Customer Reviews

The Encyclopedia Of Technical Market Indicators, Second Edition

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

 

 

Add 2 stars if you don't care that the formulas are in Metastock shorthand, NOT in straightforward mathematical terms. I'm a programmer, looking for a book with the straight formulas for technical indicators. Here's what it says on the book, as quoted by amazon: "Simple, intuitive, easy-to-understand, and precisely defined formulas". Sounds great, so I buy it. NOWHERE does it mention that these formulas are in Metastock shorthand, which is NOT decipherable without Metastock, so I returned it. The book is very good at explaining the use of these indicators, but I'm very disappointed in the misleading marketing of the publishers and amazon.

For the earlier review commenting that the formulas are only in Metastock I must comment that this is not the case.

The indicators in the book are described in varying ways:
1. Most of the indicators (and the method of their calculation) are described in prose. Sometimes there are no mathematical formulas visible, as the calculation is only described in the text.
2. Very often the mathematical formula for the indicator is printed out. From these formulas it is quite straightforward to implement them in your selected calculator (be it in your head, Excel, any programming language..)
3. For the most used and known indicators, the calculation is layed out in detail with printed step-by-step excel-sheets. For example, it is impossible for you not to undestand from the book how to calculate Exponential Moving Averages.

However, the book does not only include definitions about market indicators, but also examples of their implementation. For most of the indicators a trading system is proposed (that is, exact rules when to buy or sell using the data given by the indicator), and the implementation of these systems are indeed described in Metastock language. Still the described systems are quite easy to understand even without Metastock background. The meaning of some of the metastock function calls may take some figuring out, but usually given the context of the text the code is quite easy to understand. Personally I am also a programmer and have never used Metastock, and still find all of the book most usable.

The only negative aspect of the book I can say is that the level of description on the indicators varies quite widly. Some indicators may get several pages, while others are passed by with 10 lines of text. It would have been nice if all the indicators would have been given the same level of treatment, with at least simple mathematical descrioption for each. I usually prefer simple mathematics, and it was little disturbing to notice that sometimes formulas are described only in text.

To conclude, this is after all a very comprehensive book, and by far the best collection of data on market indicators I have seen. Highly recommended dependless whether you are using metastock or not.

This is a big fat book that devotes most of its pages to an analysis of how each indicator performs when used as a sole trading strategy. Less emphasis is given to the detailed, objective, comprehensive and comparative explanation of each indicator along with its intended usage, pitfalls etc. The book does contain some of this latter information here and there --- but not in a comparative and structured way. You'll only find a page or two devoted to the fundamental explanation of the indicator, in contrast to many more pages devoted to how it performs relative to buy-and-hold and other strategies.

If you are serious about technical analysis and would like to be able to understand the underlying logic, formula, success rate, and limitations of market osicllators and indicators, then this book is for you.

I have been in Technical analysis for more than 4 years and have many books on the subject but of all the books I have "The Encyclopedia of Technical Market Indicators" is the most misguided title ever. Motivation for this statement is that the book is almost like an empty vessel. The author relates to numerous indicators and indicates how successful or unsuccessful they are but without explanations which make it difficult to comprehend. Also nowhere in the book does he indicate how these indicators should be used which, in my opinion, should be the essence of a book with this title. The author attempts to correct this on his website at: www.robertwcolby.com.

Like the first edition, the new SECOND EDITION simply, clearly and completely explains all the technical market indicators that are used in examining stock trends. At more than 800 pages, this book is double the size of the first edition and COMPLETELY updated. I bought three copies of the Second Edition as soon as it came out, and I gave two copies to my friends. This book tells what the indicators measure, what their components are, how they are formulated, and what exactly they purport to indicate. It describes their various realms of usefullness and their limitations. The book is packed with charts and examples and is very, very interesting to read. I bought the first edition about six years ago and have found it the only useful reference of its type. The Second Edition is entirely updated and expanded and is ESSENTIAL for understanding Technical Market Indicators and stock trends. I recommend that EVERYONE in the industry and all serious independant traders and researchers get the new SECOND EDITION of this book.

Robert Colby's book is a valuable resource for any practitioner of technical analysis, or consumer of technical analysis reports. Every TA method one is likely to encounter is explained clearly, and in detail.

Colby's bent is toward the science of TA, which is both a strength and a weakness here. His book places considerable emphasis on the backtesting he has done on the TA methods presented. The results are interesting, but would have served better as material for an appendix.

The best technical analysis and indicator encyclopedia. Comprehensive, best refernce.The only book yoy will ever need. Not a dictionary of indicator, complete analysis and trading models explained.

As indicated in my review about Mark Larson's book 12 Simple Technical Indicators that Really Work Course Book with DVD , The Encyclopedia Of Technical Market Indicators, Second Edition is a powerful addition to Mark's book. The Encyclopedia Of Technical Market Indicators, Second Edition gives a specific description of every technical indicator available, and then some. The most beneficial aspect of this book is that the investors will know exactly what a specific indicator measure and represents. This will make the investor more educated about analyzing and executing trades.

The information presented here is decent, but if your a futures trader as I am, the indicators time frame doesn't fit trading futures. Look elsewhere if you need a book on T.A. for futures trading.