Customer Reviews

Electronic Day Traders' Secrets: Learn From the Best of the Best DayTraders

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

In short I would say the book is ok. The book is dominated by young guys who have not been trading for even five years. They have not traded a secular bear market, a secular bear market for tech stocks, had to deal with decimalization, or have had to deal with incredibly rangebound and lackluster markets of years past. While not doubting the talent or the results of the traders interviewed in the book, I would like to see where everyone is in 2010. This book was written in the sweetest spot of the NASDAQ market most of the traders, myself included, will probably ever see in our life times.

If you are a new direct access trader this book is worth a read. If you are an experienced trader just trying to continually polish your game-I'll save you a 250 page read and twenty-some bucks. Cut your losses, let your winners run, be disciplined, use instinct, be a fast typer, trade with the trend, get long stocks in a strong market, get short stocks in a weak market, don't monetize your trading results, don't let your ego get in the way, and the market is always right. These phrases were repeated over and over. You just learned the lessons of this book without having to read 250 pages.

Take it from us at streetforce.com, there is no substitute for the trenches or the sweat and blood of  working the markets day in and day out, learning and applying lessons that can never be taught in any book.   However, in order to develop trading frameworks and to learn from others' mistakes, it is often useful to consult outside sources.  Not just any source as there are literally thousands of so called "trading" books out there that are not worth the paper they are printed on.  However we believe that the book you see here is not in this category. 

Friedfertig and his partner have put together a work that should be of interest to anyone who is a student of the markets regardless of whether or not you are a day trader.

Their first book focuses on basic strategies used by daytraders to beat the market makers and, in some cases, trade like market makers.  Topics covered include bid and offer issues, interpreting level II quotes, price patterns based on time of day and many other issues.  Even if you are not a daytrader, this information alone is worth the price of the book unless you are content to remain a faceless victim of market makers who don't believe in taking prisoners.

In the follow-up book, they take the discussion to a new level through a series of interviews with supposedly successful daytraders.  It is amazing to see the similarities between some of what they say and the strategies we espouse here despite the fact that we do not daytrade.  This just proves the point that all trading is the same, regardless of the time frame involved:

1) Having a strategy prior to a trade-You have to have formulated a game plan before any trade is executed.   This must include the following at a minimum: a) the basic strategy underlying the trade in the first place, b) the entry and exit points that correlate with the basic strategy, 3) The point at which you will exit if the trade moves against you or if the underlying assumption is proven invalid. 2) Maintaining focus on what's important-Forget the minutiae.  Focus on what's important.  Just because we have broken support does not mean that a long position is necessarily bad.   Everything relates to the initial assumption upon which the trade is based.   If that has gone wrong, then get out, if not, consider remaining even if less important factors point you in the other direction. 3) Stick to a familiar group of volatile stocks-Almost without exception, successful daytraders trade the same stocks day in and day out.  They become familiar with fundamental developments but more importantly, unique price movements and inflections at specific times and under specific conditions. The meat of the book is the interviews.  Many of the subject traders have been featured in Forbes and other well known magazines.  Almost all had different strategies but the common thread was that they stuck to them and all had the ability to see early on when a trade was going bad and were able to get out.  To a man they all agreed that this was the most important   characteristic of a successful trader and that it was not based on technical or any other kind of analysis.  It was a "feel" developed through experience.

I think a lot of people were mislead by the title, thinking these traders would just give away some holy grail method to make millions of dollars. Nobody's giving away any secrets. Don't forget, once the opening bell rings, these guys are trying to take your money.

What you will get is a peek into the minds of some of the most successful traders in the market and you will notice a lot of common characteristics. If you want to make money in the market, you need to learn from the people who do (not just the ones who say they do.) Recently, thousands of people paid $200 to see some of these guys talk for a few minutes out here in Ontario. You get a more in depth interview for less.

Like the other reviewers, I don't recommend this book until you become familiar with trading terminology. If you're a novice looking for insight as to what daytrading will be like, I recommend you read Dumb Money by Joey Anuff and Gary Wolf.

This book is a great addition to reading on technical analysis for day traders. If you understand how day trading works and how to spot set-ups for day trades - then you will enjoy reading about personal experiences in applying the techniques.

(Do not read this book first if you do not understand day trading! Read an introductory book first and do some paper trading to get a feel for the markets. That will make this book a much more worthwhile read)

There is no substitute for hands-on practice when it comes to learning how to make money day-trading. I think the value in this book is that it can help you avoid making the same mistakes and realizing the same initial losses as these traders.

The closing of the book has some very good guidelines to minimizing losses and keeping more of your profits.

Warning: These are all success stories in the end. In reality, only a small percentage of day traders net an overall profit in their trading. Reading this book can lead one to think that it is easy to make big money at this.

Friedfertig has put together a well-written, informative and fascinating book of the verbal accounts of many successful day traders. BUY THIS BOOK. However, let me clear this up. Several of the day traders in this book claim that market makers are 'out to get them' and make it sound like its a personal conspiracy, especially Sidikman who sounds almost paranoid-delusional about it. I am a market maker and we are so busy facilitating customer orders that half the time we are lucky to know what our positions are. So dont flatter yourselves into thinking market makers are out to get you. Furthermore, we take plenty of risks just like everyone else, and are obligated to display orders and print our tier sizes. Please get it through your paranoid heads that there is no conspiracy to 'get' day traders. I personally am pro-day trading for many different reasons.

There's an old story about what would happen if there was a US national coin tossing championship. With 252 million people competing in the first round, there would be regional contests all over the states as the contestants were whittled down to local champions. The local champions would be featured in their local papers. They would expound upon their coin tossing technique and go forward to the national championship. The finalists would appear on talk shows, feature in Forbes magazine, describe their years of training for the event, while the winner would become a national celebrity. This book features a selection of interviews with champion coin tossers. Talentless individuals acting as fair weather market makers in the greatest bull market ever seen. Do they make money? Yes they probably do, there is an edge to trading on the right side of the spreads without the obligation to commit capital. Do they have any insight into investment. No more so than any other 3/8 - 5/8 market maker. An unnecessary book - a sign of the times?

I bought this book despite the negative reviews. I should have listened! Many times the traders would mention a strategy, like fading or shadowing the Market Makers, yet would not give information on how or when do to it. The book is so vague I do not see how it could help any trader. I paid $30 bucks to hear some guy say:"I trade based on instinct" .... Sorry, but that does not help me trade stocks

Much better books out there like Strategies for the Online Day Trader (Gonzalez and Rhee) which will really make you make a killing in the market. Why read bad work that doesn't work?

This book has a good number of exciting stories from several people that went from "wannabe" traders losing money to wealthy and confident money makers. The problem is that the book needs more in depth strategies that can serve you as a step by step guide on how to make it as a day trader.

Stock trading is a very competitive field and in order to succeed you need to FOCUS on a set of simple strategies that you can implement without hesitation.

The trading method you employ to approach the stock market will make a big difference in your results.

To many people want to discover what's the big secret to making money as a day trader. The real " secret " of the stock market game is enclosed within the trading set ups and market signals you rely on to decide when to buy or when to sell shares.

So the clearer your signals are, the faster you can spot a potentially profitable trading scenario and act on it reducing your risk.

Complicated technical systems and information overload can make you slow and confuse you right from the start, making you loose money instead of making your profits grow.

Fortunatly some sites on the web do offer more effective and updated day trading information. One of those sites that can show you how to trade using simple to understand and apply trading strategies is Hot In Play Stocks ( HotInPlayStocks com )

They focus mainly on momentum stock trading strategies, that in my opinion are easier to implement than many other technical systems outhere.

Stock trading doesn't have to be complicated as many people perceive. But you do need to follow a well organized set of rules and tactics, that once you master them, you can aspire to replicate profitable trades with consistency.

In short, I will add to the list of reviews that this is indeed a good overview of what daytrading is and is not. The traders in this book give honest evaluations of their success and failures, why and how either occurred, and tips for the new and experienced.

Overall the book is a great read. Most of this book details the psychology of trading, how one must have self-control, while it also gives some perspective on strategy. It is not a how-to, and yet I do not believe that one can exist. Day trading is a very individual experience, and it requires a very specific array of skills and focus. "How-to" books on this subject would accordingly vary as much as the various individuals who trade.

...I would recommend this book to anyone who has started or is thinking of starting the daytrading venture. Additionally I would add that it is also very good for the experienced, for you will find yourself saying "my god, I do that all the time too!" and you'll walk away feeling that your tendancies that prevent the "ultimate" profits are committed by most everyone. This book addresses how to get past those and become the most focused, the most effective.

Check it out!