing public.
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39 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Convincing Case for Trend Following, September 12, 2009
This review is from: The ETF Trend Following Playbook: Profiting from Trends in Bull or Bear Markets with Exchange Traded Funds (Hardcover)
The secret to "trend following" success is no longer a secret. Tom Lydon has spilled the beans. Not that trend following is such a closely guarded secret. As a matter of record, the majority of people who are aware of trend following strategies have either ignored them or rejected them. But now the time is ripe for consideration by the ignorant and reconsideration by the learned.
The ETF Trend Following Playbook (2010) by Tom Lydon will be a boon to investors, especially those who got burned by the 2007-2009 bear market. If, like me, you were hurt by adherence to a buy-and-hold strategy, you might be ready, as I was, for the switch from fundamental investing for the long haul to technical trading for the intermediate or short term.
Tom Lydon's Playbook answers practically any question I can propose, such as: (1) what is "trend following," (2) who can benefit from trend following, (3) how can I put trend following strategies into practice, (4) where can I do my trading, (5) what equities should I be trading, (6) how can I clearly identify the beginnings of bullish and bearish trends, (7) how can I protect my portfolio from trend reversals, (8) when should I buy, (9) when should I sell, (10) why make the switch to trend following strategies now?
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are the object of Lydon's affections. He likes them because of their diversity, their easy trading, their openness, their low fees, their index tracking, their relatively low risk, and their tax friendly performance.
This book has what a trader needs for navigating the marketplace. There is a detailed table of contents, a helpful glossary of technical terms, a comprehensive list of references and resources, numerous charts, tables, and illustrations, punctuated by a topical index of subjects, people, and funds.
What's missing? Sadly, explanations of stop-loss strategies are missing. Stop-loss orders will protect your assets by generating an automatic sell when your ETF gets hit by a sudden downturn in the market. Stop-loss is defined in the glossary, but how can a trader take advantage of it? On his website, Lydon suggests a stop-loss setting of 8%. I sleep better at night when I have limited my loss of capital to the level of risk I am willing to bear.
My Favorite Chapter: I especially like Chapter 3 on Spotting Trends. This is the chapter where Lydon teaches the tools of the trade. There are only three rules to follow: (1) buy when the price moves above the 200-day moving average, (2) sell when the price moves below the 200-day moving average, and (3) leave fear and greed out of it.
Lydon operates a website, [...] that serves as a dynamic extension of this Playbook.
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